Adapted from Irwin Shaw's play The Gentle People and featuring a strong, authentic performance by John Garfield who play ruthless Harold Goff, a racketeer who makes his living bullying struggling fisherman. But when he muscles fishermen Jonah Goodwin and Olaf Knudsen into handing over the money they have been saving for a badly needed new boat, he goes too far. On behalf of themselves and the other townsfolk, Goodwin and Knudsen conspire to murder Goff. Goodwin's daughter, who loves the gangster, complicates matters.