Summaries

Synopsis

Lili Smith is a young British singer/dancer at the time of the first World War in 1918. In the opening scene of the movie, Lili sings "Whistling away the dark" to a crowd of theatregoers. An air raid interrupts her performance and a frenzy ensues. The panic is calmed by Lili, who leads the crowd in a rendition of "Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag", "Keep the Home Fires Burning" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". During the air raid, a German submarine surfaces. This vessel carries Colonel Kurt von Ruger, a spy. He is revealed to be Lili's handler and lover, but he masquerades as her Swiss uncle when an investigator arrives at Lili's house.

Col. von Ruger gives Lili her next assignment: seduce Major William Larrabee, an American squadron leader and young, single, ladies' man. Maj. Larrabee is thought to have access to top secret air force information. The Colonel also mentions that Lili is "to be decorated by the French government."

The next day, General Kessler (with his henchman, Otto Kraus, for protection) speaks to the Colonel and tells him that he does not trust Lili. Lili is revealed to be half German, her real last name being Schmidt. She left Germany at the age of 10 and hasn't been back since. Her English mother (Lili is a British subject) and the fact that she is a female teenager lead Gen. Kessler to believe she can't be trusted, whereas those characteristics are what the Colonel believes makes her the perfect spy. The General, however, does not have the authority to override the Colonel, so he vows to try and obtain it.

While the higher-ups are fighting, Lili is serenading men at a hospital in France ("The Girl In No Man's Land", "Smile Away Each Rainy Day"). Major Larrabee sees her there, but she does not see him.

Lili then goes out to a dinner where she is supposed to meet Maj. Larrabee. However, he is not there. She is, however, greeted by Maj. Larrabee's squadron, who bring her home ("It's a long way to Tipperary" reprise, "Mademoiselle from Armentières"). One of the members, Lt. George "Youngblood" Carson, kisses her goodnight, with the intent of being kissed on the cheek, but Lili kisses him on the lips and he swoons. The squadron leaves ("Mademoiselle from Armentières" reprise). Lili then calls Col von Ruger, who says he will eat breakfast with her, and she tells him Maj. Larrabee is on an important mission, according to one of the squadron.

Lili meets Maj. Larrabee that night when he organizes a serenade outside her window. He then takes her on a picnic at 3:00 am.

The next day, Maj. Larrabee and Lili go out to a restaurant ("Whistling away the dark" (French)". Lili extracts information from him and feeds it to the Colonel on a horseback ride the next day. The Colonel tells her she may need to sleep with the Major.

Later in the day, two French agents come to Lili's home and ask her to spy on Major Larrabee because they believe he is passing information to a female spy the major is with romantically. Lili refuses to cooperate with them, knowing the agents are actually searching for her. Lili says that if she stops seeing the Major, the flow of information will stop and then she will be found out, but if she continues seeing him then the agents will find her anyway.

Lili performs, once again, at a theatre ("I'll give you three guesses"). She leaves before her curtain call to meet Major Larrabee in her dressing room, where the couple kiss passionately. Major Larrabee says he is tired because he was fighting behind enemy lines. He says he must get back to the squadron Sunday night. The duo go out to a restaurant with Col. von Ruger following them. The two French agents arrive and tell the Colonel to find them seats close to the Major because they have mistaken the Colonel for the maître d'hôtel. One of the French soldiers whom Lili serenaded at a hospital, T. C. Carstairs, speaks to Major Larrabee and mentions an "Opération Crêpe Suzette". The angered Major tells him to shut up.

On the drive back to Lili's place, Maj. Larrabee explains to Lili that T. C. is always drunk, even when he flies, because he is scared of heights. Lili then calls Colonel von Ruger and tells him the new information. The next day, Lili and Major Larrabee go on a walk and sing with some children in the countryside. They retire to a hotel, where Lili attempts to figure out what "Opération Crêpe Suzette" is. The French agents attempt to spy on the Major by climbing his roof, but the rain outside makes the operation slippery and they almost alert Lili and the Major to their plot. The Colonel, wanting to meet with Lili, delivers champagne to her room as a signal.

When Lili meets with Col. von Ruger, he tells Lili that the Major has lied to her. He hasn't been in the air or behind enemy lines. The Colonel now thinks that Major Larrabee is cheating on Lili. To test this suspicion, Lili "accidentally" pours champagne on his shirt as they kiss. Then she tries to get him to take his shirt off. However, Major Larrabee senses there is something wrong, but Lili steers the conversation so they end up arguing, then kissing. They then get into bed, but Lili cannot stop laughing. When she finally pulls herself together, she accuses Major Larrabee of calling her "Suzette", though in reality he has said nothing. Fooled, Major Larrabee says he called her "my pet". Lili visibly does not believe him, and continues laughing when they kiss. The Major, turned off and angered, leaves, but Lili apologizes sincerely and the couple goes back to kissing. Lili interrupts them again and tells the Major that she still does not believe him and pressures him for details of Crêpe Suzette. Maj. Larrabee tells her that it was a secret military operation. Lili, knowing the information is false, gets angry and leaves in the rain.

The French agents fall off the roof into a pool. Lili is so angry as she walks past them that she doesn't notice. She says she will return to Paris. The Major delivers her home when Lili cannot start his car herself. Angry and wet, Lili goes to take a shower. The Major follows her, and then accuses Lili of devising the whole fight to avoid having sex since he believes she is a virgin. The duo make up and it is implied they have sex in the shower.

Major Larrabee flies the next day. Lili, meanwhile, meets again with the French agents who ask her once again to spy on the Major. They are absolutely certain that there is someone who is extracting secret information from Major Larrabee. They believe it is Suzette Maldue, a performer who goes by the name of Crêpe Suzette. This is the woman with whom the Major is having an affair. Lili, along with the agents, goes to see one of her shows with a distinctly sour face and is shocked to discover Suzette is a striptease dancer. An enraged Lili goes home, cursing.

Lt. T.C. and Maj. Larrabee hijack a German plane and use it to blow up an air force military base ("It's a long way to Tipperary" instrumental reprise). Lili incorporates a striptease into her (usually straight-laced) performances ("I'll give you three guesses" reprise). Her routine even manages to stun the unflappable Col. von Ruger. Lili tells the Colonel what she knows about the bogus Operation Crêpe Suzette. Her "uncle" asks if she's jealous, to which Lili calls him an ass.

Major Larrabee visits, hobbling around on a cane as Lili plays the piano. As Lili mentally recalls Suzette's performance, she grills Major Larrabee on his whereabouts. When he says he was flying, Lili kicks his injured leg and speaks to Colonel Kurt von Ruger, who confirms the veracity of the Major's testimony. Lili takes a shortcut through a bedroom, where the maid and butler are having sex (though Lili does not notice), and tries to apologize to Major Bill Larrabee. He refuses to reconcile and leaves, saying he has an important meeting, asking Lili to believe him. Lili pretends she does, but she follows him. Bill is going out to lunch with Suzette. Lili takes her notebook, filled with German spy information, and tells the butler to put it under Suzette's mattress.

Lili telephones the French agents and says she now must "out" Suzette as a German spy. Suzette and Bill are both arrested for high treason. The Colonel, reading the news story, asks Lili what she thinks. Lili, restraining herself from emotion, says that their secret codes must be changed, as they were contained in the notebook. Lili tells the Colonel that the French agents would have discovered her spying if she didn't throw them off the trail. The Colonel replies that it was a way to eliminate a rival for the affections of the Major. Lili calls Colonel Kurt von Ruger an ass, which Kurt says is just proof that she loves the Major - she has only told him that when he accused her of being in love with the Major. Lili starts crying as the duo arrive. The Colonel remarks that she should look happy, because it isn't every day a German spy is awarded the French Legion of Honour.

While being questioned by the French government, Suzette says she did have an affair with Major Larrabee, but he took her to lunch to say that he was in love with another woman (Lili). Lili is dubbed Knight of the Legion of Honour ("La Marseillaise"). Kurt says good-bye to Lili, reminding her she is only half-English as he says "until we meet again" in German.

General Kessler greets the Colonel. He has obtained permission from the Kaiser to overrule any and all of Kurt von Ruger's decisions. The General says he will use a minor excuse to kill the Colonel. The butler tells the maid that Lili is unstable and they should hide the news concerning Major Larrabee from her, but the maid tells Lili that Suzette is proclaiming her innocence. The butler turns out to be right, as Lili reveals her spy identity to the officials to try and help the Major as the butler and the maid prepare to flee, knowing something is amiss with the Colonel. General Kessler gives instructions to Kraus to kill Lili ASAP. The butler stuns the General, allowing the Colonel to flee. He goes to collect Lili. Kraus, almost shoots Lili but he instead hits Colonel Kurt von Ruger's arm. Lili and the Colonel go to the train station. They are to go to Switzerland. The Colonel tells Lili she should never have said she was a spy. Suzette and the Major would have been exonerated because she knew nothing. Now, the government knows Bill has actually passed information to a German spy: Lili. Colonel Kurt tells her that going to Switzerland will fix their problems.

Kraus trails the duo, with the intent of killing them. Lili and the Colonel board the train. General Kessler finds the maid and the butler packing. Lili becomes completely unglued, as the wounded Kurt tries to comfort her. Kraus is on board the train. Meanwhile, the French agents tell Major Larrabee that Lili is a German spy. The Major, angered, locks the agents in his bathroom and goes to find Lt. T.C., who is drunk and has broken in to the facility where Maj. Larrabee is being held.

Kraus holds Lili and Colonel von Ruger hostage. He would kill Lili, but, as Kurt explains, Kraus would have to kill the Colonel too, which he isn't allowed to do unless provoked. Lieutenant T.C. and Major Larrabee arrive to investigate Lili's house as the maid and butler are being tied up. The French agents intend to do the same, but their car gets in an intentional accident and they are delayed. Major Larrabee unties the maid and the butler. German airplanes shoot at the train. The passengers jump out of the train to avoid certain death. American airplanes from Major Larrabee's squadron save them by returning fire. Major Larrabee drops his goggles and cap as a token of his love for Lili ("Whistling Away the Dark" instrumental reprise).

Armistice is declared. Lili, now in Switzerland, sings for a War Relief Fund ("Whistling Away the Dark" reprise). One by one, each member of Major Larrabee's squadron shows up in the wings of the stage showing they forgive Lili for her espionage. Major Larrabee walks to Lili at the end of the song. They kiss to end the show. ("It's a long way to Tipperary" reprise)