Disgraced British captain Ben Waldridge is granted political asylum by the government of the United States in return for sailing on a dangerous mission under Captain James Marshall. Despondent over being abandoned by his beautiful paramour, Leslie, Waldridge sees the voyage as the first step in restoring his honor and regaining command of a ship. As war erupts in 1812 between the U.S. and Britain, the French seek to assist their American brothers by donating 10 million dollars in gold. Captain Marshall's mission is to transport the precious metal, disguised as an old rusty anchor, across the Atlantic. However, Marshall's cutthroat crew catches wind of the valuable cargo and embark on a mutinous plot to steal it.
Peerless star of stage and screen, Angela Lansbury is Leslie, the object of Captain Waldridge's desire. Transforming from a beautiful lover into a demonic villainess with a lusty thirst for gold, Lansbury illustrates the blood-chilling character work that defines her most iconic roles in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982). A four time Tony Award Winner, Lansbury is revered for her screen debut in Gaslight (1944), stealing the show from Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls (1946), co-starring with Orson Welles in The Long Hot Summer (1958), and over a decade starring as Jessica Fletcher in the TV series, "Murder, She Wrote."