Congo Maisie

MGM's Tarzan sets got some extra use when in Ann Sothern's Maisie series she did an African film Congo Maisie. The plot which was recycled from Red Dust would get recycled again for Mogambo only that one was actually done on African location.

Ann Sothern stows away on the wrong boat, she has a job in a coastal African town, but this boat commanded by J.M. Kerrigan is going upstream to a small settlement, a research facility where married couple Sheppard Strudwick and Rita Johnson. Even further into the wild is another former doctor now rubber plantation magnate John Carroll and all three go visiting there.

Where both an outbreak of witch doctor fundamentalism and an attack of appendicitis on Strudwick puts the whole party in jeopardy. But not with the ever resourceful Maisie using some tricks she learned from when she was a magician's apprentice.

Using her Maisie character as a bridge between what Jean Harlow and later Ava Gardner did with same part, Sothern is light, breezy, entertaining and very wise in a street smart way. The Maisie series went on for about a decade and Sothern's ingratiating and affable personality was the reason why.

We could all use a wise Maisie in our lives.

Congo Maisie is a cute little film from the Maisie series which features a great independent female character. Maisie is a woman who keeps her self respect, her dignity, and her good girl status through all of her adventures. Ann Sothern was very lucky to have come across this character. Maisie is a tough cookie with a heart of gold.

This film in the series is pleasant, even if isn't my favorite one. It does have similar aspects to Red Dust, but it really isn't a remake as Mogambo later was.

Maisie sings and dances and performs magic tricks. The audience gets to see her think fast on her feet and to use her natural intelligence. She may not be a highly educated person, but she is someone everyone would want to have in their lives.

Enjoy this trip to Africa, and don't forget to bring your umbrella!

The Quick Pitch: Maisie finds herself stranded in an African jungle. If that's not bad enough, Maisie will have to use all her skills as a showgirl to deal with the local witchdoctors.

Watching Congo Maisie can be a bit jarring at first as there is no continuity from Maisie, the first film in the series. Well, actually there's no continuity other than Ann Sothern in the title role. Here, she's just as delightful, energetic, cute, and funny. Maisie is a fantastic character and Sothern plays her perfectly. Sothern's comedic time is in top form. In Congo Maisie she even gets a chance to do a bit of her showgirl routine. The final scene where she does her song and dance number for the dazzled and confused natives is a real highlight. Funny stuff. The supporting cast is decent enough, but no one really stood out. As with Maisie, Congo Maisie moves at a relatively good pace throughout most of the movie. The exception is when the film gets bogged down in its romance angle. Unfortunately, in Congo Maisie, it's a poorly written love triangle (a love square might be more appropriate) that annoyed me more than anything. Still, this bit couldn't ruin the overall film. Congo Maisie is a winner.

7/10

During the late 30s and through the 40s, Ann Sothern made ten Maisie films. They were clearly B-movies--short, relatively low budget (for MGM) and meant as second films in a double-feature. Yet, despite this, they also were very polished and entertaining. Clearly, MGM made nice looking B-films.

In this second installment, Maisie is inexplicably in central Africa! Why is never really explained well and seeing the blonde Sothern traipsing about what is supposed to be African jungle is rather surreal. As far as the plot goes, it's a reworking of "Red Dust" but due to the Production Code, the sexiness of the remake is much more subdued than the original. In the original, Jean Harlow was a tramp--a nice tramp but clearly a tramp. Here, Maisie is a nice girl--a show girl but a NICE show girl.

When the film begins, Maisie stows away on a boat. Instead of heading down river to Lagos, it heads up river to disease-ridden and superstition-filled jungle. Along the way, she teams up with a grumpy ex-doctor, Dr. Shane (John Carrol), and they head to a jungle hospital--where the "Red Dust"-like plot ensues. There, another doctor's wife is bored and lonely and immediately falls for Dr. Shane. But, Maisie being a good girl, she does what she can to help the lady realize her problems WON'T be solved with an affair. How all this works out you'll just have to see for yourself.

Aside from stealing a few clips from "Trader Horn", the film looks pretty good for a stage-bound B-movie set in the jungle. And, the acting and story work well. Overall, it's an agreeable little film and a decent remake since the story is more a reworking than a direct remake. Worth your time even if it is a bit patronizing in how it depicts many of the Africans.

This time, just call Maisie "Congo Maisie" in this 1940 second entry into the "Maisie" series. Each episode of Maisie's fabulous life is done as a separate entity as if the previous one never happened. So don't get too attached to anyone.

Maisie, stranded as usual, stows away on a ship that doesn't go the way she wants and, in fact, breaks down. She tags along with a rubber plantation manager (John Carroll) when he hikes to his old house where he worked as a doctor (he's since forsaken the Hippocratic oath). Now it's the home of a doctor who does research (Sheppard Strudwick) and his wife (Rita Johnson).

"Congo Maisie" is chock full of adventure, with Maisie assisting in an emergency operation and, wearing a gown and a Carmen Miranda headpiece from her club act, fends off witch doctors.

It's quite funny but as my sister yelled out to me hearing some of it, "Is that a politically incorrect movie you're watching in there?" Uh, yeah.

John Carroll is the new object of Maisie's affections. He talks a lot and uses a monotone that becomes grating real fast. I recall a photo of him where he was presented as a Gable wannabe. Forget it. Rita Johnson is absolutely lovely, and Sheppard Strudwick is very good. Fun.