Daring Daughters

In this B-movie, Joan and Marian Marsh play sisters. However, despite sharing the same last name, the two, in real life, aren't related.

The oldest sister, Terry (Marian Marsh), has lived in the big city for a while and she's savvy. However, her younger sister, Betty (Joan Marsh), is naive and is easily taken advantage of by men...and so it's up to Terry to look after her and teach her the ropes. But eventually Betty tires of her sister being bossy and she sneaks off on her own for an evening. What's to become of her with all those 'wolves' out to chase her? And what about Terry...will she ever meet anyone worth her time?

This film isn't bad considering it's a relatively low-budget movie. It also has definite Pre-Code sensibilities...as almost all the men in this film seem to only have one thing on their minds!

Marian Marsh works the day shift at a cigar counter in an upscale hotel. She's a cynical girl for whom men mean two things: a free dinner and a brief wrestling match to get away. Her sister, Joan Marsh, arrives from the country, and Marian tries to educate her, but the girl is simply too trusting. But when Kenneth Thomson, who's new to town, takes a shin to Marian, his politeness and old-fashioned manners charm her.

It's a bit of a mishmosh. The title doesn't refer to much of anything. There are no parents on view. A fictional sick grandmother provides an excuse to dump men and a plot point. More likely, the alternate titles of CITY VIRGIN and BEHIND THE COUNTER were unsuitaible for the small-town theaters this played in. The story is short and predictable, although there's a couple of nice comic turns by Bert Roach and Florence Roberts. Despite their names, Marian and Joan were not related. Marian was born Violet Ethelred Krauth, and I don't need to explain why she changed it for the pictures. Joan's real name was Dorothy Rosher, and she was the daughter of great cameraman Charles Rosher.

Obvious shot on a tiny budget by Christy Cabanne for Sigmund Neufeld, there isn't much to recommend this movie except for some Dutch angle shots in the party scenes and some over-the-hill performers like Richard Tucker.