Maisie

First in MGM's Maisie series starring the adorable Ann Sothern as everyone's favorite Brooklyn showgirl. Most of the movies in this series follow the same formula: Maisie loses one job but finds another, usually thanks to her love interest in that particular film. This first one has Maisie falling for a ranch foreman (Robert Young, rather unbelievable in cowboy get-up) while befriending the sad ranch owner whose wife is cheating on him.

Ann Sothern was born to play this role. It was apparently originally intended for Jean Harlow before her untimely death, but I can't imagine anyone else doing quite as good with it as Ann. She's delightful to watch. Then there's Robert Young, who tries to make the most of a real A-hole of a character. It's kind of hard to swallow that Maisie would fall for him so fast despite him treating her like crap. But "them's was the times." Ian Hunter offers solid support as the sympathetic cuckold and Ruth Hussey does a good job as the villainous wife.

The Maisie movies tend to be classified as comedies, but that's not really true. As with other MGM series like the Hardy films, these movies are mostly dramas with a little bit of comedy thrown in. Some entries have more comedy and some have less. This first one leans more on the drama. I mean, a character in this commits suicide for crying out loud. Not much humor in that. Anyway, it's an enjoyable start to an entertaining series. The darker moments add a little something to it that helps it rise above your average B movie.

The irrepressible Ann Sothern embarks on one of her signature roles, her defining one until she switched over to TV and Private Secretary, and she a bright and breezy delight. Originally intended as an A picture for the reigning blonde queen of the studio Jean Harlow until her untimely death kicked it around the studio before landing in the lower budget B unit. Still an MGM B picture was a higher quality production than some of the lower rung studios top grade films having as they did the cream of the Hollywood talent pool at their disposal.

So appealing is Ann it's no wonder this was the start of a highly successful series chronicling her exploits in ever more exotic locations. No matter the pickle she finds herself in her pluck and ingenuity carry her though. Robert Young, a man born to wear dinner jackets, is rather preposterously cast as a ranch hand, in the best pressed dude clothes you've ever seen, but his facile charm carries him over any rough spots. Ian Hunter is all warm dignity in his part but the biggest surprise casting is finding Ruth Hussey, usually the wry, wise upstanding lady, playing a rapacious unfaithful gold-digger. This was one of half a dozen films she made the year before her big splash in The Philadelphia Story and Metro hadn't found her niche just yet.

A delightful comedy with a dark turn here and there Ann effortlessly drives the film with her star presence. How she never made it to the top rung of stardom is a mystery.

Plot-- A jobless brassy blonde worms her way into a spot on a Wyoming cattle ranch thanks to an infatuation with the foreman. There she gets mixed up with the cultured ranch owner and his philandering wife.

Ann Sothern brings off the wise-cracking Maisie in winning fashion. At times she's a little much, but the role's harder than it may look. She's got to be feisty, on one hand, without becoming dislikable, on the other. And that's a challenge since most every line is caustic even if humorous. I really liked the first part where Maisie sort of knocks around eking out a living. But once she settles in on Slim's (Young) ranch and gets involved with the Ames's (Hunter and Hussey), plot takes over and personality recedes. Looks to me like the screenwriter didn't know where to take the storyline, and reached for something melodramatic. Whatever the reason, the two parts don't blend that well despite Sothern's lively bridging performance.

On a different note, catch how Maisie's rather dubious background is finessed. It may not be exactly respectable, but no hint of anything immoral. There were quite a few movie series at the time (1939), mostly amateur sleuths, Charlie Chan, The Falcon, et al. The Maisie series, I believe, was one of the few to feature a female lead. Still, Sothern's so good in the tradition of sassy 30's dames, I'm not surprised a number of sequels followed.

On the whole, the movie's a Sothern showcase with a solid line-up of supporting players-- nice guy Young, a classy Hunter, and a vixenish Hussey. So catch the first part, especially.

Ann Sothern could enliven any production and any script, gracing both with her talent, beauty and unusual voice. "Maisie," the first in a series of films about one Miss Maisie Ravier, is no exception. Despite being made on a shoestring, watching Ann Sothern is a delight. She plays a showgirl who is left stranded when the show folds before she arrives. Desperate for work, she takes a job in a carnival, where she meets Slim (Robert Young), a woman-hating cowboy. She stows away in his truck and then assigns herself as a maid to the wife (Ruth Hussey) of Slim's boss (Ian Hunter) when they arrive. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are there to repair their marriage, which was nearly ruined by Mrs. Ames' infidelity. It doesn't take long for anyone to realize that she's a tramp and still at it. This leads to tragedy, and it's up to Maisie to save the day.

Sothern makes the film entertaining - Maisie has a smart mouth and is very enterprising. I can't agree with one poster that this was the first series to have a woman as the main character because the Torchy Blane series started two years before Maisie. Ian Hunter gives a very gentle performance as Mr. Ames, Ruth Hussey is appropriately conniving, and Robert Young is miscast. It's not the first time.

Although I haven't seen the rest of the series yet, apparently they're done as separate entities, because from looking at the cast lists, it doesn't appear that the Young character is in the other films, unless the reason is subsequently explained. I originally thought this might be the last film instead of the first. Well, they promise to be interesting. Anything with Ann Sothern usually is.

Why did I like "Maisie"? It was not hilarious and the story seemed to try to feign plausibility. It trivialized a suicide, which is the one thing which bothered me about the film – but by trivializing it, they avoided dwelling on.

That being said, the situation was good and the acting was splendid. I adored Maisie (Ann Southern), liked Slim (Robert Young) as the character surpassed his initial single dimension, and had no time for Sybil (Ruth Hessy) or her paramour (John Hubbard).

The film worked because it is about Maisie in a situation. She is a good and decent person, bothered but not surprised that the world contains sharks and charlatans, and shameless women who marry for money. She'll judge everything personally, but she won't grandstand about it. She'll be put in any number of situations, and she knows how to survive and thrive in each of them.

Wonderful character actor George Tobias makes two excellent appearances in the film, towards the beginning and the end, as a sort of a con man. It was a nice touch.

I am looking forward to seeing the nine other films in the "Maisie" series.