Fields and Chodorov's fast, funny comedy follows sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, newly arrived in New York from small-town Ohio with dreams of literary and acting success, who rent a cramped, dilapidated basement apartment in Greenwich Village sight unseen. Ruth, the sharp-witted aspiring writer, and Eileen, the prettier, more naturally magnetic sister hoping to break into acting, find their new home besieged by an endless parade of noisy neighbors, eccentric landlords, a subway construction crew blasting beneath their floor, and a constant stream of men drawn to Eileen's effortless charm. Each episode of urban chaos, from a conga line of Brazilian naval cadets to a impromptu late-night party, tests the sisters' resourcefulness and their bond with one another as they try to establish careers and independence in the big city. The comedy's affectionate, high-energy portrait of struggling young women making their way in New York captured a distinctly American fantasy of reinvention through hard work and pluck. Its enormous popularity led to a hit film and later the classic musical adaptation "Wonderful Town," cementing the Sherwood sisters as an enduring piece of American comic mythology.

​