The port city of Bristol, England, in the 1800s is home to Java Head, a sailing ship line company. The owner has two sons. One, a handsome seafarer, is in love with a local girl, but cannot marry her due to a long-running feud between their fathers. After a lengthy voyage, he returns with a very exotic, noble Chinese wife, which scandalizes the conservative town. His other son, a "landlubber", seeks to convert to steamships, to the disgust of his father. Even worse, he is secretly dealing in contraband.
Anna May Wong
as Princess Taou Yuen
Elizabeth Allan
as Nettie Vollar
John Loder
as Gerrit Ammidon
Edmund Gwenn
as Jeremy Ammidon
Ralph Richardson
as William Ammidon
Herbert Lomas
as Barzil Dunsack
George Curzon
as Edward Dunsack
John Marriner
as John Stone
Grey Blake
as Roger Brevard (as Gray Blake)
Roy Emerton
as Broadrick
Amy Brandon Thomas
as Rhoda Ammidon
Frances Carson
as Kate Vollar
