Up Goes Maisie

This is Maisie's second to last film in the series starring Ann Sothern that ran from 1939 to 1947. Some of them were better than others. This one is in the category of okay. During the war, Maisie was a riveter (Swing Shift Maisie and Maisie Goes to Reno, when she was burnt out and needed a vacation). Now post-war, she needs a new job, something steady. After graduating from business school, she eventually gets a job with an inventor (George Murphy) who is building a helicopter using his own secret invention. Little does he know, someone on his team (who is so obvious it's ridiculous) is trying to steal the drawings from him. Stephen McNally, Ray Collins and Hillary Brooke are featured.

The Maisie movies are, of course, very dated today, but the premise is good - Maisie is a performer who occasionally gets work - usually she's stranded on the way to a job and ends up somewhere else, like in the Congo or on a farm. Ann Sothern is delightful as the street-smart, flashily dressed man magnet. These were B movies churned out probably in days, and the scripts vary from good to lousy along with Sothern's costars, which included James Craig, John Hodiak, Lee Bowman, John Carroll, Lew Ayres and Red Skelton - how's that for variety of up and comings and down and goings? Mildly entertaining.

Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) has just graduated from business school. She has to constantly rebuff men's advances. She changes her looks and gets hired by Joseph Morton (George Murphy) who invented a new helicopter.

This starts with an interesting premise of sexual harassment. It's downright modern and possibly feminist. It does transition into the standard Maisie story where the bad guys trick her and she has to fix everything. I can see that part as becoming tired as this is Maisie's ninth movie. They really should modify the formula a bit to freshen up the franchise. The big evil trick isn't so great and it seems easier to steal the plans instead. The story is not the best and this formula is getting old.

World War II is over and Maisie Ravier is now finished her Rosie the Riveteer thing and is looking for more traditional employment for women. She's even enrolled in a business school and got her diploma. But when she goes job hunting all the potential bosses see a former showgirl and a quick roll in the hay. In order to get a job and keep the wolves at bay Ann Sothern dresses down and gets a job working for George Murphy.

Where to her complete surprise she finds her past experience in a war plant a real asset. Murphy is designing a brand helicopter and it's a hush hush project. But he doesn't know that tycoon Paul Harvey and his daughter Hillary Brooke are looking to steal it for themselves. Murphy's even got a Quisling in his own ranks.

This is one of the best of the Maisie series with Sothern given some really good comic bits to work with. She gets slipped a Mickey Finn and does a great drunk act with tips no doubt from Red Skelton until she plunges into a swimming pool. The climax of the film is having Sothern fly Murphy's helicopter. It must be a good machine if a flying novice can handle it.

One of the problems of the Maisie series is that she's gotten involved with some man in each of the films. But this is the first one where Sothern actually got a formal marriage proposal. And you know it once again didn't take because there was one more in the series that was so popular at MGM.

But as Maisie Sothern is at the top of her game in Up Goes Maisie.

The casting for "Up Goes Maisie" is rather strange. After all, a few years earlier George Murphy was cast as Maisie's boyfriend in "Ringside Maisie" and here he is again as Maisie's boyfriend--and Murphy is NOT playing the same guy in both films! This must have been a bit confusing to audience members who went to both movies--especially since she becomes engaged to both guys!

Maisie has just graduated from Business School and her prospects are quite good. However, inexplicably, she has trouble getting work because every time she goes to apply for a job she is sexually harassed. It's all very silly, as they portray Ann Sothern as if she's hotter than Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner put together. The bottom line is that they lay this angle on way too thick and it seemed like sloppy writing to have the 37 year-old actress playing such a sexual magnet.

Eventually, Maisie gets a job with Mr. Morton and his team of workers who are trying to build a prototype helicopter. She not only is the secretary but does some of the welding and checks the books. And, since she is a sexual magnet, soon Mr. Morton (Murphy) is head-over-heels for her and asks her to marry him. However, neither is aware that a very manipulative woman (Hillary Brooke) and her rich daddy will do anything to ensure that the project fails--so that the evil woman can catch Morton on the rebound--as well as steal his helicopter plans. So, they need to discredit Maisie and make sure that the 'copter is a dud. Can Maisie and the gang spot the ruse? And, will Maisie FINALLY get her happy ending?

So is this film any good? Well, it does have its problems. As I mentioned above, making Maisie so sexually appealing was pretty dumb and was handled poorly. Additionally, Stephen McNally's character was obviously evil he first time the camera hit him. He was just too obvious and made you wonder why the characters didn't recognize this. The same could be said for Hillary Brooke. There is also a sequence near the end where Maisie is supposedly flying the helicopter--and you can pretty clearly see the string on the model! Despite all this, it's still a cute film and is quite watchable--as are all the Maisie films. But it does suffer from a few problems which should have been ironed out first. It's just not up to the usual higher standards for the series.

It's after World War II, and Maisie has graduated from secretarial school. But, all the males she goes to see about jobs are wolves who can't keep their minds on their work. So, she decides to change her looks. Some glasses, change of hairdo, change of clothes and no makeup, and she looks more like a plain Jane whom the bosses will leave alone.

In "Up Goes Maisie," she gets a job with a former World War II pilot who's working on inventing a helicopter. Joseph Morton's design was a vast improvement over the first few years of choppers, which still were having problems. This film is worth it just to see the chopper in this movie, and how they use and film it.

Anyway, Morton is the first boss that Maisie didn't have to worry about being sidetracked from his work. With his partners, he is desperate to get his design accepted for production. But, there's skullduggery afoot as some insiders in the company that was fronting his development plan to steal the Morton machine. But this is Maisie Ravier, and they don't realize that she'll foul up the works for them so that the good guys win.

There's some good action in this, and scenes with the helicopter flying and landing in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. And, guess who's at the controls. Oh, yes, and when Morton suspects Maisie of spying on him for her disguise, it takes some doing before he's convinced otherwise. When she saves his chopper, Morton gets the message. And once again, romance blooms for Maisie.

Here are some favorite exchanges of dialog in this film.

Joseph Morton, "Now, see if I'm not right - you're loyal, capable, dependable?" Maisie Ravier, "You mean I'm not the type of girl that makes you think of soft lights and sweet music?" Morton, "Uh, huh, no." Maisie, "Mmm, and, Mr. Morton, sir, I'm not the type girl who switches your mind from business to monkey business?" Morton, "Why, certainly not, Miss Ravier. I'm amazed at a nice lady like you. What've you been reading?" Maisie, "Me? I beg your pardon, sir." Morton, "Now look, you just forget all those foolish ideas. As long as you're working with me, be assured you have nothing to fear." Maisie, 'Yes, sir."

Joseph Morton, "You're kinda fresh, too, aren't you?" Maisie Ravier, "Sometimes, when I feel good." Morton, "You feel good now?" Maisie, "Mmmm, I seem to, judging from the way I feel."

Maisie Ravier, "Now, just a minute. Don't tell me what I think. I know what I think and it's not what you think." Joseph Morton, "Well, you're on the wrong track, young lady."

Joseph Morton, "Oh, I know about those guys that think one manly smile and a girl should fall right on her knees. They're victims of a super-charged male ego." Maisie Ravier, "Ohhh, so that's what it is." Morton, "Yeah." Maisie, "Well, I never knew the cause but I certainly understood the symptoms."