A song-and-dance man's son stages a big show starring World War II soldiers.
In New York, in 1917, actor and dancer Jerry Jones is drafted, and before he leaves, he marries his partner Ethel. Encouraged by army officials, Jerry puts together a musical show to boost morale. Jerry's show, Yip Yip Yaphank , has an all-soldier cast and is very popular, but it ends when the men are sent to the front. After the soldiers sing the closing song, they march off-stage and through the auditorium to the transport that will take them to France. During the fighting, Jerry's leg is wounded, but he is well enough to celebrate with his buddies after the Armistice. His joy is complete when he learns that he is the father of a son. Unable to continue dancing because of his injury, Jerry opens up a theatrical agency, and in 1941, he is joined by his son Johnny. Johnny is in love with Eileen Dibble, the daughter of Jerry's old army buddy, Eddie. After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Johnny enlists in the Army. Eileen wants to get married immediately, but Johnny, who has recently visited the family of a soldier killed at Pearl Harbor, believes that it would be wrong to marry in the face of an insecure future. Many of the World War I veterans, including Jerry, Eddie and Maxie Twardofsky visit the boot camp, where they find that their old instructor, Sergeant McGee, is still training soldiers. The older men decide to put on another show, This Is the Army , to raise money for the Army Relief Fund. The show is extremely popular and goes on tour, ending in Washington, D.C., where President Franklin D. Roosevelt attends. Eileen, who has joined the Red Cross, visits Johnny backstage and finally convinces him that she understands the risks of marrying a soldier, but wants to make a commitment to him before he leaves for war. On stage, the former stars of Yip Yip Yaphank do a number and are joined by Jerry, who dances with them despite his injured leg. Backstage, Eileen returns with a chaplain and marries Johnny. At the end of the show, the men march off to the front as their fathers did before them.
