Loosely based on historical events, the film follows the dealings of a man who works at Lloyd's of London during the Napoleonic Wars.

Lloyd's of London was a hit; it demonstrated that 22-year-old Tyrone Power, in his first starring role,[4] could carry a film, and that the newly formed 20th Century Fox was a major Hollywood studio.

[5] In 1770, youngster Jonathan Blake overhears two sailors discussing something suspicious in his aunt's ale-house in a Norfolk fishing village.

Insulted at being dismissed by Stacy as a mere "waiter" at Lloyd's, Jonathan vows to make himself so rich and powerful that even the aristocracy will have to pay him respect.

Stacy, with heavy gambling losses and hounded by creditors, inveigles Jonathan to give him a share of the profits of his syndicate by insinuating he will expose them.

Before the order can be sent, Jonathan receives a letter from Nelson thanking him for his sacrifices and urging him "at all costs" to protect his fleet from being divided.

The New York Times wrote, "Lloyd's of London ... is a pleasing photoplay, crammed with authentic detail of the Georgian England where its scene is laid ... threaded by a semi-fictional story of romance and business daring.

Under the graphic direction of the veteran Henry King, a cast that is capable down to its merest fishmonger and chimney sweep brings alive to the screen the London of the waning years of the eighteenth century and the early years of the next ...."[6] Writing for The Spectator, Graham Greene gave the film a mildly positive review, characterizing it as "a fairly astute piece of sentimentality which occasionally overreaches itself".