En pleine lune de miel, le lieutenant John Steckler est rappelé à Washington par ses supérieurs de la marine. On lui reproche d'avoir égaré, à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le torpilleur «USS Kornblatt». Si John se souvient très bien de ce destroyer, il n'a effectivement aucune idée de l'endroit où il l'a laissé. Sa hiérarchie lui fait comprendre que les sanctions ne se feront pas attendre s'il ne trouve pas une solution très rapidement. Steckler part donc à la recherche du navire, au grand désespoir de Prudence, sa fiancée, qui ne comprend pas pourquoi il n'est pas présent pour ce moment si précieux dans leur vie...
A local charity has raised sixteen hundred dollars and entrusted the boys with it. They are then robbed of the cash by two men dressed as sailors. Believing them to be real sailors, and in order to catch them, they enlist in the Navy under fake names. They spend a year at sea, but cannot locate the thieves. However, Sach is able to win two thousand dollars gambling and the boys return to the Bowery. It is there that they are robbed by the same two men, but with the Navy captain helping, they are able to capture the crooks. They return to the navy office to receive their commendations, but are mistakenly re-enlisted!
Dans le Pacifique, le capitaine McHale, commandant un contre-torpilleur, tente de trouver de l'argent pour aider Sœur Monique à assumer la charge d'un orphelinat…
Second Lieutenant Peter Stirling est pris derrière les lignes japonaises en Birmanie pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale . Francis, une mule d' armée parle, Lorsque Stirling insiste sur le fait que l'animal l' a sauvé, il est placé dans un service psychiatrique. Chaque fois que Stirling est libéré, il accomplit quelque chose de remarquable et chaque fois qu'il est renvoyé à l'hôpital psychiatrique où il insiste sur le crédit de la mule qui parle. Stirling est en mesure de convaincre le général Stevens qu'il est pas fou, et lui et le général sont les seuls au courant du secret de Francis.
Comme leur transport de troupes approche des côtes australiennes, les Marines Biff Koraski et Jeff Reardon planifient leurs conquêtes féminines une fois à terre. Comme Jeff arrive souvent à séduire les petites amies de Biff, celui-ci décide de lui cacher son rendez-vous avec Joyce Stuart, une jolie Australienne, qui veut le remercier d'avoir sauvé Cyril North, un ami de sa famille.
Un major de l'unité des forces spéciales des marines des États-unis se retrouve au chômage. Incapable de faire face à la vie civile, il est envoyé dans le régiment militaire de l'académie pour
Bud Jones (Bud Abbott) and Lou Hotchkiss (Lou Costello) are wrestling promoters. Their star, Abdullah (Wee Willie Davis), no longer wishes to follow the script for their crooked matches, especially since he is supposed to lose his next match. Abdullah leaves America to return to his homeland, Algeria. The promoters' financiers, a syndicate that has lent them $5,000 to bring Abdullah to the States, are now requiring them to return the money or face the consequences. The two men follow Abdullah to Algeria in hopes of bringing him back.
Le lieutenant Rip Grandall hérite d'une mission: il doit, en 1943, conduire un bateau d'Australie en Nouvelle Guinée. Le rafiot ne paie pas de mine, mais Rip parvient à s'acquitter de sa mission. Au moment de prendre l'avion pour le retour, il apprend, stupéfait, qu'une autre mission a été confiée a son remplaçant avec le même rafiot.
Harry Frigg (Paul Newman) est un soldat américain prisonnier dans sa propre armée pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Il est également connu pour être un roi de la cavale.
The boys' friend, Dave Moreno, is being held for treason by the U.S. Air Force. Slip and Sach go to headquarters to help Dave, but mistakenly enlist. Sach is also mistakenly assigned to a WAF barracks. When the boys finally do visit Dave he tells them he does not need help, as he is secretly being used to capture enemy agents. Undeterred by Dave's words, the boys continue to investigate and Slip and Sach wind up airborne. Good luck allows them to land safely, just where the spies are hiding out. They capture the spies and Dave's true mission is revealed.
Gus Brubaker (Dick Shawn) is a self-described schnook. His wife talks him into applying for G.I. insurance for which he is eligible from his World War II service with the Air Force. Gus is reluctant because he was shot down and became a prisoner of war, but the military had listed him as killed. A red-tape foulup results in Gus being back in uniform, assigned to a ramshackle radar station on a backwater island near Japan. The airmen assigned there are apathetic, slovenly, and unmotivated. Its equipment and supplies are a collection of junk, abandoned or surplus.
This comedy is about a bumbling searchlight unit during World War II. Ensemble acting creates a series of intertwining stories that involve the various soldiers assigned to this post. Lt. Ogleby (Ian Carmichael) is the cheerful, inept officer in charge, then there is the womanizer whose concept of birth control is limited, the lovesick soldier unhappy over a misunderstanding with his girlfriend, the Cockney cook, the father-figure, and several others. Their trials and tribulations provide the bulk of the comedy, such as it is. [1]
Francis Joins the WACS concerns Peter Stirling's return to the U. S. Army. A computer error assigns junior officer Stirling by mistake to the Women's Army Corps. Peter's old friend Francis once again helps him through his various military and personal problems, including several familiar stays (once again) in the base's psychiatric ward!