It's love at first sight for Dan Hardesty (William Powell) and Joan Ames (Kay Francis) as they bump into each other at a Hong Kong bar. Police detective Steve Burke catches up to Dan and takes him into custody. They are taking the boat to San Francisco. Dan pulls them both overboard but rescues the drowning detective. They joined by Joan, drunken petty thief Skippy, and con artist Betty who is pretending to be a countess. Joan doesn't know that Dan faces a death sentence and he doesn't know that she's terminally ill.
The only thing holding this back from unreserved love is why Steve is after Dan. It needs an opening of what happened in the original incident to exonerate him in the audience's eyes. The fact that he saved the detective from drowning already points to his goodness. It would be better to have something more definitive. Skippy's little scams are loads of fun. He's great comic relief. Powell is charming as heck. This is a fine rom-com with a dark edge.
The only thing holding this back from unreserved love is why Steve is after Dan. It needs an opening of what happened in the original incident to exonerate him in the audience's eyes. The fact that he saved the detective from drowning already points to his goodness. It would be better to have something more definitive. Skippy's little scams are loads of fun. He's great comic relief. Powell is charming as heck. This is a fine rom-com with a dark edge.