Mothers get all the blame for the fate of their wayward offspring in this 1939 roadshow classic also released as Girls Of The Underworld. Silent film star Betty Compson from Josef von Sternberg's The Docks of New York (1928) is socialite Lucy Morgan, whose partying lifestyle and flings with male escorts leaves her no time to supervise her hot-to-trot daughter Marian (Pride Of The Bowery's Mary Ainslee) who is ultimately kidnapped by a prostitution ring. With oily Willy Castello (Confessions Of A Vice Baron) as mom's favorite gigolo and Margaret Fealy from The Return Of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930). Director Melvin Shyer (Smashing The Vice Trust) helmed several more roadshow epics before assuming the role of assistant director for a whopping 166 feature films, including Robert Siodmak's Hemingway adaptation The Killers (1946), and fifties' television fare such as Lassie.
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