Champion deep sea divers Toby and Nick, who belong on the same salvage crew, lead a happy life until Nick decides to join the harbor police. Just before he starts his new job, however, an undertow carries a wreck up from the bottom, thereby creating a hazard to shipping. While setting the dynamite to free the wreck, Nick’s lines become tangled, and he is rescued by Toby, who is injured. After a long period in the hospital, Toby is left with a useless arm. Unable to get a job, he refuses the assistance of Nick and his friends. Now that he is disabled, Toby feels he can no longer propose to Ann, whom both he and Nick love. Although Ann prefers Toby, he disappears, and when he returns, he kills a criminal in a fight. Nick, now a policeman, discovers that Toby is the culprit and allows him to escape with a personal warning. Doc Boehn, a diamond smuggler in need of an experienced diver to pick up the contraband left on the ocean floor by his confederates, offers Toby the job. Hoping to impress Ann with the money he will earn, Toby accepts. Boehn supposedly collects rare fish for museums on his yacht, but Nick and the harbor patrol have suspected him for a long time. One day, the ship is raided by police just after Toby has brought some of the contraband aboard. Boehn tricks Nick, however, by mixing the gems with food and feeding it to his fish. While Toby intends to quit the racket and marry Ann, Boehn fears that he knows too much and plans to murder him. During a dive, Nick meets Toby on the bottom as he is cutting open an oil drum. Boehn’s men cut off Toby’s air, then kill his assistant. Nick has gone up to join the police boat, which takes over the yacht, while the horrified Tony is still trapped below. Then, Nick learns of his friend’s danger and dives without his suit by hanging onto an anchor that is dropped. A lift line is tied around his waist, and he tries to fasten it to Toby, but the line becomes tangled with the anchor. Toby frees it, ties it around the unconscious Nick and sends him to the surface. Having sacrificed his life for Nick, Toby collapses, knowing that prison and disgrace are all that await him on the surface. Ann and Nick are more closely united as a result of Toby’s heroism, and they decide to share their sorrow together. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
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