Every Time We Say Goodbye

Lt. David Bradley, an American pilot, signs up with the Royal Air Force as tensions rise in Europe. He prepares for combat long before the United States will enter the war. This marks the start of his WWII service.

David's P-51 Mustang is shot down during a mission over North Africa and he sustains a leg injury. He is airlifted to Jerusalem to recover from his wounds. The injury sidelines him and begins a long convalescence far from the front lines.

While recovering, David is transferred to a boarding house in Jerusalem until his leg is fully functional. There he meets Sarah Perrara, a serene Sephardic Jewish woman whose family dynamics complicate their budding connection. The encounter sets the stage for a romance across cultural boundaries.

Peter and Victoria share their upcoming wedding plans with David and Sarah, signaling the start of a social entanglement that tests loyalties. The announcements reveal the stakes of the relationship within a tight-knit community. The scene establishes the cross-cultural pressures facing the couple.

David tries to discourage Peter from committing to Victoria, fearing the complications of their union. Sarah shares concerns about how her family would be affected by such a match. Their caution foreshadows the resistant pressures they will face.

A drunk Australian serviceman forces himself on Sarah, prompting Nessim to step in. David retaliates by breaking the aggressor's cane and knocking him out, sparing Sarah but leaving the powerful undercurrent of protective tension unresolved.

To protect Victoria and Peter from scandal, David pretends not to know Sarah. Nessim, grateful for his aid, invites David to a Sabbath dinner where Sarah's family can thank him. Tensions rise as old loyalties and new passions collide.

At the Sabbath dinner, Sarah's Sephardic relatives pepper David with questions about his background. He reveals that he is a minister's son, a detail the grandmother praises as a sign of a good, long life. Sarah expresses gratitude for his help and presence.

Despite their mutual attraction, Sarah believes their different backgrounds make a future together impossible. David seeks his family's permission to pursue her, but disapproval from her community and his own faith background complicates any path forward. He exits, signaling the social obstacles ahead.

David and Sarah attend Peter and Victoria's wedding. They take a walk together, and when David asks whether she wants him to leave her alone, he is told yes. She then kisses him for the first time, marking a silent, bittersweet acknowledgment of their bond.

The next day Nessim reiterates his love for Sarah and imagines a possible future wedding. Sarah hints that she may love someone else, intensifying the emotional tension and leaving her future uncertain.

During a boxing match among Sarah's relatives, she tells Nessim that she is leaving him. She then reconnects with David and they share a renewed moment of closeness as they walk together. The encounter deepens the conflict between duty and desire.

David and Sarah spend a day trip out of town, enjoying a rare moment of privacy. Just as they grow closer, younger family members burst in, knock David out, and drag Sarah away, disrupting their fragile intimacy.

Back in Jerusalem, Sarah is confined to her house and her clothes are confiscated. A brother helps her slip out and she goes to David's boarding house, where they spend the night together. The romance persists despite the social barriers.

Sarah decides to seek Nessim's hand and they begin wedding plans while David is away in Egypt. The arrangement underscores the competing paths available to her and the distances that separate her from David.

David returns two days before the wedding, but time is short. Sarah catches up to him, pledging that she will wait and write, and they share a tender kiss before he flies away. The future remains unresolved, suspended between duty, love, and circumstance.