A bigoted ex-con agrees to take part in a bank robbery with a former cop but hesitates when he finds out that one of his partners is black. As the animosity between them boils over, the entire plan threatens to implode.

The captain of a submarine (Clark Gable) sunk by the Japanese during WWII is given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His single-minded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew (including Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden) in danger.