Congo Maisie

This time, just call Maisie "Congo Maisie" in this 1940 second entry into the "Maisie" series. Each episode of Maisie's fabulous life is done as a separate entity as if the previous one never happened. So don't get too attached to anyone.

Maisie, stranded as usual, stows away on a ship that doesn't go the way she wants and, in fact, breaks down. She tags along with a rubber plantation manager (John Carroll) when he hikes to his old house where he worked as a doctor (he's since forsaken the Hippocratic oath). Now it's the home of a doctor who does research (Sheppard Strudwick) and his wife (Rita Johnson).

"Congo Maisie" is chock full of adventure, with Maisie assisting in an emergency operation and, wearing a gown and a Carmen Miranda headpiece from her club act, fends off witch doctors.

It's quite funny but as my sister yelled out to me hearing some of it, "Is that a politically incorrect movie you're watching in there?" Uh, yeah.

John Carroll is the new object of Maisie's affections. He talks a lot and uses a monotone that becomes grating real fast. I recall a photo of him where he was presented as a Gable wannabe. Forget it. Rita Johnson is absolutely lovely, and Sheppard Strudwick is very good. Fun.

Since it's a Maisie, I was expecting more of a comedy. But the laughs, such as they are, are secondary to a rather dramatic plot. Due to a series of mishaps, our girl ends up in a medical research station in darkest Africa. There she mingles with a strapping fellow refugee (Carroll), along with the current research doctor (Strudwick) and his classy wife (Johnson). In the background lurks a restive native tribe and their jealous witch doctors. Naturally, emotions wander while the natives grow more restless.

Sothern's brassy persona remains intact but with many more dramatic moments than usual for the series. And that's despite a really clever opening. Looks to me like the studio was still unsure of the series direction. Not so with the handsome Carroll, who's clearly a Clark Gable hopeful in both voice and manner, and getting a lot of screen time, to boot. Fortunately, Maisie gets some snappy lines, along with the movie's highlight where she out-performs the witch doctors with a magic act. And catch her slinky outfit that's a real eye-catcher. Too bad for Rita Johnson's rather dour and dowdy role as the neglected wife.

All in all, it's a well-mounted B-picture whose sets and effects reflect MGM's concern with quality. Nevertheless, the 71-minutes largely fails to show off Maisie's street-wise comedic appeal to best effect. The series would soon find a surer footing for that appeal.

Maisie is Maisie. Always enjoyable, but never rising to the level of series like The Thin Man. I like them as much as Blondie and a little better than Torchy. If you liked the first one you can certainly bask in this mix of seriousness and silliness.

Typically, some people are upset that the African characters are not all depicted as surgeons or poets. Oddly, these guardians of the film world end up minimizing the contributions of the black actors and the importance of the African characters (e.g., Everett Brown as Jallah).

Third World riots aren't pretty (they share this quality with First World riots). Hollywood would film it different today, but they'd also ruin the movie with politics. To enjoy old movies we have to accept that things were different then.

My rating (7/10) is measuring Congo Maisie against other movies in the series and against other series movies of the same type.

If you are a fan of the Maisie films you may be surprised (as I was) that this is only the second in the series (out of ten). It's so over the top it feels like the series has "jumped the shark" and the brassy showgirl from Brooklyn finds herself in Africa in an isolated medical camp surrounded by restless natives.

In all her films Maisie gets into hilarious situations, but the best scenes are when her suffering stage acts go horribly wrong just before she gets fired.... In Congo Maisie however the "disaster" stage act comes at the climax when she must out voodoo a native witch doctor with hokey illusions from her nightclub act - and of course this means she has to present her entire show including singing St Louis Woman to the accompaniment of native drums while wearing a showgirl costume. This is mere minutes after assisting in emergency surgery, meanwhile clearing up the relationships of everyone around her.... It's all for laughs at a manic screwball pace. Southern moves briskly from scene to scene holding the energy. By the time she starts doing her nightclub act in the jungle I was in love.

All the Maisie movies are charmers, and as the series progressed Maisie joins the war, works in an airplane factory, goes out west and discovers a hidden goldmine.... Maisie is practically a prototype of Scooby-Doo-esque iconic American adventures, borrowing liberally from trendy plot lines appropriate for a B comedy. They are all feather light and Ann Southern puts so much heart and sweetness into her character, It's wonderful to see same Maisie story progression, her fighting and falling in love with her leading man again and again - even though we know it won't be the same guy next time, poor Maisie!

But Congo Maisie is the one that really stands out as the most outrageous and off the hook. It breaks from the apple pie formula into stylized farce, and pokes fun at so many movie tropes of the day that it stands out from the rest of the series as a funny parody of many films, from Harlow's Red Dust to Ann Harding's Prestige, all painted with broad strokes and with snappy dialog.

Congo Maisie is a cute little film from the Maisie series which features a great independent female character. Maisie is a woman who keeps her self respect, her dignity, and her good girl status through all of her adventures. Ann Sothern was very lucky to have come across this character. Maisie is a tough cookie with a heart of gold.

This film in the series is pleasant, even if isn't my favorite one. It does have similar aspects to Red Dust, but it really isn't a remake as Mogambo later was.

Maisie sings and dances and performs magic tricks. The audience gets to see her think fast on her feet and to use her natural intelligence. She may not be a highly educated person, but she is someone everyone would want to have in their lives.

Enjoy this trip to Africa, and don't forget to bring your umbrella!