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Brief Synopsis
Three girls overcome their differences when they join the WACS.
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Synopsis
Informed by her attorney, Avery Lorrison, that she will not be eligible for her trust fund until she proves that she is a responsible adult, wealthy playgirl Valerie Parks decides to join the WACS to demonstrate her maturity, then resign after receiving her inheritance. Meanwhile, Ann Darrison, a devoted wife, decides to enlist when her serviceman husband John is sent overseas. At the same time Leigh Rand, the rigid daughter of a distinguished military family, also enlists to uphold the Rand family tradition. The three recruits meet on the way to the Ft. Des Moines training camp, and Val and Leigh take an instant dislike to each other. Assigned to the same barracks, Leigh proves to be a bossy know-it-all who sneers at Val's commitment to the service. Although the unassuming Ann tries to make peace between them, Leigh declares that Val will never complete basic training. Rising to Leigh's challenge, Val turns her finery in for the dull drab of the uniform, never complains and excels in class. When Val completes Basic Training, her socialite friend Harriet Corwin is shocked that she has survived early morning revelry and has even learned to wash her own clothes. Val and Leigh are displeased to discover that they have both been assigned to Motor Transport school and thus will have to continue to bear each other's company. The three women prove their mettle in Motor Transport, and Val and Leigh eventually become friends while trying to bolster Ann's self-confidence. All three are accepted into Officers' Candidate School. One day, Capt. Bill Barclay, a friend of Ann's husband, arrives at their base to ask Ann to record her voice so that he can take the disc to John when he returns overseas. After Bill asks Val on a date, Leigh, who is attracted to Bill herself, reminds them that enlisted WACS are forbidden to date officers unless they were previously acquainted. When Val decides to lie to her commanding officer by saying that she and Bill are old friends, Leigh arranges for Val to be assigned to duty that night to prevent her from getting into trouble. This infuriates Val, who then resumes her active antagonism toward Leigh. Some time later, when Val receives a telegram from Lorrison, notifying her that he is in town, she hurries to the local hotel to meet him. Instead of her attorney, however, she is met by Harriet and a very drunken Junior Vanderheusen, an old acquaintance from her former life. When Harriet and Junior become boisterous, Leigh, who is staying across the hall on a weekend pass, asks them to quiet down. Once Leigh departs, Harriet, who is living off Val's income, asks Val to sign a lease for a house in Palm Beach. After signing the document, Val tells her friends that she plans to stay in the military, and disgusted by their cavalier attitude in the face of war, chastises them. Insulted, Junior spills his drink on Val's uniform. Knowing that she cannot return to the barracks reeking of alcohol, Val goes to Leigh's room and begs her to return to camp that night to occupy her bed during inspection, then bring her a clean uniform in the morning. Leigh reluctantly agrees, but upon returning to the hotel the next morning, she encounters Junior in the elevator. When Junior blurts out that Val joined the military only to receive her inheritance, Leigh denounces her as a fraud and vows that she will never graduate from OCS. As platoon commander, Leigh soon launches a campaign of humiliation and intimidation against Val. Two days before graduation, Val, unable to stand the abuse, slaps Leigh and storms off the field. When Val refuses to defend herself to their commanding officer, Lt. Colonel Spottiswoode, the officer calls Leigh before the board and informs her that fifty percent of her platoon has rated her unfit to be an officer because she lacks humanity. Shaken, Leigh accepts the responsibility for Val's outburst. A few moments later, Col. Spottiswoode summons Anne to a private conference and regretfully informs her that her husband has been killed in combat. Putting her grief aside, Ann tries to comfort the distraught Leigh, who breaks down in tears and admits that she has always been jealous of the beautiful and competent Val. Ann agrees to help reconcile the two women, and they go to Val's hotel room. When Leigh and Val discover Ann's loss, her courage shames them, and humbled, they ask their commander for permission to remain in the corps as enlistees. Convinced of their contrition, the officer relents and allows them to graduate from OCS with Ann.
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