The Talbots, formerly one of the Eastern Shore's first families, have gone to seed: Pap is a drunk, soddenly decaying in his ruined ancestral home, and three of his sons (William, Carol, and Ezra) are lazy, shiftless young men. Mulligan, Pap's second son who supports the entire family by oyster fishing, falls in love with wealthy Anna Lee, but when he first kisses her, she calls him "white trash."

Fay Wray
as Anna Lee

Gary Cooper
as Mulligan Talbot

Lane Chandler
as William Talbot

Leslie Fenton
as Carol Talbot

Paul Fix
as Ezra Talbot

Malcolm Williams
as "Pap"

Monroe Owsley
as Other suitor

George Nash
as (uncredited)