John Hawkes, a college football star, is rejected by Alison Corning, the daughter of Wall Street baron Stephen Corning, because he is not ruthless enough in his pursuit of money. When Alison requests it, Mr. Corning hires John to work in his office, but he is fired when he refuses to sell back stock to a widow dependent on it for her income. Stung by Alison’s taunts, John and his wealthy classmate, Chub Hopping, man the yacht “Corsair” with college friends and go into business, hijacking the cargoes of bootlegger Big John, whose disloyal employee Slim Herman and his girl friend Sophie, have tipped off the “Corsair” crew. John sells the stolen liquor for exorbitant prices to other yachts beyond the twelve mile limit, including the yacht belonging to Corning. After he loses a number of shipments to John, Big John sets a trap for him by loading explosives into a cargo of champagne. Sophie is then fed false information, which she passes on to John, who offers to sell the entire cargo to Corning. Sophie learns of the planned explosion and is killed when she tries to warn Slim. Slim is killed in the ensuing explosion, but the rest of the crew escapes. John keeps his rendezvous with Corning, revealing that he knows Corning has been in business with Big John. He tells him that he has been stealing Corning’s own bootlegged liquor and selling it back to him. Unless Corning pays double his original price, John threatens to turn him in to the prohibition authorities. His point made, John tears up Corning’s check. Impressed, Corning offers him a job in Venezuela, and Alison, delighted by John’s ruthlessness, breaks her engagement with Richard Bentinck and declares her love for John. More on Wikipedia
Watch Corsair (1931)
