Lloyds of London concerns two boyhood chums, Jonathan Blake and Horatio Nelson who come upon a plot to scuttle a ship, steal a cargo, and collect the insurance. Jonathan goes off to London to Lloyd's coffee house where the insurance underwriters gather to warn them of the scheme. But Horatio can't make it. His uncle on his mother's side is going to take him on as a midshipman in the Navy. Well we all know what happened to him.
As for the fictional Jonathan Blake, he goes to work for Lloyd's of London and grows with the company. He also falls in love with a married woman, but she's married to a Regency cad.
And when the Napoleonic wars resume, British shipping is in peril of the French Fleet. It's a crisis that Lloyd's of London and particularly Jonathan Blake have a hand in seeing the nation through. For how that's done, you have to watch this very enjoyable period piece.
No actor, before or since, has ever done costume pieces better than Tyrone Power. This film was his big break as an actor and he shines in the part of Jonathan Blake. George Sanders is of course the Regency cad and no one was ever a better cad on the screen. Madeleine Carroll was Sanders's lost suffering wife.
This also marked the debut of the combination of Director Henry King and player Tyrone Power in the first of nine films they collaborated on. Some of the best work done by both men.
In one of his last films Sir Guy Standing is the wise and honest Mr. Angerstein who serves as Power's mentor/father figure. It is probably the best thing he ever did on screen. And big kudos in the supporting cast go to Virginia Field who was waitress Polly who's carrying a Statue of Liberty size torch for Ty.
I can't also forget the boys, Freddie Bartholomew and Douglas Scott, who play Blake and Nelson in the first thirty minutes of the film. They both shine in these roles and their friendship is deep, sincere, and affecting. They have to be good because their performances explain the motivation behind Ty Power's character and what he does.
Lloyd's of London is a wonderful costume drama with real heroes and villains, the kind they unfortunately don't make any more in this day and age.
