GIRLS ABOUT TOWN

Wanda Howard and Marie Bailey go out with two balding, middle-aged businessmen from out of town (for $500 apiece) to help Jerry Chase close a sale. However, the women, who share a luxurious suite in an apartment building, have their African American maid Hattie disguise herself as their mother, waiting at the window, to avoid having to invite the men inside.

Wanda is getting tired of how she makes a living, but she and Marie go aboard a yacht the next night to divert rich practical joker Benjamin Thomas and his handsome business associate Jim Baker. Jim knows that the women are paid "entertainment", but quickly finds himself falling for Wanda anyway, and vice versa. When Jerry pays her for her efforts, Wanda tears up the check. Once Jim realizes she genuinely loves him, he asks her to marry him. Although she is initially reluctant, she agrees. However, she informs Jim that there is one complication: her estranged husband Alex. She asks him for a divorce, and he agrees.

Meanwhile, Benjamin's wife, who is divorcing him because of his stinginess, shows up and asks Marie to stop making a fool of him. Marie realizes that Mrs. Thomas is still in love with her husband, and comes up with a plan to cure him of his tightfisted ways. The next day, Marie steers Benjamin to the jewelry store where Mrs. Thomas is waiting. Mrs. Thomas, pretending not to see him, complains (in a loud voice) how cheap her husband is. Benjamin becomes so angry he buys Marie some expensive merchandise for about $50,000.

That night, Alex crashes the birthday party Marie has arranged for Benjamin. He tells Jim that he wants $10,000 or he will name Jim as the co-respondent in the divorce. Alex insinuates that Wanda is part of the blackmail scheme. Believing the lie, Jim breaks up with Wanda.

Wanda visits Alex in Brooklyn and demands he give the money back. He introduces her (as "cousin Wanda") to the ailing Mrs. Howard and their baby, the reasons he needs the money so desperately. He confesses that he got a divorce in Mexico two years before, and promises to pay her back once he is back on his feet financially. Touched, Wanda leaves without the check.

Wanda decides to auction off enough of her possessions to her friends to raise $10,000 and pay Jim back. She also asks Marie to return her jewelry. Wanda gives Jim the proceeds; even before that, however, he has come to his senses, and the couple reconcile. Marie gives Benjamin's gifts to his wife and reunites that couple.

Wanda and Jim reconcile after misunderstandings involving blackmail and past relationships are resolved, while Marie helps reunite Benjamin with his wife.

The ending ties up romantic and financial entanglements with typical pre-Code pragmatism: schemes unravel, true feelings win out, and both couples find a measure of happiness. Wanda’s decision to pay back Jim and Marie’s intervention in Benjamin’s marriage highlight the film’s playful yet surprisingly earnest take on love, loyalty, and female agency in a world of transactional relationships.