What makes it different from others?

Too much of everything

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

There are a few real hidden gems that few people see, because there aren't big name stars, particularly in 1940s and 1950s films.This one is a war time flick about American civilians dealing with German U Boats. The main character, Morgan, is an American hoodlum who is dealing with the Nazis, or is he? We immediately get the feeling that Morgan is not what he seems, but he is in over his head in trying to hoodwink the Nazi Navy, but he doesn't know it. This makes it somewhat credible.He is at odds with a former cop named Taggart, who serves as the stable character of the film. There are many other interesting characters, and great atmosphere, with superb directing, that makes this a hidden gem.The shots all follow logical patterns, and we follow the plot very easy. This is a directing triumph. The scenery is engaging, and this is put together extremely well. We are kept interested in the plot, because of the characters. This is how a film should be made, yet many with much larger budgets can't accomplish what this film did. A must see film, and very surprising, because unlike most Hollywood films, the bad guys don't win all the time.

I agree, Alan Baxter was kind of dull in this. But my main beef with this movie is it's simply too hard to believe that this guy can cause six UBoots to sink and the Germans don't figure out to stop sending boats there for resupply.Our hero, a character with a questionable history, has set up his own little anti-submarine corps. Supplying torpedoes to the Kreigsmarine. However he rigs one to explode on it's own and tells the captain to go out and sit on the bottom for four hours, supposedly because of the tide. Of course it's really so...well you get the idea. He then pays for a party so there's too much noise to hear the submarine blow up...and never any wreckage I suppose. Why not just let the thing sail out and blow up at some random time? So six boats go missing right after making contact with this guy and yet the Nazis don't suspect a thing. Oh well, there was a war on and they needed to keep the morale up so they made movies like this.Normally I can suspend disbelief but this one is just too far-fetched. Even though I do like this movie, 5/10

Base American fugitive Joe Morgan, now a ship's captain is running a reloading base for Nazi submarines. While out on the sea he picks up a man floating in the water. It's a cop who Morgan thought framed him for murder. The cop is now merchant seaman. Morgan takes the cop to St Jean, a small island where pirates once hung out and quick buck can be made. At this point the film becomes the story of what happens on land as Morgan tries to deal with the cop, the girls who want to go back to America and the people on the island. Good but should have been great film is sunk by the actor playing Morgan. How this guy ended up as the lead in anything is beyond me since he's so stiff and wooden that one wonders what cigar store is missing their Indian. Still the film is worth seeing with the sequences involving the Nazi subs and subterfuge around them is good enough to over come any flaws.

This movie was made in 1943 along with several dozen other short (only 65 minutes here) movies like this during WWII. Starring John Litel and Alan Baxter (as protagonist Joe Morgan) both standard contract actors for Warners at the time. Movie was made to show an element of the war effort and was formulaic for the time. Usual plot lines of such a movie set around an outlaw ex-gangster from NYC (Morgan) who fishes an ex-cop out of the water (Litel as Taggert). Usual plot twists and Nazi suspense (it was shot in 1943!) Shot in B&W some visual not too many special effects and only a couple of sets used for a 1 hour movie. No particular high drama or special effects - decent predictable all around acting for a staple war picture. Basic plot is that Morgan was initially thought to be a trailer to the US by many including his old NYC nemesis Taggert, but turns out he has his own secret plan to aid the Allied effort.