In a light wartime caper, anti-British agents plot an attack on a Royal Navy ship, while a lively mix of sailors and entertainers navigates pubs, clubs, and wartime London. Jim Bennett is a sailor who has overstayed his shore leave, explaining that he used to be a boxer who sleeps when hit on one side and wakes when struck on the other, a quirk that both charms and troubles him as the story unfolds.
Across town, George Blake tends bar in a gentlemen’s club, serving officers and earning good-natured ribbing about his service. He retires to his room to chat with his goldfish, Egbert, a small beacon of whimsy in a tense era. An air raid later puts both men into motion, and in the confusion of the moment, George Blake ends up wearing the wrong uniform while Jim Bennett is knocked unconscious. The military police seize the scene, misreading the situation: they believe the man in uniform is both assaulting his companion and deliberately absent without leave.
From this mix-up, the narrative pivots into a comedy of misidentifications. The police escort George Blake back to the naval barracks, and his unexpected charm surfaces as he lightens the mood with a lively performance for the sailors. He entertains with the skittering ukulele and the cheeky song It Serves You Right - You Shouldn’t Have Joined, winning a place on the Spick and Span troop radio concert in London. There, he meets Pat, a Wren, and a romance begins as they share a dance and his buoyant voice. He even croons If I Had a Girl Like You to her, stirring real affection amid the backdrop of war and duty.
Meanwhile, the plot thickens as [George Blake] stumbles upon a clever pair of Nazi spies who have turned a taxidermist shop into a front for covert schemes. His quick wits foil their plan to blow up a British submarine, the Firefly, a victory that further wins him the heart of Pat and cements his place in the larger wartime drama.
When the true Jim Bennett recovers in hospital, panic strikes him about being AWOL, and he confronts the two military police who have dogged the false Bennett. The chase intensifies as George Blake and his allies race through a web of misunderstandings. They share a tense moment in a car with Pat as they believe they’ve escaped, only to be flagged down by a pursuing police car. The pursuit races to the harbor, where they seize a small launch, but the chase escalates when others take a boat as well, culminating in a dramatic wreck that tests courage, luck, and the bonds formed under pressure.
Throughout, the film threads humor with danger, weaving music, romance, and espionage into a spirited backdrop of (and sometimes against) the odds. The wit of George Blake and the steadfast presence of Jim Bennett together with Pat anchor a story that stays entertaining while honoring the chaos of wartime life.
