Army privates Johnny Grey, [Victor Mature], Speak Jackson, [Peter Lind Hayes], and Buddy 'Clarky' Clark were former members of the Les Brown band who get seven days of leave before shipping out. They crash a recent Les Brown concert, where Johnny renews his romance with Mapy Cortés, [Mapy Cortés], a lively performer from the act. The scene is a playful blend of music, flirtation, and the small freedoms that leave can bring, all set against the bustle of wartime life.
Johnny soon learns he is the heir to his great-grandfather’s $100,000 fortune, a discovery that sets his heart racing and his plans into motion. The catch is a strict condition: he must marry a descendant of the Havelock-Allen family in order to claim the windfall. Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, [Harold Peary], the estate’s representative, lays out the terms in a way that both tempts and taunts Johnny, prompting him to weigh love against a life-changing payoff.
Enter Terry Havelock-Allen, [Lucille Ball], the wealthy and glamorous elder daughter who appears to be beyond Johnny’s reach—she is engaged to the careful financial adviser Ralph Bell. Undeterred, Johnny pursues Terry with bold charm, while his friends help hatch a scheme to draw Ralph away: the clever impersonation of famous film stars by Jackson, [Peter Lind Hayes], to manipulate Ralph’s decisions over the phone. A date at a radio broadcast of Truth or Consequences followed by a romantic picnic deepen the attraction, and Terry and Johnny share a forbidden kiss that foods the old spark into something almost certain.
Terry’s younger sister Mickey, [Marcy McGuire], sees the potential for true happiness and counsels that Terry should marry Johnny rather than Ralph. Mapy, sensing how deeply Johnny is entangled with someone else, calls off their own romance, leaving Johnny to confront the messy but real feelings he has for Terry. Mickey eventually tells Johnny that Terry is in love with him, a revelation that shifts the entire drama toward a perilous but hopeful conclusion.
As elation and doubt swirl, the couple finally decide to wed, but the moment is upended when Gildersleeve bursts the news of the will’s terms and the consequences of breaking them. Ralph discovers that Jackson has been impersonating film stars, a reveal that leads to a brawl in which Jackson and Johnny are slugged, and the military police soon arrest Jackson, Bitsy Slater, Clark, and Johnny. The next day, the four privates sit in their jail cell and watch their company sail out to Japan, while Mapy explains the situation to Terry, who forgives Johnny and believes in their future together.
In a final turn of fate and forgiveness, Johnny and Terry marry, and the four privates rejoin their unit aboard ship, bidding a bittersweet farewell to their women as the ship heads toward new horizons. The escape into romance is tempered by the shadow of duty and the pull of a life-changing inheritance, weaving together music, deception, loyalty, and love in a light, melodic tapestry that stays true to the spirit of the story.
