After the end of World War II, Jean Madison, a former WAVE ensign, meets the former aircrew of an Army Air Corps A-20 Havoc light bomber named Sinful Sinthia when they go to collect unemployment benefits. They are all members of the 52-20 Club, a government program that pays unemployed veterans $20 a week for 52 weeks.
The men take Jimmy Stevens under their wing, naming her the Admiral, and show her how to stretch their money. They open bank accounts to receive a free ceramic piggy bank and have their $20 checks cashed, then close the accounts without paying a fee. They sell the piggy banks to a pawnbroker for 25 cents each. The gang camps out in an empty aircraft factory because Jimmy is the night watchman. Eddie Hoff Eddie Hoff artfully fashions furniture from aircraft parts and other surplus. They get meals at discounts by trading old stock, and Mike O'Halloran Mike O'Halloran even fills in as a lifeguard at a private club. Former taxi driver Ollie Bonelli Oliver 'Ollie' Bonelli drives them around in a sound truck from a local music store in exchange for advertising over a loudspeaker.
Jean is secretly followed by a private detective. When she learns that her fiancé Henry is returning to the United States but has not mentioned it to her, she becomes upset and boards a bus for home.
Jimmy is summoned to the office of Peter Pedigrew Peter Pedigrew, the "Jukebox King," who had hired the private detective. He threatens to put the men to work, ending their idyllic lifestyle, unless they keep Jean from leaving for 24 hours. Pedigrew explains that his ex-wife Shirley intends to marry Henry; he wants to remarry Shirley because, after two expensive divorces, she has most of his money, and he desperately needs capital to expand his business. Also, he is still irresistibly attracted to her, though she is "so beautifully wicked." He wants the crew to help reunite Henry and Jean, and Jimmy reluctantly agrees.
Jimmy races to the bus and convinces Jean to stay by lying about Henry. As they spend time together, Jean discovers that the men are living with a dark secret. Jimmy, the former head of an employment agency, will not rest until all of his crewmen have resolved things. He even steps into Mike's boxing match, since the injuries could kill Mike, though Jimmy has never stepped in a ring.
Pedigrew reconnects with Shirley, Henry comes for Jean, and Eddie realizes that he must return home to determine whether his girlfriend will love him even if he is poor. In the end, Pedigrew agrees to start Mike and Ollie in business. Jimmy is in love with the Admiral. When the unseen Henry finally knocks on her door, she leaves it locked in favor of Jimmy.
