Rough, Tough and Ready (1945)

Brad Crowder (Chester Morris) is co-owner in the Crowder Salvage Company with Jo Matheson (Jean Rogers), who inherited her father's share of the business. She is in love with Brad, while he thinks of her as a brat in overalls. Brad is a wolf after all the girls, especially those of his best friend Owen McCarey (Victor McLaglen.) When the war begins, Brad offers his salvage equipment and men to the Navy, provided he gets an officer's commission. The Navy isn't interested but the Army is, minus the commission, and send Brad and his men to training school for thirteen weeks. Brad has a dinner date with Jo, but breaks it when Owen bets him he can't take his latest girl, Kitty Duval (Amelita Ward.) Kitty phones while Owen is taking a shower, and Brad tells he Owen is still working but he will pick her up. By the time Owen catches up, Kitty is showing a decided preference for Brad, and Owen consoles himself with Lorine Gray (Veda Ann Borg), a Brooklyn girl pretending to be an innocent little gal from the South who wants a home and a husband. Brad returns from training to find that Jo has joined the WAC abd that Owen is about to marry Lorine. Brad, seeing that Owen is really in love, has no intention of breaking up the romance. Kitty can't make a date with Brad and sends Lorine to explain. Lorine falls for Brad and jilts Owen. Presuming that Brad has deliberately taken her, they fight and both men are badly mauled. Before the breach between them can be mended, bot are ordered overseas. Unless one has missed the other 123 versions of this plot, the only question remaining is which man will save the other's life at the risk of his own?