father's death just before the villagers leave Chiku Shan, though she refuses to believe him. Following their plan, the villagers lure the patrol boat into the harbor and trap it there. They flee down the coast in the stolen ferryboat, bluffing their way past a People's Liberation Army Navy destroyer. They disappear into a fog bank, hiding by day in shoreline reed marshes and sailing south only at night. The Fengs attempt to sabotage the escape, first by poisoning the food and water supply, then attempting and failing to take over Chiku Shan during a heavy storm. Cathy eventually comes to terms with her attraction to the gruff Captain Wilder. A shortage of wood for fuel and water forces the Chiku Shan to pull into the Graveyard of Ships at Honghai Bay. Captain Wilder orders the wrecks stripped of wood and water siphoned from various depressions and abandoned tanks for both the boiler and for drinking water. A loose heavy timber suddenly plows through the stern wheel while mooring the steamboat, snapping two of the paddle blades. Wilder is forced to stay in the Graveyard longer than planned in order to make repairs. At the same time, Cathy goes ashore and returns after learning of her father's fate. The Fengs are put ashore, only to be taken back aboard when the pursuing Red Chinese destroyer begins shelling the Graveyard from a distance. It launches power boats to search for the ferry in the shallow harbor. Chiku Shan makes a run for it into a marshy estuary, and disappears. Because smoke would reveal their position, the villagers both pole and tow the riverboat through miles of marshlands until reaching the open sea beyond the destroyer's search area. Tack fires up the boiler, and the steamboat proceeds to Hong Kong with the refugees. Their triumphant arrival is hailed by the steam whistles and ship sirens of every vessel in the harbor. Cast John Wayne as Captain Tom Wilder Lauren Bacall as Cathy Grainger, a medical missionary's daughter Paul Fix as Mr. Tso, the senior village elder and headman Joy Kim as Susu, Cathy Grainger's housekeeper Berry Kroeger (Berry Kroger), as Old Feng, the Communist Feng family patriarch Mike Mazurki as Big Han, Wilder's First Mate Anita Ekberg as Wei Ling, Big Han's wife Henry Nakamura as Tack, the Chief Engineer James Hong as Communist Soldier (uncredited) Lowell Gilmore as British Officer (uncredited)