Manicurist Eve Fallon is in love with police detective Danny Barr, but becomes jealous when she misinterprets Dan’s business relationship with Mrs. Cole, for whom he is investigating the theft of her jewelry. Mrs. Cole entrusts the recovery of her jewels to Richard Morey, a racketeer posing as a private detective. Eve is fired when she yells at Dan in the barber shop where she works, but when Morey, who has been a client, later tries to seduce her, she rejects him. Dan attempts to tell Eve the truth about Mrs. Cole, but Eve refuses to believe him, and is hired as a newspaper reporter by her friend, editor Jack Sully. Morey meets with his cohorts, Russ Cortig and Benny Battle, and orders them to meet with Carey and Don Butler, the thieves who stole Mrs. Cole’s jewels, and offer them $40,000 for the goods. They meet in the park, but the Butlers reject the offer, because they know the jewels were insured for $200,000. When the Butlers punch Cortig and run, he fires at them, accidentally killing a baby in its carriage. Cortig and Battle then escape. Dan is assigned to the murder case and, upon finding a list of the stolen jewels near the scene of the murder, connects the two crimes. Eve is reconciled with Dan and interviews Bessie, a witness to the baby murder. She recognizes Bessie’s description of Battle, who flirted with Bessie and often flirted with Eve at the barber shop. After Bessie positively identifies Battle by a photo, Dan arrests him, but Bessie is intimidated by Morey’s thugs and refuses to identify Battle in a police line-up. In order to scare Battle into confessing, Eve reports that he has already confessed, and the news makes the headlines. As Battle is released from jail, Eve fires shots from Dan’s gun, which frighten Battle into returning to jail and confessing all to Dan. Although Morey’s involvement is not revealed by Battle’s confession, Cortig is arrested for the murder. A court trial, however, finds Cortig innocent based on his manufactured alibi. Eve quits the newspaper because she is not allowed to print more damning information about Cortig, and Dan quits the police force so he can get Cortig on his own terms. Eve returns to work as a manicurist, and gets postcards from Dan from up and down the East coast. When Eve reveals to Morey, who is getting a manicure, that Dan is after Cortig, Morey calls Carey Butler and tells him that he and Don can have Cortig’s share of the money for the jewels if they get rid of him. After Morey leaves, Eve spills some powder and, noticing Morey’s scarred thumbprint, recalls that the police were looking for a man with a scar on his thumb. She takes the print to police fingerprint experts. Dan then returns to New York and hides on the window sill of Cortig’s apartment when Cortig returns home with the Butlers. They kill Cortig and take Dan hostage after seeing his silhouette through the window shade. Carey calls Morey, who is getting a manicure from Eve, and allows Eve to talk to Dan briefly. Morey instructs Carey to meet Eve at the barber shop, where they will exchange money for jewels. After Eve leaves, Morey calls the police and advises them to arrest Carey and Eve. Dan manages to escape from Don by throwing his voice and knocking him out. Morey goes to the barber shop to watch the action. Dan arrives shortly after and turns out the lights at a crucial moment. Pandemonium ensues, and when the lights go back on, Dan has handcuffed Morey and Carey together. After the police arrest them, the police chief informs Dan that he had never accepted his resignation. Eve then consents to Dan’s marriage proposal. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch Big Brown Eyes (1936)
