Antonius Block 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.

Michael_Elliott 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.

Ron Oliver 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.

Arthur Hausner Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell play fast-talking, wise-cracking blondes, roles they often had because they did it so well. They wind up trying to escape from small-time hood Robert Armstrong, who believes Blondell gave her engagement ring to Gordon Westcott, who actually stole it from her. The chase is on when Westcott meets Armstrong and shows the ring to him. He steals it back again, but is furious enough to wring Blondell's neck if he catches up with her. The fun in the first part is all in the chase, with the girls staying one step ahead of Armstrong, first by donning scout uniforms to get on their convention train, and then by jumping into a cab already occupied by two aldermen going to Paris by ship. Armstrong flew to New York to get there ahead of the train and followed the cab, with all three boarding the ship. Before you know it, they are on their way to Paris, but broke. The girls use their wiles to get passage money, and Armstrong uses his gun to force millionaire Hugh Herbert to hire him as a bodyguard. Farrell is more the gold digger of the two, and when she hears a millionaire is on board, they pose as French manicurists to get into his room, where Armstrong is waiting, but more pacified. At this point, the focus of the film changes, much to its detriment. The three hatch a plan to get Herbert's wife, Renee Whitney, to stop fooling around with Ivan Lebedeff in Paris and come back to Herbert. The idea is to trap Lebedeff in a room with one of the girls, so that Whitney can see how unfaithful he is to her. It didn't quite work out that way, with Herbert in for a big surprise.The first half of the film was genuinely funny, with lots of quips and one-liners, including Farrell reminding Blondell that girls these days need three things - money, jack, and dough. The second half was more tedious than funny, and except, perhaps, for the surprise ending, was a waste of time.