The setting is a suburb of New York City. It's 1944 and World War II is still going on. A bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Lt. William Seacroft has flown from Italy on a two-day leave to meet and marry his pen pal sweetheart. He pops in on the Wilkins family. But he's a surprise to Ruth's parents, and to Ruth (who just said "Yes!" to wed her childhood sweetheart, Albert). So, Ruth is a ruse of sorts, impersonated in the mail by her well-meaning and precocious teenage sister, Miriam. Bedlam breaks loose around the Wilkins household over the next two days. But the place was ripe for it, with a cast of characters that make up one of the zaniest sane families of film.
—SimonJack