Maisie

Ann Sothern could enliven any production and any script, gracing both with her talent, beauty and unusual voice. "Maisie," the first in a series of films about one Miss Maisie Ravier, is no exception. Despite being made on a shoestring, watching Ann Sothern is a delight. She plays a showgirl who is left stranded when the show folds before she arrives. Desperate for work, she takes a job in a carnival, where she meets Slim (Robert Young), a woman-hating cowboy. She stows away in his truck and then assigns herself as a maid to the wife (Ruth Hussey) of Slim's boss (Ian Hunter) when they arrive. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are there to repair their marriage, which was nearly ruined by Mrs. Ames' infidelity. It doesn't take long for anyone to realize that she's a tramp and still at it. This leads to tragedy, and it's up to Maisie to save the day.

Sothern makes the film entertaining - Maisie has a smart mouth and is very enterprising. I can't agree with one poster that this was the first series to have a woman as the main character because the Torchy Blane series started two years before Maisie. Ian Hunter gives a very gentle performance as Mr. Ames, Ruth Hussey is appropriately conniving, and Robert Young is miscast. It's not the first time.

Although I haven't seen the rest of the series yet, apparently they're done as separate entities, because from looking at the cast lists, it doesn't appear that the Young character is in the other films, unless the reason is subsequently explained. I originally thought this might be the last film instead of the first. Well, they promise to be interesting. Anything with Ann Sothern usually is.

Our heroine, Ann Sothern as Maisie Ravier, is left stranded in a small Wyoming town with the rather unfortunate name of Big Horn. With only 15 cents to her name, she takes a carnival job and through a chance comment, meets Robert Young ('Slim' Martin). For some unexplained reason Maisie stows away on Martins truck and ensconces herself at the farm run by Martin for rich Ian Hunter (Cliff Ames), who turns up with his cheap wife played by Ruth Hussey. A series of misadventures follows with romance for Maisie and tragedy for the Ames. In the end Maisie comes shining through.

The first in a series, Sothern plays Maisie as a brassy, worldwise, blonde with a heart of gold. Her role is reminiscent of Jean Harlow in 'Red Dust': I have heard that Harlow was in line for the role but have no confirmation of that.

The movie itself is quite amusing, if dated, but not helped by poor production values and obvious in studio scenes. There is one shot where Robert Young is driving a truck and a calf pokes it's head into the front part of the truck. Although meant to be real, it is so obviously fake it is laughable. Young walks around in ramrod fashion and Hunter is strangely wooden. Overall, enjoyable nonsense. Not to be taken too seriously.

A very popular series was launched by MGM with Ann Sothern portraying that very wise show girl Maisie. Over the next several years Maisie would circle the globe, find herself in all kinds of situations and would dispense advice that more people ought to listen to, especially in the realm of human relations.]

This first film finds Maisie stranded in some western town where a show she was promised an engagement with has folded. The only thing in the town right at the moment is a rodeo.

Sothern after getting in a jackpot courtesy of carnival sharpie George Tobias hitches a ride in the back of Robert Young's truck. Young is the foreman of absentee ranch owner Ian Hunter and Hunter's coming to town with wife Ruth Hussey. Of course the added benefit for Hussey is she will see boyfriend paramour John Hubbard and Sothern who has befriended Hunter has discovered the relationship.

Later on Young gets himself in quite a jackpot after Hunter's demise and it's up to Sothern to straighten the situation out.

The plot of this inaugural Maisie film is thin and rather obvious. But Sothern puts her character over with skill. Ruth Hussey has the other really meaty part, a cold forbidding gold digger of a woman whom Hunter has fallen hopelessly in love with. It's the basis for tragedy.

There's a happy ever ending in this film, but it was not fated to be because Sothern was on the road again in her next Maisie film.

The irrepressible Ann Sothern embarks on one of her signature roles, her defining one until she switched over to TV and Private Secretary, and she a bright and breezy delight. Originally intended as an A picture for the reigning blonde queen of the studio Jean Harlow until her untimely death kicked it around the studio before landing in the lower budget B unit. Still an MGM B picture was a higher quality production than some of the lower rung studios top grade films having as they did the cream of the Hollywood talent pool at their disposal.

So appealing is Ann it's no wonder this was the start of a highly successful series chronicling her exploits in ever more exotic locations. No matter the pickle she finds herself in her pluck and ingenuity carry her though. Robert Young, a man born to wear dinner jackets, is rather preposterously cast as a ranch hand, in the best pressed dude clothes you've ever seen, but his facile charm carries him over any rough spots. Ian Hunter is all warm dignity in his part but the biggest surprise casting is finding Ruth Hussey, usually the wry, wise upstanding lady, playing a rapacious unfaithful gold-digger. This was one of half a dozen films she made the year before her big splash in The Philadelphia Story and Metro hadn't found her niche just yet.

A delightful comedy with a dark turn here and there Ann effortlessly drives the film with her star presence. How she never made it to the top rung of stardom is a mystery.

Ann Sothern took charge of this character and what was intended as a one-off B-picture became such a hit, and such a money maker, that MGM was forced to see Sothern and her character in a more positive light. Surrounded by actors who really didn't fit the roles they were supposed to play, Sothern pulls the whole thing off anyway -- and she does it marvelously. Because the money kept rolling in, MGM made nine (9) more Maisie movies, and Sothern starred in them all, while at the same time appearing in other classic films like "A Letter to Three Wives".

Sothern was a class act and deserved better from MGM. They made mega-bucks off her, but Mayer was following his sexual interests, as usual, and the big money went to projects starring the girls he was attracted to.

Sothern, of course, went on to superstardom on television and became a household name, like her co-star Robert Young. The Maisie series was much better than average and Sothern is a pure delight, the likes of which we may never see again.