strange cargo is a 1940 american romantic drama film directed by frank borzage and starring clark gable and joan crawford in a story about a group of fugitive prisoners from a french penal colony. the adapted screenplay by lawrence hazard was based upon the 1936 novel, "not too narrow, not too deep", by richard sale. the film was produced by joseph l. mankiewicz for metro-goldwyn-mayer, it was the eighth and last film pairing of crawford and gable. the supporting cast includes ian hunter and peter lorre.