Hard Guy

Female employees of Vic Monroe's Tropical Inn nightclub have a habit of marrying some of the club's wealthy playboy customers and then turning a nice profit from an immediate annulment. Monroe is the mastermind of the annulment racket and his latest scheme is to marry dancer Doris Starr, who is ignorant of the shakedown racket, to "catch of the season" Anthony Tremaine, Jr. Monroe arranges Tony and Doris' hasty wedding and then plants a story about the marriage in the newspapers, hoping that Tony's father will burst onto the scene and spoil their honeymoon. Tony's father does just that, threatening to disinherit Tony unless they divorce. Doris' sister, Julie Cavanaugh, also enters the fray when she tries to defend her sister against insults by Tremaine, Sr. The bickering turns into a fistfight involving both families and neighbor Steve Randall, the governor's son, and ends in a mass arrest. The next day's headlines report the sensational story of the "wedding banquet riot," which plays right into Monroe's scheme. Monroe and his crooked attorney, Ben Sherwood, who poses as Doris' father, use the threat of greater publicity to negiotate a hefty divorce settlement from Tony's father. Doris eventually loses interest in Tony because he will not stand up for their marriage. Meanwhile, Tex Cassidy, a state detective investigating the Tropical Inn, poses as an old friend of the governor's and invites Steve to accompany him to the club, where the two are joined by Julie and mistress of ceremonies Goldie Duvall. Worried about her sister, Doris tries to persuade Julie to stay out of trouble, and later implores Monroe to keep away from Julie. Doris knows that Monroe is a "no-good two-timer," but she loves him nonetheless and is willing to overlook his personal profit from her annulment because he has promised to marry her. A short time later, when Doris catches Monroe kissing another woman, she angrily quits her job and threatens to return the Tremaines' money and leave town with her sister. Monroe follows Doris home and kills her, but Tony is accused of the murder when it is learned that he was the last person seen with her. Julie investigates her sister's murder on her own and comes up with her first clue when Tony tells her that her father threatened to sue his family if he did not get a divorce settlement from his family. Julie knows that this is impossible because her father died many years ago, and she suspects that Monroe is the killer. When Monroe discovers that Doris had written down the serial numbers of the bills he got from Tremaine, Sr., he ransancks Julie's apartment but does not find the numbers. Julie realizes that Monroe is running an annulment racket when she pretends to be a willing participant in Monroe's game and Monroe arranges her marriage to Steve. Monroe's plan goes awry when Julie refuses to end the marriage. Steve slugs the belligerent Monroe, who uses his gun to force the annulment. Later, Steve returns to the club and engages Monroe in a shootout. The gunplay continues until the governor arrives and proves that Monroe is an extortionist by matching the serial numbers on the money in Monroe's briefcase with the serial numbers of the stolen money. With Monroe and his racketeers put away, Steve and Julia resume their romance, and Goldie professes her love for Tex.