Maisie Was a Lady

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

Ann Sothern is perfectly cast as the brassy, smart, and kind-hearted show girl, Maisie Ravier. This film adheres to the familiar path of Maisie slumming in a third-rate venue, trying to scratch out a living while fending off lecherous cads.

We find Maisie working in a carnival as The Headless Woman, her head seemingly detached from her body, as spectators look with wonder. Then Lew Ayres, playing a drunk playboy, staggers in, and begins tickling Maisie's exquisite nylon-clad legs. (Ann Sothern had quite a pair of gams). Maisie tumbles over. The act is ruined. Maisie gets fired.

Feeling guilty, Ayres hires Maisie as a maid, where she imposes order over a rich but neglected family. The cast includes Maureen O'Sullivan, and C. Aubrey Smith, whom I can hear speak all day, with that smooth, actorly, refined voice. Here Smith is playing a well-meaning butler. O'Sullivan plays Ayres's lovelorn sister (a complete 180 from her Tarzan films). And Ayres plays an alcoholic who, thanks to Maisie, sobers up, and falls in love with you know who.

Being a B movie, this lacks the MGM signature gloss. The images hew toward monochromatic. What's interesting about the Maisie character is she's a showgirl with a strict, rather conservative, moral code. But thanks to Ann Sothern's portrayal, in all the Maisie films I've seen, she never comes across as a moralizer.

Ann Sothern is a talented comedienne, and fine dramatic actress (Cry Havoc, A Letter to Three Wives), with a rapid-fire delivery and sexiness to boot. I could picture her going toe to toe with Cary Grant in His Girl Friday. She didn't reach the levels of, say, Carole Lombard, or Claudette Colbert, mostly because Ann starred in B movie screwball comedies. Two good ones are Walking on Air and Smartest Girl in Town, both from 1936, and both co-starring Gene Raymond.

Our MAISIE WAS A LADY, or at least took care of one after going to work for two very wealthy siblings.

In this, the fourth entry in the Maisie series (1939-1947), lovable Ann Sothern continues to shine as the brassy showgirl who uses her innate decency and good old common sense to see her - and those around her - through life's rough patches. Although the film can boast of good production values and a fine supporting cast, Sothern remains the primary reason to watch.

Lovelorn Maureen O'Sullivan and alcoholic Lew Ayres are the sister & brother in need of Maisie's not-so-gentle ministrations. Paul Cavanagh, as their too-often-absent father, does well with his few scenes. Ushering in some unexpectedly serious sequences, Edward Ashley as O'Sullivan's caddish boyfriend, and pretty Joan Perry as his jilted lover, give the film a raw edge often missing in most comedies.

Best of all is wonderful Sir C. Aubrey Smith as the family's elderly, kindhearted butler. In a role which could have been rather insignificant in lesser hands, the old gentleman works a gentle magic with his lines and turns his part into one of the film's highlights.

Movie mavens will recognize Billy Curtis & Jerry Maren as two of the carnival's Little People, and Hans Conried as one of the silly house guests.

Maisie finds herself in yet another pickle and out of a job thanks to an inebriated Lew Ayres. When the judge rather ludicrously forces Lew to make restitution to her by employing her at his mansion she finds the joint badly in need of her common sense to sort it's inhabitants out. If you're a fan of the series than you know what to expect. The flashy Maisie through dint of her down to earth smarts accesses the situation and sets about making things right.

Ann Sothern drives this breezy vehicle like a master. Full of sass, piping up when she sees something wrong and knocking chips off of shoulders right and left these movies would be nothing without her. As always she's provided with a solid supporting cast, the best in this group being C. Aubrey Smith, and an inconsequential story but Ann's the reason to watch.

In this entry in the Maisie series our showgirl from Brooklyn finds herself involved with the Rawlston family. She gets involved because a drunken Lew Ayres reprising some of his role as drunken playboy Nick Seton from Holiday gets Ann Sothern fired from her carnival act.

Through some interesting circumstances Sothern winds up working for the Rawlston family whose head is Paul Cavanaugh who runs an airplane factory, son Ayres and daughter Maureen O'Sullivan who Cavanaugh thinking her a plain Jane just smothers completely. He is glad however that O'Sullivan has found Edward Ashley and maybe someone from the same social background to take her off his hands.

Ashley is from the same background, but what he is is a thoroughgoing WASP blue chip rat. When O'Sullivan finds he's two timing her it almost becomes tragic and our Brooklyn showgirl springs into action.

Of course things work out for the best as Maisie instills some common sense into these upper crust folks. It's always happy for Sothern except that when the next film in the series comes along you know it didn't work out.

I must also single out C. Aubrey Smith as the family butler who has instilled those same blue chip values that his employers have. He and Sothern have some great scenes together.

Maisie fans and others will like this.