Kansas City Princess (1934)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Sy Bartlett (story)
Sy Bartlett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 October 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

See their hilarious adventures as they hitch-hike their way to Paris! (original ad)

Plot:

Two wisecracking manicurists flee an irate gangster.

Plot Keywords:

Manicurist | Paris | Gangster | Girl Scouts | Train

Cast

Joan Blondell	...	Rosie Sturges
Glenda Farrell	...	Marie Callahan
Robert Armstrong	...	Dynamite 'Dynie' Carson
Hugh Herbert	...	Junior Ashcraft
Osgood Perkins	...	Marcel Duryea, French Private Eye
T. Roy Barnes	...	Alderman James 'Jim' Cameron
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Alderman Sam Warren
Gordon Westcott	...	Jimmy the Dude aka Frankie Smith
Vince Barnett	...	Quincy, Dynamite's Henchman
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Dr. Sascha Pilnakoff
Renee Whitney	...	Mrs. 'Lovums' Ashcraft
Arthur Hoyt	...	Mr. Greenway

Also Known As:

The Kansas Princess (UK)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Marie Callahan: Now get this and get it straight. A girl's got to have three things nowadays: money, jack, and dough! 'Bout time you learned it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The FBI Story (1959)

Miss Blondell & Miss Farrell Are At It Again

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.