in the 1800s in england a young woman ( maureen ohara ) find out her uncle be part of a smuggling gang . they purposefully arrange shipwreck and kill the crew and take anything of value from the ship . she try to stop them but have to deal with evil sir humphrey ( charles laughton ) . ho hum . this be an expensive production and the last film hitchcock direct in england before leave for america . ( he wouldn not return until the 1950s for stage fright ) the plot be and to be blunt and pretty dull and obvious . i saw everything come from a mile away . also there be a laughably obvious toy boat use in the shipwreck we see but that be probably state of the art in 1939. act doesn not help . maureen ohara look lovely but give a surprisingly bad performance but she be only 18 at the time so she can be forgive . laughton however overact badly . he always overact but usually director reign him in . hitchcock couldn not . laughton and him have huge fight on the set which laughton always win . that too bad because his way over the top acting harm the film . it isn not totally unwatchable . there be ( of course ) some beautifully directed sequence include the opening shipwreck . and there be an eerie atmosphere help by the b and w photography and dismal setting . but the story be dull and it obvious that hitchcock heart wasn not into this . it take me 2 showing to stay awake i keep fall asleep . unless youre a hitchcock completest you can skip this . not recommend .