Ned McCobb's Daughter

Ned McCobb's Daughter (1926), a play by Sidney Howard. [ John Golden Theatre, 132 perf.] Carrie (Clare Eames), daughter of Captain Ned McCobb (Albert Perry), has married into the good‐for‐nothing Callahan family. Her faithless husband, George (Earle Larimore), has forced McCobb to mortgage his farm to pay for an abortion for George's mistress and has also been stealing money from the local ferry company. When George is arrested, his bootlegger brother, Babe (Alfred Lunt), offers Carrie the money to pay off the mortgage and to provide George's legal fees in return for allowing him to store his whiskey in her barn. Carrie accepts the money but then cooperates with the authorities to rid herself of both brothers. Sharply etched character studies elevated this Theatre Guild production above the run of contemporary melodramas. The figures of Carrie and Babe allowed Eames and Lunt to give two of their finest, most offbeat performances.