This week’s mystery movie was the 1948 MGM film Three Daring Daughters, with Jeannette MacDonald, Jose Iturbi, Jane Powell, Edward Arnold, Harry Davenport, Moyna MacGill, Larry Adler, Mary Eleanor Donahue, Ann E. Todd, Dick Simmons, Amparo Iturbi and Tom Helmore.
Screenplay by Albert Mannheimer, Frederick Kohner, Sonya Levien and John Meehan.
Photography by Ray June.
Technicolor color director Natalie Kalmus. Associate, Henry Jaffa.
Art direction by Cedric Gibbons and Preston Ames.
Edited by Adrienne Fazan.
Musical direction by Georgie Stoll.
Recording by Douglas Shearer.
Set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and Arthur Krams.
Costumes by Irene, associate Shirley Barker.
Makeup by Jack Dawn.
Produced by Joe Pasternak.
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox.
Further information on Three Daring Daughters is available from the AFI Catalog.
Three Daring Daughters is available on DVD from Critics’ Choice Video.
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As is increasingly common, I had to abandon my first two prospects for mystery movies because some superfan uploaded numerous screencaps to IMDB. I came across any number of films that got strong reviews in the trades and seemed interesting, but weren’t in the Daily Mirror vault and only exist online in ghastly, multi-generation dupes.
I finally settled on Three Daring Daughters, which is a light, entertaining film. I never thought of Jose Iturbi (last seen in the 1946 film Holiday in Mexico) as a handsome leading man, but here we are.
I’m going to guess that Bosley Crowther passed this off as a somewhat engaging little trifle.
As so he does (The New York Times, Feb. 13, 1948):
Knowing Jose Iturbi (as most movie-goers do) to be a fellow who is highly accommodating to the uses and conventions of the screen, it is not in the least surprising to find him up to his usual corny tricks, both at the piano and away from it in Metro’s Three Daring Daughters, which came to the Capitol yesterday. As a matter of fact, his blushless clowning has assumed such familiarity that it would now be a shock to most of us to see him in anything else. But it is just a bit too bewildering to find Mr. Iturbi in this film playing himself, the famous pianist, becoming Jeannette MacDonald’s lawful spouse.
For Monday, we have some mysterious women.
Update: This is Nina Bara (center front) and mysterious companions.
For “Tricky Tuesday,” we have a mysterious gentleman.
Update: This is Larry Adler.
Note to Sylvia: Somewhat, but not exactly. All will become clear very soon!
For “Hm Wednesday,” we have this mysterious woman.
Update: This is Moyna MacGill.
And also this mysterious woman.
Update: This is Amparo Iturbi.
Brain Trust roll call: Howard Mandelbaum (mystery movie and mysterious guests), Dan Nather (mystery movie and Tuesday’s mysterious guest), B.J. Merholz (Tuesday’s mystery fellow), Mike Hawks (mystery movie and mysterious guests) and Suznchaz (mystery movie and mysterious cast).
For “Aha Thursday,” we have these three mysterious young ladies.
Update: This is, from left, Ann E. Todd, Jane Powell and Mary Eleanor (Elinor) Donahue.
Brain Trust roll call: L.C. (mystery movie and mysterious cast), Mike Hawks (Wednesday’s mystery women), Sylvia E. (mystery movie and all mystery guests), Howard Mandelbaum (Wednesday’s mystery guests) and Mary Mallory* (mystery movie, Monday’s and Wednesday’s mysterious guests).
*Rescued from the spam folder.
And for Friday, we have the whole mysterious gang for a happy ending!
Update: This is, from left, Ann E. Todd, Jose Iturbi, Jane Powell, Jeannette MacDonald and Mary Eleanor (Elinor) Donahue.
Brain Trust roll call: Mary Mallory (Tuesday’s mysterious harmonica player and Thursday’s mystery guests), Howard Mandelbaum (Thursday’s mystery guests), Mike Hawks (Thursday’s mystery guests), Roget-L.A. (mystery movie and Thursday’s mystery guests), Dan Nather (Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s mystery guests) and Sylvia E. (Wednesday’s mysterious pianist, Thursday’s mystery guests and Monday’s mystery singers).
ladailymirror.com 
Hmmm…this screenshot looks like it comes from one of those 1950s “movie within a movie, or opera within a movie” films, maybe the inner performance is from ‘Carmen’??? Maybe starring Mario Lanza…Hmmm
Don’t have an actual guess yet, just meanderings.
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Nina Bara, Larry Adler in THREE DARING DAUGHTERS.
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Harmonica player Larry Adler for Tuesday.
And I’m guessing the movie is THREE DARING DAUGHTERS (1948)?
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Larry Adler
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Nina Bara and Larry Adler in THREE DARING DAUGHTERS.
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THREE DARING DAUGHTERS 1948 with harmonicaist Larry Adler, Jeanette MacDonald and I assume we’ll see Jane Powell and Elinor Donahue.
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Three Daring Daughters (1948) w/Jeanette MacDonald, Jose Iturbi, Jane Powell, Edward Arnold, Moyna MacGill, Elinor Donahue, Ann E. Todd, Ampara Iturbi, Larry Adler…
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Moyna MacGill and Amparo Iturbi.
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“Three Daring Daughters” 1948
I found an image of Monday’s singers on a Spanish language site. It added a couple more people to the image and the girls are not singing, but that ” Tres Chicas Atrevidas” image did not break out who’s who.
Tuesday – Larry Adler playing his chromatic harmonica
Wednesday – I think that image 1 is Moyna MacGill, not sure about image 2, but I’ll keep trying.
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Moyna Macgill, Amparo Iturbi.
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Three daring daughters. Nina Bara Monday, Jose Iturbi looking younger than previous mystery, Moyna MacGill, and Amparo Iturbi.
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Larry Adler Tuesday and Ann E. Todd, Jane Powell, and Elinor Donahue today.
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Ann Todd, Jane Powell, Elinor Donahue.
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Ann Todd, Jane Powell and Elinor Donahue.
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Aha! Jane Powell with Ann E. Todd and Elinor Donahue(!) in Three Daring Daughters (1948)
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Okay, catch-up time:
Monday, the lead singer is Nina Bara.
On Wednesday, it’s Moyna MacGill, followed by Amparo Iturbi (Jose Iturbi’s talented sister) at the piano.
Today, it’s the three title characters Ann Todd, Jane Powell, and Elinor Donohue.
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Thursday – Ann E. Todd, Jane Powell and Mary Eleanor (later ‘Elinor’) Donahue
To backtrack to Wednesday’s image 2. The lady pianist is the sister of the leading man, who also plays the piano – it appears in other images that they have a duet together in this film. Her name is Amparo Iturbi.
Still not positive who the girls are from Monday. I’m guessing that they’re part of the entertainment during the cruise ship sequences, so maybe they are the ‘specialty singers’ or Cuban singers that TCM and IMDb mention: Nina Barbara, Phyllis Graffeo, Conchita Lemus, Dorita Pallais, Dorothy Porter and Diane Stewart.
That leaves Jose Iturbi and Jeannette MacDonald for Friday.
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Auto correction didn’t like “Bara” so changed the spelling to Barbara for Nina’s last name.
Oops! Tried it again just now.
Boo, auto correct 🤨!
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Jose Iturbi in Three Daring Daughters, Jane Powell etal
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the three girls, Iturbi, and MacDonald.
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Jose Iturbi
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izzat Xavier Cugat’s lead singer Lina Romay, Jane Powell and Jose Iturbi?
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Add Jose Iturbi and Jeanette MacDonald.
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And since I haven’t mentioned Jeanette MacDonald so far, let me mention her here!
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