Laurel Stevens has made a new film called The Kidnapped Bride. The premise sparks a brainstorm among a pair of small-time crooks, Mike Valla and Dandy, who scheme to kidnap Laurel by posing as the studio limousine crew taking her to the premiere. At first, Laurel believes it’s a publicity stunt, scolding them for a stale idea that could backfire and damage her career. She doesn’t take the plan seriously until she tries to get out of the car, and Mike slaps her to drive home the point.
They whisk her to a Malibu beachfront hideout, while Barney Baylies and studio chief Arthur Martin scramble to figure out why Laurel is a no-show at the premiere. Gossip columnist Daisy Parker wants the scoop, and the studio executives decide that avoiding a scandal is essential, choosing not to report Laurel missing to the police.
Laurel is dressed down in a tacky, fuzzy pink nightgown to replace her evening dress. When she slips her hand into Mike’s pocket, she discovers he isn’t armed with a gun but has been using a pipe to simulate one. Dandy volunteers to watch over Laurel first, but Mike warns him that she’s crafty and off-limits, taking the first watch himself. Meanwhile Laurel makes a desperate attempt to escape via the bathroom window, only to be warned that a 50-foot drop would mean certain peril. Her effort to seduce Mike into letting her go fails, and during Dandy’s watch she appeals to his sympathy, claiming she’s afraid of Mike. Dandy learns that Mike has a criminal past, having done time for killing someone, and Mike’s hardened demeanor interrupts him. When Laurel asks why Mike is so hostile, he bluntly says he doesn’t like “phonies.” He also grows puzzled about why there’s been no news of the kidnapping.
The pair demands a $50,000 ransom, but Laurel bristles at the sum, insisting she’s worth far more. She also realizes this ruse could wreck her career, and Mike begins to grasp why there has been no media coverage of Laurel’s disappearance.
Police Sergeant McBride—the officer who sent Mike to prison for a killing he now believes Mike didn’t commit—flies in from Los Angeles to Malibu for a routine parole check. He warns Mike not to seek revenge for a wrongful conviction. To avoid police involvement and publicity, Laurel changes her appearance by shedding her platinum wig and adopting a new persona as Mike’s “girlfriend,” which confounds the men around her.
The studio finally orders a reward of $100,000, triggering a flurry of media attention and public speculation. McBride remains skeptical about the legitimacy of the kidnapping and cautions Baylies about possible charges for faking a crime. The news reverberates through the press and among those connected to the ransom, and Laurel grows increasingly unsettled as she starts to fall for Mike, who believes the ruse must be convincing to protect her career. Desperate to halt the plan, Laurel suggests that not accepting the ransom would make the whole thing a non-crime.
A breakthrough moment comes when McBride notices a portrait of Laurel at the studio and suddenly recalls where he has seen her before. In a bid to derail the scheme, Laurel knocks Mike unconscious. When he comes to, McBride arrives and offers Mike a single chance to make amends for the false conviction he endured. Laurel then knocks McBride out as well, and she and Mike steal a police car to race toward the airport.
Bertha, Laurel’s assistant, Bertha accompanies them by taking the ransom money in a suitcase to the airport, where Dandy is working at luggage check-in. The trio is eventually intercepted by the cops, but Dandy reveals that he deliberately swapped the suitcases, choosing not to follow through with the plan.
With no crime to charge and no arrests to speak of, Laurel and Mike find themselves in love, and she refuses to press charges. Mike urges her to tell the truth, but she insists that no one would believe it. The entire stunt ultimately dissolves into a quagmire of deception and desire, leaving Laurel poised between career concerns, newfound affection, and the uncertain verdict of the public.
