Up Goes Maisie

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.