Seven Days Ashore 1944

Dan Arland is a carefree playboy who has spent months at sea in the Merchant Marine. He returns to San Francisco for a seven-day shore leave and discovers that two violinists in Dot Diamond’s all-female band—Carol Dean and Lucy Banning—have no idea he has been romantically involved with them both. His actual girlfriend, Annabelle Rogers, arrives with questions about his loyalty, and the tension of a complicated love triangle hangs in the air.

To untangle things, he hatches a series of schemes. He uses a hat with three names for his selection, drawing Lucy Banning and tossing out Carol Dean. Then he ropes his shipmate Monty Stephens and Orval ‘Handsome’ Martin to pose as wealthy suitors and woo the two musicians. He pretends a battlefield injury to explain his absence, and asks Monty to take Lucy to the Indigo Club where her band is performing. Just as he is about to greet Carol, he runs into his parents and Annabelle at home, who hope for a reconciliation. He sends Carol off with Orval, setting in motion a string of comic misadventures.

Each new complication reveals how clever and stubborn these women are, and they all decide to turn the tables on him, threatening a breach-of-contract-style showdown. The plan shifts from getting Carol and Lucy out of the way to testing Dan’s sincerity, with Orval and Monty expected to pretend to be rich suitors and win over the gold-digging violinists. But the women join forces with Annabelle—who, in a secret twist, is allied with Lucy and Carol to teach him a lesson. A cascade of mix-ups follows, from mistaken identities to rushed declarations of affection.

Amid the chaos, the revelation that Annabelle is secretly engaged to another man—Alfred Jones—adds a further layer of comedy and tension. In the end, love prevails in the lightest of fashions: Dan and Annabelle decide to wed before his seven days ashore are up, choosing honesty over deception and setting the stage for a happier, if chaotic, future.