duncan mcleod (derek bond), a gentleman artist and former naval officer, assisted by his crewman lefty brown (michael balfour), engages in smuggling contraband liquor between france and britain across the english channel. duncan and lefty store the liquor at the quiet woman, a local pub in their coastal town, only to find one day that its complicit owner has moved away without telling them, and the pub is now being run by jane foster (jane hylton) and her maid elsie (dora bryan). jane makes clear that she does not approve of activities that break the law, and demands that duncan and lefty remove their cache of contraband liquor from her property immediately or she will contact customs officials. duncan and lefty are attracted to jane and elsie respectively, and try to court them. the women are initially cold, but over time become more receptive to them. unbeknownst to duncan, jane was unhappily married to criminal jim cranshaw, who is now serving a prison term. jane is keeping her past a secret while trying to build a new, law-abiding life.