She is known for starring in Fatty Arbuckle comedies and for appearing alongside James Cagney and Jean Harlow in The Public Enemy (1931).

[3] Flynn began her stage career in a New York musical comedy, receiving a favorable reception from Broadway critics.

[3] Believing her theater monicker was not "ritzy enough" for film work, upon signing a contract with First National Pictures in 1929, she insisted from that point that she would identify as Rita Flynn.

After receiving much attention for her part in the musical The Girl from Woolworth's, she got more prominent roles in the 1930 films Sweet Mama and Top Speed.

In filing court papers, Flynn said that she experienced "untold humiliation and loss of reputation" as she gave up her career and hurriedly travelled to New York in anticipation of marriage.