Ringside Maisie

This was a predictable plot, but fun to watch because of the beautiful Ann Sothern and real-life boxing characters who played small roles. I particularly enjoyed seeing Eddie Simms (played Jackie-Boy Duffy) who was a journeyman fighter with a great heart. He fought about 8 rounds with Joe Louis before being knocked out in 1935 (I think these figures are about right), and asked the referee to go for a walk on the roof with him after being knocked down. There was another fighter I recognize but can't remember, whom the hero "knocked out" early on. I wish I could remember the name, because he was a great left-hook artist who would devastate the division today.

Struggling showgirl Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) gets fired as a taxi dancer. As a train stowaway, she's caught and gets thrown off in the middle of nowhere. While walking to her next job, she is helped by young boxer Terry "O'Hara" Dolan. Skeets Maguire is his manager and Cecelia Reardon is his girlfriend. Dolan would rather not box and buy a grocery store instead.

I still like Maisie but the guys are duds. The girlfriend is a blank. Non of the characters are that compelling although I like Terry for the most part. It's a less than compelling melodrama. The boxing isn't thrilling and quite frankly, I fast forward a lot of that. A grocery store has never sounded more pathetic. I keep thinking that this movie is stuck in mud.

An intelligent script and very likable characters played by superb actors, including especially the adorable Ann Sothern, combine to make this an excellent movie.

Even if it's not perfect, it's excellent.

Maisie gets a chance to demonstrate her own character, her strength, her determination. One speech to a certain cynic gives us a chance to cheer -- literally cheer -- this gutsy and decent young woman who gets knocked down because she is decent.

But, like a champion boxer, she keeps getting up.

Hollywood had an unfortunate tendency to cast flabby or, well, let's say "underdeveloped" men as "heavyweight" boxers, such as Stu Irwin or, in this case, Robert Sterling, an otherwise good actor, and a good-looking leading man.

But he's no Sylvester Stallone.

In this boxing movie, Hollywood didn't make the mistake it did in "Cinderella Man," in which a real-life boxer's character was slimed in order to make a dramatic point.

Of course there's conflict, or it wouldn't be drama, but there are no two-dimensional straw-man villains.

Instead there are real people, with their own goals and dreams, trying to fit into the real world, trying to get ahead within the context of what seemed possible, and to do it while remaining decent and true to themselves.

Ann Sothern just outdid herself in this, a role that gave her a chance to show strength as well as charm.

The rest of the cast, from "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom, in one of his best roles, to Margaret Moffatt and John Indrisano, the latter two pretty unknown today, to the great George Murphy, were just super.

Honest: You ought to see this one.

This chapter of the "Maisie" adventures, starring Ann Sothern, opens at a Danceland dance hall. Ed Marin directed four of these, so he was familiar with Sothern and the usual suspects. Maisie (Sothern) gets canned from the dance hall, and calls her agent Vic (Rags Ragland) to see what else she can do for work. She meets up with the boxing mug Terry Dolan (Robert Sterling), and stirs things up. ( Sothern was married to Sterling from 1943 to 1949, and it appears this was the only film they made together. Sothern has an interesting family history, for those who have the time to read her bio....) "Maisie" butts heads with the boxer's manager "Skeets", who is sure she wants to distract Dolan from his boxing. For me, its all about Virginia OBrien - she sings Bird in a Gilded Cage at the night club, and she does her usual deadpan face with small, fun, facial expressions that say so much with so little movement. Written by Wilson Collison & Mary McCall, it appears Collison died young at 47. Sothern would also make six films with Gene Raymond; for those looking for other good Ann Sothern films, my favorites are Smartest Girl in Town, and Walking on Air - tons of fun if you can catch em on Turner Classics.

In her fifth role as Maisie Ravier, Ann Sothern walks out of her job as a taxi dancer (dime-a-dance girl) - while she's still able to walk She heads for a resort hotel in the Adirondack Mountains, but gets tossed off the train because she didn't buy a ticket. Hoofing it the 14 or more miles to her destination, she is passed by a young man who's training as a boxer. Terry Dolan's trainer is following along in his car and they give her a ride to the Shady Lawn Hotel at Cedar Lake.

When she doesn't come across with amour for her new dance partner, Ricky Du Prez, she gets canned and doesn't even dance her first number. Terry Dolan, fighting under the assumed name of Young O'Hara, goes home on weekends to visit his mother. He gives Maisie a ride back to the city, and it turns out that mom is elderly and in a wheel chair and needs a companion. So, Maisie gets the job. Terry has a girlfriend, Cecelia Reardon who visits him in training. And, his manager and promoter, Skeets Maguire, is out to make him the next world champion. Only Skeets and Maisie start their acquaintance off with fireworks.

The reason Terry uses an alias for fighting is because he doesn't want his mom to know he's a prizefighter. When his dad died, he left them well-secured with his grocery store. But his mom got swindled by a couple of shysters with an oil stock scam. So, Terry wants to make enough money fighting to be able to buy a grocery store and run it.

The plot is a good one - one of the better of the Maisie series, with good performances by all. It's a natural for some clashes and good drama with just the right amount of comedy worked in. Maisie has one of her best scenes in a brouhaha with Skeets over his stereotyping her as girl on the make, trying to cash in on a fighter. The contrasting personalities of Maisie and Skeets, played well by George Murphy, fit nicely for the romance that will come out of this. And Virginia O'Brien plays herself, as a singer with the band at the Shady Lawn Hotel. She does a hilarious rendition of "A Bird in a Gilded Cage."

The film has some good fight scenes in the ring and a good dramatic ending. Here are some favorite lines.

Skeets Maguire, "Pickin' up yellow-haired mice when you oughtta be doing your roadwork!" Maisie Ravier, "Wait a minute, foul mouth."

Terry Dolan, as boxer, Young O'Hara, "Now, don't be sore at me. C'mon back." Maisie Ravier, "Well, I'm not sore at you, you've been more than nice throughout. But, Gargantua is somethin' else again."

Maisie Ravier, "You listen, tall, dark and bad-mannered. I got no design on your fighters. I have neither the time nor the inclination to take up the part of Cleopatra."

Skeets Maguire, "I can't understand what a wren like you is doing so far from the sidewalks of New York."

Ricky Du Prez, "Whatsa matter, you got a guy you're stuck on?" Maisie, "No, but there's a guy someplace someday I'm gonna be stuck on."

Cecelia Reardon, "The train trip always takes so much out of one." Maisie Ravier,, "Yeah. Here's one they took outta the train."

Terry Dolan, "I, uh, guess you're feeling kind of low, huh?" Maisie Ravier, "I could look a snake in the eye if I had a pair of stilts."

Maisie Ravier,, "You know, it sure means a lot meetin' someone like you - just when I was beginning to think the wolves had taken over the world."

Terry Dolan, ,"He may act tough, but he's all heart." Maisie, "Yeah, well maybe an x-ray would change my mind."

Maisie, "You know, lookin' back on it, I don't think I ever told a lie in my life and really got by with it."

Skeets Maguire, "Say, I'd like to see mom, and I wouldn't mind goin' a couple rounds with the Brooklyn bonfire."

Maisie, "Well, I guessed wrong before, but this is an all-time low."

John Duffy, " I would've thrown the fight rather than have this happen." Mrs. Dolan, "Don't reproach yourself, boy. Just say a little prayer for him." Duffy, "Yes. I will, you bet. I've been doing it ever since they told me."

Skeets Maguire, "Well, so long, Maisie. They don't come any better."

Maisie, "Oh, and me kickin' him when he was down. Oh, can you perform a brain operation on me?"

Skeets, on the phone, "My wife? What does she look like?" Maisie, coming in the door, "A yellow-haired mouse." Skeets, "Maisie!"