The city where Torchy works apparently is run by a corrupt mayor. So naturally, she does exactly what any good reporter would do in this situation--she has the Mayor's office bugged AND breaks into his office and steals an incriminating red notebook! No, wait a moment,...this would involve committing multiple felonies and possibly result in 57023 years in prison, so I guess this isn't such a brilliant plan. But, considering it's Torchy doing it and she's the hero of this series, it's safe to assume the film will NOT end with her being sent to prison! Oh, and is there ANY criminal stupid enough to leave a little red (or black or blue) book sitting around with a list of payoffs and other illegal activities?!
Apparently the editors of the major papers DON'T want to base an exposée by Torchy on illegally obtained information (go figure), so she finds a tiny little paper and convinces the sap the runs it to risk his life and livelihood to run these articles. But, when her one-woman campaign against corruption begins, it spells trouble for the newspaper man and the other guy running for mayor in the recall election. So it's up to Torchy to run for mayor herself! And during all this campaigning, she promises to convict the Mayor and his cohorts! Apparently, in addition to writing articles and running for mayor, Torchy also wants to be the district attorney and judge!! Wow, talk about an amazingly contrived plot!
It's obvious from the start that the folks at Warner Brothers were running out of ideas when they come up with such ridiculous plot devices. It's not too surprising, then, that this was the last film of the series to star Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane in the leads. Perhaps the studio had Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins star in the next film because it was an attempt to put some energy into the series or Farrell and MacLane were just sick of the films and saw no future in them. Regardless, this film is sort of like the beginning of the end for the franchise.
Despite this totally insane plot, the film (like the rest of the series) is quite enjoyable. My advice is to just turn off your brain and enjoy. But be careful! If you think too much about what's going on, your brain might just explode! I know this is true because I read about it on the internet!
