page_title: You Came Along
section_title: Plot
hierarchical_section_title: You Came Along / Plot
caption_attribution_description: English: A screenshot of American actress Lizabeth Scott in the final scene of You Came Along (1945) Other information A search of the US Copyright Office catalog shows negative results
context_page_description: You Came Along is a 1945 romantic comedy-drama film set in World War II, directed by John Farrow. The original Robert Smith screenplay was rewritten by Ayn Rand. You Came Along stars Robert Cummings and in her film debut, Lizabeth Scott.
  The plot involves a US Army Air Forces officer who tries to hide his terminal medical condition from a U.S. Treasury Department public relations staff member, whom he just met before a war bond drive. They become romantically involved, agreeing it's "just fun up in the air." When she finds out the truth, she makes a fateful decision to make the most of the little time they have together.
  You Came Along opens with a stanza from the poem "The Sermon of St. Francis" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
  "He giveth you your wings to fly
  And breathe a purer air on high,
  And careth for you everywhere,
  Who for yourselves so little care!"
context_section_description: During World War II, three highly decorated USAAF officers return to Washington, D.C. after a combat tour in Europe:Major Robert "Bob" Collins (Robert Cummings), Captain W. "Shakespeare" Anders (Don DeFore) and Lieutenant R. "Handsome" Janoschek (Charles Drake).  Shakespeare and Handsome are assigned to fly cross-country in a Beech C-45 Expeditor for a war bond tour. Bob, at first is not allowed to accompany them.
  In a running gag, the three officers are expecting to meet "I. V. Hotchkiss," from the Treasury Department. During a press conference at the airport, Bob slips away to find Mr. Hotchkiss who turns out to be Ivy (Lizabeth Scott),a beautiful young woman, whose name was misspelled in Bob's orders. Her boss was injured in a car accident on the way to the airport, so she took over. Bob is incredulous at the idea of an ingénue being the chaperone of three older men, and requests a "briefing room." Despite being miffed at his patronizing attitude, she complies. The airport manager warns that her charges have the appearance of being "wolves," but Ivy replies "But I don't happen to be Little Red Riding Hood."
  Returning to the room, Ivy breaks up the kissing session between the officers and their girlfriends, dragging the unwilling men to the aircraft.  At first stern and commanding, her demeanor softens somewhat on the flight to Boston as Bob nicknames her "Hotcha."
  In Boston, the three officers slip away from the bond drive, forcing Ivy to bring them back from a local nightclub, partying with showgirls in a dressing-room. Despite warming up to Ivy, Bob still regards her as a killjoy, but back at the hotel, due to a mixup, he undresses for bed in Ivy's room, unaware that she is already asleep in bed. After Ivy's shock of waking up to the sight of Bob in his underwear, Shakespeare and Handsome rush into Ivy's room, adding to the chaos.
  During the flight to Chicago, Ivy discovers that Shakespeare has an injured shoulder and Handsome has a prosthetic leg. When she inquires about Bob, the two men become sullen and evasive. In Chicago, Shakespeare and Handsome attend a fashion show, where they pay 50/50 for an expensive dress sent to Ivy, with a card signed "Anonymous" twice, due to Handsome's insistence that he is entitled to an "Anonymous" too. Later she and the three officers go to a nightclub.  During the dance, the pair fall in love.
  In Seattle, while in a café with Shakespeare, Ivy sings Out of Nowhere as she plays the piano. By happenstance, a flight surgeon, Colonel Stubbs (Rhys Williams), passes by and recognizes Shakespeare. Stubbs mentions treating an unnamed Air Force officer for leukemia. Although Shakespeare tries to pretend that Stubbs' patient died two weeks previously, Ivy guesses the patient is really Bob and that he does not have long to live. She now realizes why Shakespeare and Handsome never leave Bob alone—they do not want Bob to think about his impending death.
  In Riverside, California, at the Mission Inn Fliers' Chapel, Bob attends the wedding of Ivy's sister Frances (Kim Hunter), who marries a naval aviator named Bill Allen (Robert Sully), despite having to leave overseas for combat duty. Frances "tells Ivy that she would marry her navy husband even if she knew he would not return." Inspired by her sister's example, Ivy marries Bob, the couple vowing to live life to the fullest, as long as they can. They buy a house in Long Island, New York, near the air base where Shakespeare, Handsome and Bob will be assigned. Shortly after, Bob is ordered to report to duty overseas. He tells Ivy that he is flying to London.
  At the airfield, Bob and Ivy see each other off. While embracing Bob, Ivy spots Colonel Stubbs boarding Bob's flight. Then the truth of the situation hits her. Bob and Ivy agree to "No good-byes". After Bob's aircraft takes off, Ivy asks a ground crew member the direction of London — he points in the opposite direction. At home, Ivy calls Stubbs' office and finds out that he is traveling to Walter Reed Hospital, in Washington D.C.
  Stoically, Ivy goes along with the charade and receives letters
caption: "To the four of us"
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