Tom and Beth Warren are worried about the poor grades that their
teenage son Don is getting at Burlington Junior College. When
questioned by his father, Don states that he is only interested in
becoming a flyer, as Tom was in World War I. As he is being
chastised for his laziness by his two sisters, Jane and Patricia
(Anne Gwynne), Don sneaks out of the house and discovers a new
family moving in across the street.
The new neighbors include an
attractive young girl named Connie Allen. Don takes Connie to
Higgins' soda fountain, where she is an immediate hit with all the
young men, if not with the jealous young ladies. Don soon falls in
love with Connie, but Pat is not as lucky, as her longtime
boyfriend, Ed Thompson, is spending all his time working at the
Federated Aircraft factory. The Warrens' lives are further
disrupted when Tom re-enlists in the U.S. Navy. Jane, however,
misunderstands her parents' conversation and tells all that Don
has been accepted into flyer training.
Don's joy is short-lived,
as he soon learns the truth, along with the fact that his
childhood friend, Bud Haley, has just been killed in an air
battle. After his father leaves, Don becomes "the man of the
family," and begins to take his studies more seriously. His
commitment to the books is so complete that he is even called into
the principal's office to discuss his vastly improved grades and
misses numerous rehearsals at Connie's house for the college
variety show.
Later, Ed and Pat have a fight and break up, so Don
goes to the aircraft factory to talk to the engineer. He is
stopped at the gate by a security guard, but is later let in by
Mr. Fairchild, the plant superintendent and Connie's uncle.
Learning that the factory has a man-power shortage, Don suggests
the he and his college friends come to work at the factory on a
part-time basis. At first, his friends are unwilling to sacrifice
their leisure time, but with Don's encouragement, they all agree
to go to work to help the war effort.
With the extra workers, the
factory's production increases drastically, so Fairchild agrees to
let the students put on their canceled variety show at the plant.
As an extra attraction, Connie uses her uncle's money to hire
Count Basie and His Orchestra. The show is a great success, and
the plant itself is decorated by the U.S. Army and Navy for its
contribution to the war effort. Don himself receives a special
citation from the Bureau of Aeronautics, which is presented to him
by his father. The young man, however, insists on sharing the
credit with Connie.
father of typical
American family, Lillian Gish as mother, and sisters Peggy Ryan and Anne
Gwynne. Susanna Foster moves in across the street for the usual
adolescent romance. When Dix is called to active duty with the Navy,
O'Connor assumes responsibilities of head man in the household, and eventually
winds up herding this schoolmates into the labor-short war plant for four-hour
shifts to break a bottleneck of production. He also teams with Miss Foster
to put on the postponed school variety show at the plant for the finish.
