John Garfield and Ida Lupino star in the big-screen adaptation of Irwin Shaws play The Gentle People, a pre-World War II allegory warning of the seductive allure and danger inherent in pretending the looming danger of fascism could be ignored. A small fishing town is relentlessly threatened by the local thug, Harold Goff, who extorts cash each week for protection. Everything changes when the town tailor's daughter becomes attracted to Goff as a way to escape her dull, small town life.