Undercover Maisie

The Maisie movies, starring Ann Sothern, were B films, light fun, enlivened by their effervescent star. This is the last one. Though a series, each film was separate. Maisie would fall in love with one guy and in the next film, he'd be gone. She worked a variety of jobs, sometimes getting work as a performer.

Here, Maisie volunteers herself to an older woman who is driving her husband's car to California. Maisie offers to help with the driving. When she goes into the store, the woman, a con artist, takes off, taking Maisie's money and jewels with her. The next time we see Maisie, she is blowing her stack at a police detective (Barry Nelson) who is very impressed with her powers of observation. He offers her a job on the police force, and after some training, she goes undercover.

Actually, I thought this was pretty good, even though Maisie wasn't suspicious enough of some people she met along the way. Ann Sothern is terrific as always, full of energy and flirtatiousness, and an upbeat attitude. In this film, her character is described as 25; try 37. And I give her a lot of credit. She played a much younger woman in her two television series, when she was well into her forties.

Barry Nelson looked for years like he had a portrait aging in his closet - it was always hard to believe he was in these early films, as he remained youthful for many years. Here he sports a mustache, probably because at 30, he looked 20. His main career was on Broadway, where he was very prolific and worked into his '70s. And few remember that he was the first James Bond, on television.

"Undercover Maisie" moves quickly and is entertaining.

Barry Nelson, 27 years old at the time but looking about 18 has a wispy mustache that needs to be seen to be believed. The idea seemed to be to try and make him look older as he plays a lieutenant detective on the bunco squad. Ann Sothern does her usual good job as Maisie although at one point her characters age is mentioned as 25. That is stretching it a bit. It's a shame this film was the last in the Maisie series. They were starting to look and feel like Bowery Boys or Abbott & Costello movies by this time. Cheap with a lot of good character actors.

In all her Maisie films, Maisie Ravier ends up trying some new career and meets and falls in love....and the viewer is left assuming she'll marry finally and settle down with him. But, when the next film came out, any mention of the old boyfriend and career is gone...and she's on to new career and romantic adventures. This final Maisie film starring Ann Southern is no different...and the viewer can only hope that FINALLY Maisie got her happily ever after.

Early in the story, Maisie has hitched a ride with a nice old woman...or so she thinks. But the old lady turns out to be a crook and robs her. When Maisie reports this to the police, the Lieutenant (Barry Nelson) is impressed with her ability to recall the woman, her car and other details. So, he has an idea....to hire Maisie and get her to join his Bunco unit. During the course of this, Maisie is wooed by both the Lieutenant and another officer named Chip.

Her first assignment involves a fake psychic. Little does she know that he has other criminal enterprises AND his partners are rather bloodthirsty and want to kill her when they discover Maisie is a cop! Can help come in time and will they recognize the clues Maisie's left along the way?

Entertaining but far from perfect. The biggest thing against the film is modern sensibilities which make the cops look like first class sexual harassers! Still worth seeing and fun.

The final of 10 films in the Maisie Ravier series by MGM has one of the most far-out plots. Maisie's no longer in the entertainment field, but gets taken to the cleaners by an older woman who drives off with her jewelry and luggage. A police lieutenant likes her looks, and her keen sense of noticing details. He convinces her to become a cop, and he sends her off to the Los Angeles Police Academy.

In her first big case, she gets entangled with a fraud operation headed by Willis Farnes and Gus Canford and huis wife. Maisie gets discovered and tied up while the crooks try to make a break. When they plan to knock her off, she leaves clues for the police to follow to her eventual rescue that also leads to the capture of the bad guys.

By this final film, Ann Sothern's girl had changed her persona some, and the plots were getting quite thin. Had it not been for the war and her roles on the war-time Homefront, this series might have ended two or three films earlier. Oh, yeah, and Maisie finds romance in the end of this one too - with her boss, Lt. Paul Scott.

Here are a couple of lines from this film.

Maisie Ravier, "Do everybody's wings stick out like this, or, or, am I dislocated?" Chip Dolan, "No, no, you're all right." Maisie, "Oh, I'm not so sure. Let me look at yours."

Captain Mead, "Now, whatever you do don't let this star-gazer twinkle that you're a cop. Keep your head." Maisie Ravier, "My head?" Captain Mead, "Don't tip your hand." Maisie, "My hand?" Captain Mead, "What's the matter?" Maisie, "My knees."

Having got hold of the complete collection (volume 1 and 2), I found the swansong of the series is undoubtedly the worst. All others, even thought technically B movie, were almost as entertaining as any other. But this one - well stinks. And for no error of Ms Sothern or even the future first James Bond (Barry Nelson). It was not even the basic plot - but the error lay in extremely amateur conceptualization / direction. With that spoiled, it would be almost impossible for any one to overcome - and even Ms Sothern couldn't really make it watchable since at every drop of hat, incongruities cropped up.

In fact the director lost the plot and his sense, immediately after Maisie was assigned to the case, much before she bungled it. The way she inveigled into Amor's den, her behavior there - a conman of that caliber should have immediately sensed rat. And the way the rat was identified was even more ridiculous - from the embroidered name on under-cloth ? That name was itself nom-de-plume of Maisie- and on the same token, it could have been assumed to be so (after all she told them that she had come to a fortune through the will of some deceased person, and isn't a person with silver spoon birth). With the judo training, how was she so easily overpowered at the hotel? She didn't even struggle, and no guns were pointed at her. In fact she could even had her presence known, even though tied up. She was able to make some sound, except at the time when the audience could hear. It all became a pure mess, so much so that the coefficient of enjoyment that was in half of it was totally negated and more. Verdict ? Even if it is procured as a part of the series, don't watch.