Maisie era una dama

The Quick Pitch: Thanks to a drunk millionaire, Maisie Ravier finds herself out of work once again. To repay her, her hires her on as a maid. Maisie soon discovers that the family needs more attention than the house.

I've only see four of these movies, but Maisie Was a Lady might be my favorite so far. This was Ann Sothern's fourth Maisie film and director Edwin Marin's third. By this point, they knew what they were doing. They both understood what made Maisie work. Maisie Was a Lady features a very strong and capable supporting cast. I'm a bit shocked that actors like Lew Ayers and Marueen O'Sullivan appeared in secondary roles in a Maisie film. They were real pros. Also in the cast is C Aubrey Smith. Some of his scenes with Sothern are the highlights of the movie. Whether arguing about Maisie's jewelry or how to address the family, the two worked incredibly well together. The plot is a bit predictable. Has anyone ever watched Maisie Was a Lady and not predicted how things would end up for her? Finally, the movie looks great. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but sets, lighting, and cinematography are all better than expected. Given the fact that these weren't big budget affairs, MGM certainly got a lot of bang for their buck.

My biggest gripe with Maisie Was a Lady has to be the serious tone of much of the movie. I've come to think of Maisie as rather light-hearted, fluffy entertainment. Topics like alcoholism and suicide aren't what I expect.

7/10

A surprisingly strong entry in the long-running Maisie series, this one features a fairly standard plot but strong performances from Lew Ayres and Maureen O'Sullivan. Maisie, through a an accumulation of mildly amusing circumstances, ends up as maid at a typical home of the idle (but troubled) rich. But why is the young man of th house (Lew Ayres) in a constant state of not-very-amusing intoxication? And why is Maureen O'Sullivan so neurotic, unhappy, and about to marry a pretty obvious fortune-hunter? And can Maisie save this household, or will she abandon the job in utter disgust? Watch the movie. None of the answers will surprise you that much, but Ayes' performance here is a standout, and Ann Southern's Maisie is a whole lot better than usual in the dramatic scenes. (It's permissible to fast forward through the heartwarming comic ones)

There are already a number of well-written reviews that explain the movie very well so I'm not going to give a full-fledged review here. What I will point out is how much I loved Maureen O'Sullivan's performance as Abigail in this film. She plays a woman that is so kind, sweet, and thoughtful--not to mention pretty that you want to take her home to marry your son. However, there is also a torment to the character's life because she feels unloved due to circumstances that are apparent when you see the film. Ms. O'Sullivan gives such a dramatic depth to her characterization and is so appealing that she really deserves an award. You just want to watch her over and over again. A captivating and brilliant performance in an important role in the film. Ann Sothern, C. Aubrey Smith, and Lew Ayres are wonderful, too, but I just can't say enough about Maureen O'Sullivan in this film.

The one other comment I will make is the last scene was quite disappointing to me and detracted somewhat from my enjoyment of the film but to discuss why would risk others not wanting to see the film and Maureen O'Sullivan's performance is definitely worth seeing and appreciating.

You can tell that the "Maisie" films were popular, especially when you compare the first two or so to this one. The budget has gone up considerably by the time "Maisie Was a Lady" was produced. Not only are the production values better but the cast is of a higher level, too. Besides the incomparable Ann Sothern, Lew Ayres, Maureen O'Sullivan, C. Aubrey Smith and Paul Cavanagh are on hand, playing members of a wealthy family. When the drunken Bobby manages to lose Maisie her job in a carnival as the headless woman and then forgets he gave her his car so that she's arrested, a judge orders him to employ her at her headless woman's salary for the allotted period of time. After she nearly ruins his sister Abby's (O'Sullivan) engagement party, Abby changes Maisie's position to that of personal maid. Maisie discovers that the young woman is very much alone, especially after she realizes her fiancée only wants her money.

This is the best entry into the series of the ones I've seen, though Sothern is great in all of them, beautiful, sassy and vibrant. Maureen O'Sullivan is wonderful as the sweet and heartbroken Abby, and C. Aubrey Smith is great as the loyal, loving family butler. Lew Ayres, when he wasn't Dr. Kildare, seemed to be typecast as a drunken playboy a good deal before the war - it's a role he plays convincingly, though in life he was a deeply religious, health and work-oriented person. Handsome Paul Cavanagh plays Abby and Bob's dad, "Cap" who gets his comeuppance from Maisie.

Great fun and a must for Sothern fans.

I like ANN SOTHERN as much as the next guy, but I have to confess I was never smitten by these MAISIE movies that were tailor-made for Miss Sothern's particular brand of brassy, good-natured charm.

But at least here she gets LEW AYRES and MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN for support and a sterling performance from C. AUBREY SMITH as a wise butler. The script, however, is formula stuff and the less said about the "amusing" situation at a carnival that gets the film off to a wobbly start, the better.

It's the sort of fluff that audiences loved in the late thirties and early forties, or MGM wouldn't have made so many of these Maisie movies with Sothern from 1939 to 1947.

The improbable plot has to do with Ayres forced to hire Sothern after a judge finds him guilty of making her lose her $25 a week job at the carnival. Ayres turns out to be an unhappy alcoholic trying to forget something by being high most of the time. O'Sullivan is hopelessly infatuated with a man Maisie instinctively knows is no good. In no time at all she manages to have a sobering effect on Ayres and straightens out a few other odds and ends in the eccentric household, including a depressed O'Sullivan who was about to elope with a fraudulent man.

It's interesting how much Maureen O'Sullivan's voice sounds like another British actress--Vivien Leigh--the same timbre, inflection, and British accent. Lew Ayres, as her perpetually tipsy brother, seems to be doing a reprise of his role in HOLIDAY--but he seems to be enjoying himself, pratfalls and all.

Summing up: Formula "Maisie" entertainment is nicely performed with C. Aubrey Smith outdoing himself as the patient and worldly butler, but Maisie's brassiness is a little overdone when she lectures Ayres and a doctor on the despondent Maureen.