In 1941, Mamie Stover, Jane Russell a prostitute, is pressured by the police to leave San Francisco. On a freighter bound for Honolulu, she meets Jim Blair, Richard Egan a successful writer and the only other passenger. Initially hostile, Mamie softens a bit when he starts using her life story for material for his writing. A shipboard romance develops; Jim offers to help Mamie make something of herself, but within limits. When they dock in Honolulu, Jim is welcomed ashore by his sweetheart Annalee Johnson, Joan Leslie. As they part, Jim lends Mamie $100 (about $2,100 today) to help her get settled. She visits an old friend, Jackie Davis, who introduces her to Bertha Parchman, the mean-spirited owner of a dance hall and bar. Bertha’s four rules are straightforward yet iron-clad: she must live on the premises so Bertha can keep an eye on her employee, have no boyfriend, do not visit Waikiki Beach or the fancy hotels, and have no bank account to avoid attracting the attention of the tax people. The hostesses can keep 30% of the revenue they generate from dancing, private visits, and overpriced bottles of watered-down liquor.
Mamie soon becomes the club’s main attraction, earning the nickname Flaming Mamie after dying her hair red. She quickly builds a bankroll—about $2,200—enough to pay back her debt to Jim, so she invites him to the club. He disapproves and suggests returning to the mainland, but Mamie convinces him to rekindle their friendship, which puts a strain on his relationship with Annalee. She persuades Jim to manage her money and write a check to her father on her behalf. Seeing a letter addressed to “Mrs. Jim Blair” upsets Jim, but he reluctantly goes along. He defends Mamie when Harry Adkins beats her up for going out with him.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor changes everything. Jim enlists and asks Mamie to marry him once the war ends. The war becomes a catalyst for Mamie’s growing fortune: she spends thousands buying multiple properties cheaply from owners who want to return to the mainland, then rents them to the U.S. military. While on leave, Jim convinces Mamie to leave the dance hall. Returning to the club to announce her resignation, Mamie discovers that Bertha has fired Harry for misconduct with the military police. Fearing the loss of her star, Bertha promises to let Mamie jump to a 50% commission and even provides a respectable mailing address to deceive Jim when writing him at overseas postings. By the time of the 1942 Battle of Midway, Mamie is earning $4,000 monthly on her property rentals, and Bertha has boosted her commission to 70%.
Misleading Jim does not work, as a promotional poster of Flaming Mamie becomes a popular pin-up with the troops. He is wounded and returns to Hawaii on convalescent leave, where he confronts Mamie. After a subdued argument, Jim concludes that their lives are too different and leaves her for good. A heartbroken Mamie leaves Hawaii. She disembarks in San Francisco, where a police officer reminds her she is still banned from the city. She tells him that she made a fortune and gave it away. He doesn’t believe her, but offers a ride to the airport to catch a flight to her hometown in Mississippi.
