Con man Ace Connors (John Hodiak) has hidden $500k in bonds in a cookbook. He encounters con woman Ricki Woodner (Lucille Ball) and blows up her scam. He has been caught for the bond theft and has do a deal to reduce his sentence. His partner Fly Feletti (Elisha Cook, Jr.) is not happy with his cut. Police detective Bob Simms (Lloyd Nolan) accompanies him to New York to close the deal. Ricki follows them onto the train.
This should have been a fun con vs con flick but the cop gets into the way. It should have been simple with plenty of double-crossing and triple-crossing. The first con has a fun ending. It's the start of something but it ends there. Instead of a fun romp, it tries to be a romantic melodrama. The villainous Fly could have added more tension but he's not showcased enough. Again, the cop sucks up the space that would have been better served with the Fly. In the end, nothing really works in this movie. Even the romantic chemistry suffers. There is a Mardi Gras section but that is only marginally interesting. Imagine Lucille Ball playing a fun con woman character in a fun cat-and-mouse con game. This is not that.
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