Forbidden Cargo on AllMovie

The United States had just finished building a fleet of very fast ships to catch the rumrunners that brought prohibition liquor to the mainland. The plot to this melodrama cashed in on that event. Because her father, a navy captain, has been unfairly disgraced, Josephine Drake (Evelyn Brent) retaliates by operating a rumrunner under the name Captain Joe. Secret service man Jerry Burke (Robert Ellis) is sent to the Bahamas to catch liquor smugglers. He is immediately captivated by Joe, but her first mate, Pietro Boneli (a very villainous Boris Karloff), also loves her. When he discovers Burke's identity, Boneli has him shanghaied and taken onboard the rumrunner. Hijackers attack, wounding Joe, and she and Burke wind up on an island. He sends word to her father, but Boneli intercepts the message and captures them. He is about to pour molten lead into Burke's eyes when Joe sends an S.O.S. signal to a U.S. warship, which comes to the rescue. Burke winds up with Joe, and makes sure that her father is vindicated.