Maisie Gets Her Man

Maisie gets involved with a comedian trying to break into show business while also helping out a landlord too kind for his own good and helping the police nab a con artist in this packed entry in the enjoyable Maisie series from MGM. It's a fun, fast-paced picture with a wonderful cast. Ann Sothern is lovable as usual. She gets some great support in this one from Allen Jenkins, Lloyd Corrigan, Leo Gorcey, and Donald Meek. Red Skelton plays the love interest. I like Red but sometimes, like many comedians then and now, he could get on my nerves. He's not my favorite part of this one but Sothern and the rest of the cast are so good it's easy to take his mugging. Jenkins is especially nice here, giving a sympathetic turn as "Pappy," the friendly landlord who essentially provides free room and board for a bunch of shiftless deadbeats. There's a low ceiling on these sorts of B programmers for me. All I expect is to be entertained and this one did that very well.

Two television icons of the Fifties team up in Maisie Gets Her Man. But as we know she never keeps any man lest she not be available to be down on her luck for the next film.

After nearly getting killed as the victim in Fritz Feld's knife throwing act our Brooklyn show girl Ann Sothern is once again on her uppers and looking for some kind of work. She rooms at a building that Allen Jenkins manages and he offers to put her to work assisting him. But then a rather obnoxious man who wants to break into show business played by Red Skelton kind of grows on Sothern and she helps him. Skelton falls for her even though back in Indiana he's got a sweetheart.

The plot moves through a few situations, but it's Skelton and Sothern you remember. A great scene is when the brash Skelton discovers he has stage fright and Sothern sees how vulnerable he is. After that Skelton and she go to work for conman Lloyd Corrigan who is selling shares in a mineral water company. You know he'll come to justice before the film ends.

Another great scene allows Skelton to do his drunk act substituting gin for the mineral water and softening skinflint Donald Meek. Red and Ann make quite a pair of tipplers.

Fans of Susie McNamara and Freddie the Freeloader will like Maisie Gets Her Man.

Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) is the assistant in a knife-throwing act with Professor Orco. He's angry at losing a woman and takes it out on Maisie. She barely escapes from a knife thrown directly at her. She encounters wacky comedian Hap Hixby (Red Skelton) and gets entangled with various criminal types.

I like the start with Professor Orco. It's a great launching point. Red Skelton is doing all kinds of pranks. His film career is on the rise. The most obvious move is for Maisie to partner up with Red Skelton in a comedy act. They just need to work on the act until it gets good. The movie can get rid of everything else. It's a bit of a missed opportunity.

As usual, Maisie is out of work. However, HOW this occurs at the beginning of the film you'll just have to see for yourself! Following this debacle, Maisie is broke and is taken in by a nice guy 'Pappy' Goodring (Allen Jenkings) and allowed to stay as his apartment building. Unfortunately, Maisie is yet another non-paying tenant and Goodring is in jeopardy of losing the place because he can't pay the mortgage. However, when another tenant, Marshall Denningham, moves in, things begin to look up. And, the more successful Denningham is selling his 'Sapphire Water', the better things get between Goodring and the guy who keeps threatening to take the building (Donald Meek). Another huge plot involves an obnoxiously bad comic, 'Hap' Hixby, with stage fright (Red Skelton). Maisie first becomes Hap's stage partner and soon things start to heat up between them off-stage as well. So why's it called "Maisie Gets Her Man"? See the film and find out for yourself.

Like the rest of the films in the series, this one is entertaining and well made. Now I am NOT saying it's deep or will change your life--it is just light entertainment. But it's enjoyable and a worth addition to the series.

By the way, although his role was small, it was sure nice to see Willie Best playing a non-offensive and non-stereotypical sort of role. Fans of old-time movies often would remember him for playing Stepin' Fetchit-type roles in many films--the sort of characters that make most folks uncomfortable today. In fact, his character was pretty smart here!

Ann Sothern again plays Maisie in "Maisie Gets Her Man," a 1942 film featuring Red Skelton, Leo Gorcey, Allen Jenkins, Donald Meek and Lloyd Corrigan. Maisie's hired by a comedian, Hap Hixby (Skelton) who gets horrible stage fright, so her job is gone before she even gets to do it. However, the building owner (Jenkins) is impressed with Hap and gives him a job managing the building, and Maisie becomes his assistant. Hap and Maisie fall in love, but when Hap's fiancée shows up, Hap can't tell her the truth. Maisie leaves and gets a job in a show. But when she finds out Hap is in trouble, she decides she has to do something.

This is a lively movie, in part because of Jenkins and Gorcey, who are very funny. I can't say I've ever been a Red Skelton fan, but MGM stuck him in every B movie as they attempted to build him up. Here he's nice-looking and plays it straight except when he's on stage. Sothern of course is a delight as the fast-thinking Maisie. Like most serials, the quality varies from film to film. This was one of the better ones, with a little more plot and a strong supporting cast.