The Well Groomed Bride

In spring 1945 San Francisco, Dudley Briggs is promised two weeks of furlough and a promotion by his ship's captain if he can bring back a bottle of French champagne by the next morning to christen the USS Vengeance. The stakes are high and the clock is ticking as wartime shortages loom. He resolves to take the risk and secure the champagne at any cost.

Dudley heads to a SF liquor store and finds the last magnum of French champagne available in the city, a rarity during wartime rationing. He feels a surge of relief, but fate has other plans as the bottle slips away from him to Margie Dawson.

Margie Dawson is about to marry Army lieutenant Torchy McNeil, a football star, but she plans to use the champagne as the centerpiece for her upcoming wedding reception. The magnum’s loss becomes a personal stake that pulls her into Dudley’s orbit. Her future hinges on how the situation unfolds.

Dudley accompanies Margie and Torchy to their hotel and makes a bold bid to steal the magnum, but his attempt fails. Undeterred, he continues to plot ways to get the bottle back and leverage it for his promotion. The chase tightens the emotional stakes for everyone involved.

Seeking an opportunity to unsettle Margie, Dudley arranges a meeting between Torchy and his ex-girlfriend Rita Sloan. The tangled motives blur lines between romance, rivalry, and wartime bravado. The plan hinges on Margie’s reaction to what she sees.

When Margie discovers Torchy and Rita together, she calls off her wedding and goes out with Dudley instead, hoping to get back at her ex-fiancé. The pair share a burgeoning, uneasy connection as the champagne quest continues to drive them apart and pull them together. The rift between love and duty widens.

On the Richmond Ferry, Torchy confronts the trio and insists that a marriage should have only 'one quarterback.' After Margie yields the magnum to him, her relationship with Dudley grows more complicated as trust erodes.

During the ferry ride, Dudley confesses that he is in love with Margie, but she suspects his feelings are tied to access to the champagne. The confession deepens the emotional tension and tests Dudley’s honesty. Margie’s doubts about his motives intensify.

Captain Hornby interrupts their escapade and has them arrested, arranging for Margie to christen the ship with a bottle of champagne. The military authority reasserts control as the ceremony approaches. The lust for a grand gesture clashes with duty and propriety.

Margie’s father arrives for the wedding and discovers Torchy in Margie’s robe, leading to Torchy being marched to the Provost Marshal on a charge of insanity. Hornby intervenes to release him so they can be persuaded to surrender the magnum. The family dynamics intensify the conflict between romance and duty.

Margie’s father tells Margie that Dudley loves her, suggesting she return the bottle to see what he will do. Margie wrestles with trust and loyalty as the moment of truth about the champagne draws closer. The scene mixes familial trust with military expectations.

Torcher and Rita initially refuse to give up the bottle, but when the USS Vengeance is about to be christened with a tiny bottle, their sense of duty alters their stance. Torchy delivers a perfect pass with the big bottle, catalyzing Margie’s return to the ceremony. The war-time camaraderie overrides personal snags.

With the decisive gesture and Torchy’s celebratory pass, Margie christens the USS Vengeance using the big bottle. The moment seals a tentative reconciliation between Dudley, Margie, and Torchy. It marks a ceremonial victory for unity and patriotism.

Shortly after the christening, Margie receives a telegram from Dudley instructing her to meet him with the biggest bottle she can find for their wedding. The note reorients the lovers toward a final union tied to their wartime romance. The hunt for a larger bottle becomes a symbolic pledge for their future.

In the end, the couple is bound not just by duty, but by a shared symbol of celebration—a grand bottle that seals their future together. The mission that started as a mere assignment turns into a story of love, sacrifice, and wartime camaraderie. The ship’s christening becomes a backdrop for a wedding that unites past ruptures and hopeful futures.