Kansas City Princess

Rosie Sturges, Joan Blondell is a Kansas City manicurist who is dating the small-time gangster Dynamite Carson, [Robert Armstrong]. Her friend and roommate Marie Callahan, Glenda Farrell, is another manicurist who dreams of a wealthy husband and dislikes Dynamite, urging Rosie to drop him. When Dynamite is away, Marie presses Rosie to go on a date with their customer Jimmy the Duke, [Gordon Westcott], unaware that Jimmy is an associate of Dynamite. Dynamite’s anger would flare if he learned Marie had been dating behind his back, so the two friends quickly decide to avoid trouble by plotting a bold escape.

Fearing the fallout, Rosie and Marie leave Kansas City by disguising themselves as members of a girls’ group to board a train to New York. Dynamite pursues them, while the women cross paths with two ambitious businessmen in New York, Samuel Warren, [Hobart Cavanaugh], and Jim Cameron, [T. Roy Barnes]. Their plan to raise money spirals when Dynamite corners them on a ship bound for Paris; the girls cleverly induce the men to toss their purses out the window to borrow money for fares and fresh clothes. At the same time, Dynamite becomes the bodyguard of millionaire Junior Ashcraft, [Hugh Herbert], who is sailing to Paris to confront his wife, whom he suspects of an affair with Dr. Sascha Pilnakoff, [Ivan Lebedeff].

When Rosie and Marie realize Junior is aboard, they pose as French manicurists to coax him into lending them the funds necessary to repay their debt, not realizing that Dynamite is the man guarding him. Dynamite reveals their ruse to Junior, and the girls’ panic rises as they scramble to keep the money flowing and the subterfuge from collapsing. Junior hands over the money and invites them to join him in Paris to meet with his private investigator Marcel Duryea, [Osgood Perkins].

In Paris, Junior, Dynamite, and the girls meet Marcel. Rosie adopts the guise of Dr. Sascha’s lover to push Junior’s wife toward leaving him and reconciling with Junior, but Marcel has his own scheme: he double-crosses them and guides Junior’s wife to discover him with Marie. The ensuing upheaval sends Junior toward a divorce and a potential marriage to Marie. Meanwhile, Rosie accepts Dynamite’s marriage proposal, but only on the condition that he renounce a life of crime and start anew. The story winds through wit, deception, and shifting loyalties as the lovers and con artists weigh love, money, and the prospect of a fresh start in a world far from crime.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:00