Canadians Daisy and Major Teddy Cooper are living happily in India in 1942 with their little son Richard and a child on the way. Just after buying her a piano, Teddy is transferred to the Far East. Daisy returns with their children to her parents' Alberta farm to wait for him. Her piano is stashed in the barn.
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Singapore, the last place she has heard Teddy might be stationed, falls to the Japanese, and all of her letters to him are returned. Money is tight. Slim Godfrey's local dance band needs a piano player, and she pleads for a shot. Talented roving trombone player Max takes a shine to her, and agrees to join the band on the condition that she joins, too. When her family is sleeping, she sneaks out to the barn to practice. Max teaches her chords, and encourages her to sing. She becomes a star attraction of the band. When her father disapproves of her late nights with Max, she moves into her own house on the edge of town. But she continues to write to Teddy, not knowing whether he is alive or dead; and to resist Max's romantic overtures.
Two years later, Bernie Blitzer offers Slim Godfrey's Stardusters double their pay for regular work at his dance hall up in the big city of Edmonton. Daisy is unsure about commuting that far. She has children to consider. But both Blitzer and Max will bail without her, and she needs the money. She relents. The band is successful, and she loves the rush of performing. But there are negatives. The military men on the dance floor show inappropriate interest in her. Her children don't always make it to church when left in the care of their wild and fun-loving Auntie Frances. Slim drinks too much, undercuts the band's pay, and has to be tossed out. Daisy finds it harder and harder to see Teddy in her mind, and to think of things to write to him. She misses their son's 9th birthday to perform live on radio, and he increasingly resents her absences. When her brother Will returns at the end of the war in Europe, he sharply notices the changes in her; and, as a man ravaged by war, angrily sympathizes with Teddy, still possibly embroiled in it while she's out having fun. Max pressures Daisy to marry him. He is increasingly bonding with her children, and a little maddened by her continuing loyalty to a man who could be dead. Then a telegram arrives. Teddy is alive. He is returning tonight. And the band has a gig tomorrow. Daisy must decide which direction to go.
The review of this Movie prepared by vjm