Two Wise Maids

TWO WISE MAIDS is a very minor comedy/drama starring Alison Skipworth and Polly Moran in an attempt to find the chemistry that made Moran's teaming with Marie Dressler so profitable. It doesn't quite happen.

Old-fashioned story of old maid teacher known as Old Ironsides (Skipworth) who meddles in everyone's life and is seen as out of date by the new principal puts Skipworth squarely at the center of the story while it sidelines Moran as the relatively unimportant and uninteresting friend. Story culminates in an accusation of striking a student. At the hearing many of her old students come back to defend her.

Skipworth is a joy and Moran does what she can with scant materials. Donald Cook is the new principal and Irene Manning the new teacher with a secret. Marcia Mae Jones and Jackie Searl are quite good as troublesome students. Lila Lee shows up in a small part at the end of the film. Also in the cast are Luis Alberni, Clarence Wilson, John Hamilton, Maxie Rosenbloom, and Theresa Conover.

The film must have done OK at the box office since Moran and Skipworth were re- teamed the following year in LADIES IN DISTRESS.

It's now a tired trope. A teacher is unappreciated, being forced out or quitting finds him/herself encouraged by past students. Perhaps this movie started the trope.

Amazingly I've never heard of any of the cast. It was a minor studio. The production values were pretty low. The acting wasn't always the best, Yet it was a very good movie.

The version I saw was about 15 minutes short and the audio was pretty noisy. I don't know if this is just because it is a crappy last surviving print or if they didn't spend on quality equipment or film stock.

Despite it's shortcomings it's a melodrama worth watching.