Magazine writer Montgomery interviews Eddie Clark, the head of the highly successful Bamboo Blonde company, and questions him about the company's beginnings. The enthusiastic Eddie relates the following story: A few years earlier, just before he is about to be shipped out, new recruit Lieutenant Patrick Ransom, Jr. is sent to Eddie's "off-limits" New York nightclub by his mischievous bomber plane crew. While hiding from the military police, Pat, the son of a wealthy Pennsylvanian, meets singer Louise Anderson and ends up dining with her. Although he is officially engaged to socialite Eileen Sawyer, a snob who has stood him up, Pat is attracted to down-to-earth Louise. Unaware that Pat is rich, Louise insists on paying his way and accompanies him to the airport. Before he and his South Pacific-bound crew board their airplane, Pat playfully demands that Louise take an instant photograph of herself and keeps it as a memento. In Saipan, Pat is kidded by his crew about his "girl friend," but is too embarrassed to admit that he doesn't know her name and plays the role of the silent Lothario. When the usually effective crew then fails to down any enemy planes, they decide to use Louise's photograph as a good-luck charm by painting her likeness on the side of their airplane. The crew's subsequent success in battle draws attention to the portrait, which has been dubbed the "Bamboo Blonde," and back in New York, the ambitious Eddie begins promoting Louise as the real Bamboo Blonde. Although at first hesitant to exploit the situation, Louise eventually goes along with Eddie's plans. Soon, however, Pat and his crew are ordered back to New York to begin a war bond promotion tour. While both Pat and Louise fret about their impending reunion, which is being covered by the press as a national event, Eileen decides to reclaim Pat as her fiancé. After Eileen makes her presence known to Louise at the airport, the chagrined Pat asks the equally embarrassed Louise to continue the "ruse" for the sake of the tour. Depressed by Pat's apparent indifference, Louise seeks comfort at her favorite restaurant. To her delight, Pat soon joins her and reassures her that he is no longer engaged and would like to romance her in earnest. The next night, however, Eileen confronts Louise and tells her she is too low-class for Pat. Eileen then threatens to expose Pat as a cad by announcing their engagement during the bond tour. Although Louise agrees to accompany Pat and the crew on the tour, she avoids Pat out of fear of Eileen. Eventually, however, Pat forces Louise to admit she loves him, and the couple become engaged. When Eileen reads about the engagement, she decides to hold a Bamboo Blonde bond party at her estate. During the party, Louise learns that Pat's parents will not be attending and assumes that they are rejecting her because of her class. Hurt, Louise leaves, but is intercepted at the airport by Pat, who insists on flying her back to New York himself. While flying in a thick fog, Pat pretends to be lost and lands the plane in his own backyard. As Louise eavesdrops outside the Ransoms' front window, Pat's parents inform their son that Eileen never told them about the party. Confident at last that Pat truly loves her, Louise happily reunites with her pilot.