Up Goes Maisie

These MAISIE films were churned out with alarming regularity by MGM, obviously intended to amuse post-war audiences as the second feature on a double bill. They passed the time pleasantly enough, but it's hard to review them by today's standards since much of the material is as dated as can be.

Let's just say that ANN SOTHERN dispenses her usual charm and breezy style in the role of Maisie Revere, a gal who gets a job with an inventor (GEORGE MURPHY) who is trying to get his automatic helicopter on the market. Needless to say, Maisie and the inventor, played in his usual bland way by Murphy, soon find they have romance on their minds but little else in this silly script. Of course, she ends up saving the day by solo piloting the helicopter over downtown Los Angeles and landing in the Pasadena Rose Bowl for a grand touchdown.

It's as silly as all the other Maisie movies, but not as hard to take as some of them. STEPHEN McNALLY and HILLARY BROOKE are capable at playing the villains, but Maisie getting the wolf whistle routine from every other male in the cast is a bit much.

Trivia note: Watch for DON TAYLOR in soldier's uniform in an uncredited bit.

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.

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.

Sothern's sparkly Maisie is always a treat. Looks like MGM was injecting a bigger budget and longer runtime into the series. That's okay, but here it means more plot and fewer Maisie spotlights. The first part is typical our gal. She's trying to get a job, but every office in town has a guy with more than a job in mind. Nevertheless, the tricky antics are amusingly handled. Then the job she does get is with a no-nonsense experimental lab, where Murphy's developed a cutting-edge helicopter. Trouble is one of his crew, McNally, is conspiring with a rival outfit to hijack the secret project. Anyway, turns out that it's a good thing Maisie knows how to pull levers.

Sothern gets to show more moods than usual, while Murphy makes a convincing idea man. The second half features special effects that are pretty well done, along with a look at Pasadena's empty Rose Bowl. To me, the brief highlight is Maisie's catfight with the formidable Hillary Brooke. Brooke can be so snooty, it's fun to see her get a humiliating comeuppance. Too bad, however, we don't see more of that post-war phenomenon, the drive-in café. The brief look of the one here appears lavish, with its array of comely car-hops that includes Maisie. And, oh yeah, dish me up a burger while you're at it.

Overall, it's a rather suspenseful entry with a sprightly first part that, depending on viewer taste, soon turns plot-heavy.