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Rebellious Daughters (1938) movie poster

Characters & Themes

Rebellious Daughters (1938) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1938 · 69 mins · English
Directed by
Jean Yarbrough
Starring
Oscar O'Shea, Dick Hogan, Monte Blue, Marjorie Reynolds, Dell Henderson, Al Hill

Girl moves out of her parents house against their wishes. Gets a job in a dress shop, gets mixed up with dirty pictures and blackmail.

On this page (7)
  1. 1 Characters explained (8)
  2. 2 Where & when it takes place
  3. 3 Themes & meaning (3)
  4. 4 Character & meaning questions
  5. 5 Movie threads
  6. 6 Movies like Rebellious Daughters
  7. 7 Every angle

8 main characters · contains spoilers

Rebellious Daughters Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Rebellious Daughters (1938), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Barbara 'Babe' Webster

    played by Verna Hillie

    A spoiled, emotionally neglected young woman who craves attention and approval from her parents. She schemes to escape home life, persuading her father and maneuvering with friends to spend an evening out. Her quick wit hides a willingness to take risks and push boundaries.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧒 Youth
    • 🧠 Morality
  • Claire Elliott

    played by Marjorie Reynolds

    Mr. Elliott's daughter, torn between family expectations and a desire to break free. She yearns for a night of normalcy and fun, ultimately joining Babe's plans. She balances defiance with a sense of responsibility.

    • 🎬 Drama
    • 🧒 Youth
    • 🧭 Morality
  • Mrs. Webster

    played by Vivien Oakland

    Barbara's mother, cold and unaffectionate, who keeps a tight leash on her daughter's social life. Her absence in providing warmth compounds Babe's longing for attention. She represents the strict, controlling parent archetype.

    • 🕯️ Drama
    • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Family
    • 🧭 Morality
  • Dad Elliott

    played by Oscar O'Shea

    Barbara's father, often absent because he travels, which creates a gap Babe tries to fill. He is protective and reluctant to let his daughter go out. His absence becomes a catalyst for Babe's late-night plans.

    • 🧭 Adventure
    • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Family
    • 🕵️‍♂️ Morality
  • Mr. Gilman

    played by George Douglas

    Owner of an exclusive gown salon who lures the girls with modeling opportunities while running a blackmail racket. He embodies the seductive glamour that hides criminal manipulation. His plan tests the girls' ethics and loyalty.

    • 👗 Fashion
    • 🧩 Crime
    • 🧭 Morality
  • Flo Russell

    played by Sheila Bromley

    A glamorous woman who works for Mr. Gilman and recruits Babe and Claire to model for his salon. She becomes a bridge between the girls and the darker side of the fashion business. Her role reveals the allure and danger of exploiting ambition.

    • 💄 Fashion
    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧭 Morality
  • Bill Evans

    played by Dick Hogan

    A friend of Eddie and a male presence who arrives with plans and temptation. He is part of the night-out scheme and becomes entangled in the group's risky decisions. His presence amplifies the film's tension around consequences.

    • 🎭 Drama
    • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Male Lead
    • 🧭 Morality
  • Eddie

    A friend who catalyzes Babe's plan to lift the evening from ordinary sadness into adventure. He pushes Babe toward finding someone to entertain and organize events with Bill Evans. He represents peer pressure and risky improvisation.

    • 🎯 Peer Pressure
    • 🧭 Morality
    • 🎭 Drama

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:35

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Setting

Where and When Does Rebellious Daughters Take Place?

The setting of Rebellious Daughters (1938): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Location

New York, Barbara's home, Night club

The action shifts from Barbara's family home to New York City's nightlife and fashion scenes. The night club outings and the exclusive gown salon scene situate the film in a glamorous but risky urban world. New York provides a contrast between family constraints and the lure of independence for the young women.

  • 🗽 New York
  • 👗 Fashion
  • 🎭 Drama

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:35

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3 major themes

Rebellious Daughters Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Rebellious Daughters (1938) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Independence vs Control

    Barbara 'Babe' Webster seeks autonomy in a restrictive family environment. The film follows her attempts to break free by leaving home and pulling her friends into plans that defy her parents. The tension between parental control and a young woman's desire for agency drives the story.

  • Crime & Blackmail

    Behind the glittering fashion world lies a darker subtext. Mr. Gilman runs a racket that uses staged photographs to blackmail wealthy clients. The girls are drawn into this web, revealing the danger and moral compromise behind appearances.

  • Performance & Illusion

    Models and performers are used as pawns in a game of image and manipulation. The salon's model work masks a scheme that preys on the rich. The film critiques how glamour can be built on deception and fear.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:35

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Character & theme questions

Rebellious Daughters Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Rebellious Daughters (1938): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is Rebellious Daughters set?

The film is set in New York City, shifting between Barbara's family home and the city's nightlife and fashion scenes. New York represents both the restrictive family environment and the glamorous but dangerous urban world that draws the young women into its orbit.

  • new york city
  • setting
  • locations
  • fashion scene
  • nightlife
Q2

What role does the fashion salon play in the story?

The exclusive gown salon serves as both a glamorous modeling opportunity and a front for Mr. Gilman's blackmail racket. It represents the film's central contrast between glittering surface appearances and the dark criminality underneath.

  • fashion salon
  • mr gilman
  • glamour
  • blackmail
  • modeling
Q3

What are the main themes of Rebellious Daughters?

The film explores three interconnected themes: Independence vs Control (the young woman's struggle for autonomy), Crime & Blackmail (the criminal scheme hidden within the fashion world), and Performance & Illusion (how glamour masks deception and exploitation).

  • themes
  • independence
  • control
  • crime
  • blackmail
  • illusion
  • performance
Q4

What does the Independence vs Control theme explore?

Barbara 'Babe' Webster seeks autonomy in a restrictive family environment, attempting to break free by leaving home and pulling her friends into plans that defy her parents. The tension between parental control and a young woman's desire for agency drives the entire narrative.

  • independence
  • control
  • autonomy
  • Barbara Babe Webster
  • family
  • parents
Q5

What is the Crime & Blackmail theme about?

Behind the glittering fashion world lies a darker subtext. Mr. Gilman runs a racket that uses staged photographs to blackmail wealthy clients. The girls are drawn into this web, revealing the danger and moral compromise that hides beneath glamorous appearances.

  • crime
  • blackmail
  • mr gilman
  • staged photographs
  • exploitation
Q6

What does the Performance & Illusion theme represent?

Models and performers are used as pawns in a game of image and manipulation. The salon's model work masks a scheme that preys on the rich. The film critiques how glamour can be built on deception and fear, with appearance always hiding something darker.

  • performance
  • illusion
  • glamour
  • deception
  • fashion
  • models
Q7

Who is Barbara 'Babe' Webster in the film?

Barbara 'Babe' Webster is a spoiled, emotionally neglected young woman who craves attention and approval from her parents. She schemes to escape home life with quick wit, demonstrating a willingness to take risks and push boundaries against her mother's strict control.

  • Barbara Babe Webster
  • protagonist
  • Verna Hillie
  • rebellion
  • attention seeking
Q8

Who is Mr. Gilman in Rebellious Daughters?

Mr. Gilman owns an exclusive gown salon that lures young women with modeling opportunities while actually running a blackmail racket. He embodies the seductive glamour that hides criminal manipulation, using the fashion world as a facade for extortion.

  • Mr Gilman
  • antagonist
  • salon owner
  • blackmail
  • criminal
  • manipulation
Q9

Who is Claire Elliott in the story?

Claire Elliott is Mr. Elliott's daughter, torn between family expectations and a desire to break free. She yearns for a night of normalcy and fun, ultimately joining Babe's plans while balancing defiance with a sense of responsibility.

  • Claire Elliott
  • Marjorie Reynolds
  • daughter
  • family expectations
  • rebellion
Q10

How does New York function as a setting in the film?

New York provides a stark contrast between family constraints and the lure of independence. The city's nightlife and fashion scenes represent both opportunity and danger, a glamorous but risky urban world that tests the young women's judgment and ethics.

  • new york
  • urban setting
  • nightlife
  • independence
  • risk
  • opportunity
Q11

What is the connection between glamour and crime in the film?

The film presents glamour as a deliberate mask for criminal activity. The fashion salon's polished exterior conceals Mr. Gilman's blackmail operation, suggesting that the world of high fashion and entertainment in 1930s New York was intertwined with organized crime and exploitation.

  • glamour
  • crime
  • fashion
  • blackmail
  • exploitation
  • 1930s
  • new york

Movie threads

More Movies Like Rebellious Daughters, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Rebellious Daughters tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about glamorous underworlds like Rebellious Daughters

Alluring worlds of glamour hide sinister secrets and moral peril. If you liked the tense journey into the deceptive fashion world of Rebellious Daughters, explore more movies where glamorous settings conceal dangerous criminal activities. These films often feature rebellious protagonists, blackmail, and the high price of ambition in a corrupt world.

  • glamorous
  • dangerous
  • anxious
  • corrupt
  • deceptive
  • treacherous
  • Tone: tense, anxious, morally ambiguous
  • Pacing: steady, methodical build
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically follows a protagonist's entry into a seemingly desirable but morally compromised world, often through a job or opportunity. As they become more entangled, they uncover the dark reality beneath the glittering surface, leading to conflicts involving blackmail, exploitation, and a fight for survival or escape.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here by their shared juxtaposition of visual allure with underlying dread. They create a specific tension rooted in the contradiction between what is seen on the surface and the danger festering below, resulting in an anxious, morally complex viewing experience.

Moral tension thrillers similar to Rebellious Daughters

Stories where characters are trapped by escalating ethical dilemmas. Find movies like Rebellious Daughters that explore the anxious journey of characters facing serious moral compromises. These stories feature protagonists caught in webs of blackmail and corruption, where their decisions lead to escalating danger and intense psychological tension.

  • tense
  • anxious
  • uncertain
  • gloomy
  • moral tension
  • dangerous
  • Tone: tense, uncertain, gloomy
  • Pacing: steady, deliberate
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The plot revolves around a central ethical conflict, often triggered by a single bad decision or a moment of weakness. The narrative builds steadily as the consequences of this choice spiral outward, forcing the protagonist into increasingly difficult situations where loyalty, fear, and ambition clash.

Why they belong together: These films are connected by their intense focus on moral gray areas and the psychological toll of compromising one's values. They share a tense, uncertain mood where the primary conflict is internal as much as external, driven by themes of exploitation and coercion.

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Movies Like Rebellious Daughters

Similar movies to Rebellious Daughters: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

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Every angle

Rebellious Daughters (1938) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Rebellious Daughters in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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