Kansas City Princess (1934)

Too much of everything

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Pretty Good

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This is a screwball comedy with a plot that plays fast and loose with any semblance of credibility. It has Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, two manicurists, running away from Blondell's boyfriend (Robert Armstrong) because she was duped out of her engagement ring. It just happens to have been by one of his friends, and instead of explaining, the two masquerade as part of a girls club and hop on a train to New York, and then when still pursued, a boat to Paris. It's pretty zany, can you tell? Along the way, the amateur magicians they run into are fun to watch, but the millionaire played by Hugh Herbert is less so. It's not great but watchable, with some entertaining banter between Blondell, Farrell, and Armstrong.

Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell spout zippy dialog as a couple of manicurists moving up in the world in this very silly comedy.Robert Armstrong is Dynamite, a good-natured tough guy who wants to marry Blondell—who is keen on that idea despite Glenda's outspoken disapproval ("If you was the bearded lady in the circus, you'd still be too good for Dynamite"). All three end up on a boat bound for Paris, where Armstrong meets millionaire Hugh Herbert and quickly declares himself Herbert's bodyguard.The plot itself makes very little sense but is held together, more or less, by the personalities of the four stars, who seem determined to make it something fun, however thin the story. The dialog is certainly colorful—packed with phrases like "a low down mug" and "That guy getting fresh?"—and generally delivered as rapidly as humanly possible (especially by Blondell and Farrell, certainly a couple of Hollywood's all-time great fast talkers).Overall, it's not particularly memorable but very easy to take for the hour or so it lasts.

Kansas City Princess (1934) * 1/2 (out of 4) Rosie (Joan Blondell) decides to go out with a man after her best friend (Glenda Farrell) says that her gangster boyfriend (Robert Armstrong) doesn't deserve her. Once out on the date the man steals a valuable ring from her that was given to her by the gangster. Fearing for their safety, the two girls head to New York but of course the gangster finds out and goes after them. No, this isn't a hard-hitting drama from Warner but instead it's a "B" comedy that starts off well but quickly falls apart into a disastrous second half. Blondell and Farrell are so good together that the film actually starts off on a very good note. I thought the two actresses had some nice chemistry together and we get a pretty funny sequence where Farrell is teaching Blondell what to say in order to get a rich man. There's also a pretty good dinner sequence where the two ladies and their dates end up in a bad situation. Once the girls jump on the train and head to New York, the entire film just comes crashing down. As others have pointed out, it really does seem as if the screenplay wasn't completed so the actors, director and others just showed up and starting making things up as they went along. There's really not a single thing in the second half of this picture that makes any sense and for the life of me it just seemed like a bunch of characters talking at one another in order for the running time to reach past the hour mark. Before long additional characters are brought into the chaos and it still doesn't make any sense. The only ones who are going to want to check this out are fans of the two ladies. Both are good in the film but even their charm can't save this stinker.

Two smart dames must take it on the lam when a jealous hoodlum goes out of control.KANSAS CITY PRINCESS was the sort of ephemeral comic frippery which Warner Brothers Studio produced almost effortlessly during the 1930's. Well made & highly enjoyable, Depression audiences couldn't seem to get enough of these popular, funny photo dramas.Joan Blondell & Glenda Farrell are perfectly cast as the sassy, fast-talking females who use their wiles to get them all the way to Paris. Unlike their other films, the gals have an even parity here, equally sharing the wisecracks and what little romantics the plot tosses their way.Robert Armstrong does very well as the somewhat dense petty gangster who precipitates the girls' flight. Hugh Herbert, wacky & whimsical as ever, appears as a hapless millionaire who befriends Blondell & Farrell, making use of them in a hilariously inept plan to catch his faithless wife.Smaller roles are very nicely filled by T. Roy Barnes & Hobart Cavanaugh as two free spirited aldermen who happily assist the girls when they need it most; and Ivan Lebedeff as the wily Russian doctor who is cuckolding Herbert.Movie mavens will recognize Arthur Houseman as a inebriate getting a manicure from Blondell; and Lillian Harmer as the formidable Girls of America leader, both unbilled.While never stars of the first rank, Joan Blondell (1906-1979) & Glenda Farrell (1904-1971) enlivened scores of films at Warner Bros. throughout the 1930's, especially the eight in which they appeared together. Whether playing gold diggers or working girls, reporters or secretaries, these blonde & brassy ladies were very nearly always a match for whatever leading man was lucky enough to share equal billing alongside them. With a wisecrack or a glance, their characters showed they were ready to take on the world - and any man in it. Never as wickedly brazen as Paramount's Mae West, you always had the feeling that, tough as they were, Blondell & Farrell used their toughness to defend vulnerable hearts ready to break over the right guy. While many performances from seven decades ago can look campy or contrived today, these two lovely ladies are still spirited & sassy.