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In 1916, while England is deep in war with
Germany, wealthy American Richard Bogard buys an estate in Kent and
displaces its longtime occupant, Diana "Ann" Boyce-Smith. Although she
has just learned that her father has been killed in action, Ann treats
Bogard with brave graciousness and moves to the guest cottage without
complaint.
She then prepares to say goodbye to her brother
Ronnie and childhood friend and neighbor, Claude Hope, both newly trained
naval officers on their way to France. Before he leaves, however,
Claude, who has loved Ann for years, proposes a postwar marriage, and she
happily accepts.
Soon after Claude and Ronnie's departure, Bogard
accompanies Ann on a bicycle ride and tells her that he has enlisted in the
Royal Air Force. Unaware of Ann's engagement to Claude, Bogard then
confesses his love, and she finally admits that she, too, is in love.
To Bogard's dismay, however, Ann leaves suddenly for a seaport in France,
where she meets up with Claude and Ronnie and volunteers for the ambulance
corps. Once alone with Ronnie, Ann confesses her love of Bogard but,
although Ronnie advises her to tell Claude the truth, she insists on keeping
her marriage pledge.
Later, Ronnie shows Ann an official notice in
which Bogard is listed as a casualty of a training accident. Ann
quietly mourns for her dead lover, then assures a frightened, drunk Claude,
who is about to leave on a particularly dangerous assignment, that she will
"be there" for him when he returns. While Claude and Ann move in
together with Ronnie's blessing, Bogard, who actually recovered from his
accident injuries, returns to Kent and learns of Ann's general whereabouts.
Bogard finally finds Ann in a military hospital, but after a brief, tearful
reunion, she runs away without explanation.
That night, Bogard and his flying companion,
"Mac" McGinnis, come across a drunken Claude in the street and carry him to
his home. Stunned to see Ann there, Bogard deposits the oblivious
Claude and leaves in a disapproving, jealous huff. Bogard and Mac run
into Claude again in a café and listen in disgust as he drunkenly tells them
about the boat trips he takes with Ronnie. Convinced that Claude has
an easy, safe assignment, Bogard invites him to fly his next mission, which
involves bombing a German munitions works. Still unaware of Ann's
connection to Bogard, Claude agrees to accompany Bogard and Mac and
surprises them with his expert shooting and cool bravery under fire.
When Ann learns of Bogard's actions, she tells Ronnie to invite Bogard on
one of Claude's missions, hoping to change the American's lowly opinion of
her.
In the pouring rain, Claude, Ronnie and Bogard
set out in a speedboat and, while zooming close to a German battleship,
hand-launch a torpedo in a blaze of gunfire. Although the ship finally
is sunk, Claude is blinded during the attack but, with Bogard, pretends that
he can still see. After Bogard tells Ann that he at last understands
her situation, Ann learns of Claude's blindness and says a final goodbye to
Bogard. When Claude, who has deduced Ann's love of the American, hears
that Bogard has volunteered for a suicidal bombing mission, he insists that
he and Ronnie use their boat to destroy the targeted battleship. While
the blind Claude mans the torpedo, Ronnie steers the boat directly into the
German battleship, and both officers die in a spectacular explosion.
Free to love, Ann and Bogard return to their home in Kent, where Claude and
Ronnie are eulogized as heroes. |
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