The film is set in World War II New Zealand. Capt. Jack Harding is a US marine captain, assigned to investigate servicemen's requests to marry local girls. An unemotional cipher, Harding begins to warm up when he meets war widow Barbara Leslie Forbes, the sister of Evelyn, Anne and Delia Leslie. The relationship is played against the romance between uptight spinster Fontaine and good-natured officer Charles Drake, and the casual affair between irresponsible Laurie and unreliable Wally Cassell. The fourth sister, Dee, watches her sisters' amorous pursuits longingly, her mind occupied by her own true love, who is off to war.

Christchurch, New Zealand, during World War II. Like most other women, the four Leslie sisters Barbara, Anne, Delia and Evelyn are left at home alone. Their father, brother and Barbara's husband all die on the battlefields of Europe and Africa, while Delia's uncultured husband Phil Friskett, called 'China' is held captive. When the war breaks out in the Pacific, the Americans come to rescue defenseless New Zealand from a Japanese invasion. The handsome American soldiers are a strong temptation for the lonely New Zealand women. Headstrong Delia, who moves to Wellington, conceals her being married and looks for several American boys. Anne, who is very decent, surprisingly falls in love with worthy Captain Richard Bates. Even teenager Evelyn flirts with a soldier, and Barbara gets to know Captain Jack Harding, whose job is to screen all women who want to marry American soldiers. Harding believes that most war marriages are rash and mistaken. He claims that life with alcohol instead of marriage brings no remorse. There is grief, but no remorse when Capt. Bates dies before he can marry Anne, who is pregnant with his son. When the war is over, Evelyn marries boyfriend Tommy, who is leaving New Zealand. The parents of the late Capt. Bates send for Anne and her son to come to America. Delia wants to divorce her husband 'China', so that she can marry an American, but when China is released from captivity he murders his unfaithful wife. On his trial Capt. Harding gives testimony that Delia was intimate with seven American soldiers. This hurts Barbara, but she follows Capt. Harding to America.