classicsoncall This was my first 'Maisie' movie with Ann Sothern, actually I chose to DVR the film off of Turner Classics because of the boxing theme. There's not a whole lot of ring action but it anchors the story after Terry Dolan O'Hara (Robert Sterling) interrupts his workout to offer Maisie a ride to her hotel. From there, Maisie seems to see-saw her way in a relationship between Dolan and his fight manager Skeets Maguire (George Murphy). I was betting on Sterling's character right from the start, but after reading some other reviewers here, it appears that Maisie finding and not keeping a man was built into the series as a regular story line.This was my first look at actress Virginia O'Brien, appearing as herself and doing that bizarrely executed night club number, which had me baffled until I read that it was part of her schtick. It was so different and unique I had to go back and watch it a couple more times. Now I'll be on the lookout for more of her singing appearances.Say, what exactly do you think Skeets got a ticket for on the George Washington Bridge? It was the middle of the night, no traffic, and he was pulled over to the side of the road. You'd think the cop would be a little more understanding and send him off with a warning and a slap on the wrist. Now if it happened today, well all bets are off.As far as the boxing goes, Sterling as well as all of his opponents didn't look like heavyweight fighters to me, but that's probably a trivial point. Skeets Maguire looked like a gangster in his broad pin stripes but turned out to be a class guy when all was said and done. If anyone turned out to be a heel here it would have been Terry Dolan's fiancé, Cecilia Reardon (Natalie Thompson) after it looked like Terry's career was through and facing permanent blindness following his last match. I wouldn't have minded seeing her get KO'd by Maisie along the way.

mark.waltz More dramatic than ever, this entry in the popular Ann Sothern series takes on the world of providing. Maybe hook up with boxing manager George Murphy who pushes his prize client Robert Sterling to the breaking point as he strives to win big money to help out Hus mother. Murphy's law isn't coddling his clients, and any attempts Sterling makes to get out of his contract is met with legal threats. It's up to Maisie to fix things, and like the good tenderhearted (if rough around the edges) angel she is, she takes it on with her usual verve.Supporting Sothern, Murphy and Sterling are Natalie Thompson as Sterling's not so loyal girlfriend and Margaret Moffatt as Sterling's wheelchair bound mother. A character actress I'd never heard of before, I was impressed with Miss Moffatt's acting, although I wanted her to give Murphy a huge slap when she gently called him over in a dramatic final scene.A particular delight is the presence of Virginia O'Brien in a nightclub sequence as herself, singing an if course deadpan version of "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" as only she can. It lightens up the seriousness of this entry, reminding me that just because Sothern's lighthearted image made this assumed to be a comedy series that she couldn't go dramatic every now and then.

ksf-2 This chapter of the "Maisie" adventures, starring Ann Sothern, opens at a Danceland dance hall. Ed Marin directed four of these, so he was familiar with Sothern and the usual suspects. Maisie (Sothern) gets canned from the dance hall, and calls her agent Vic (Rags Ragland) to see what else she can do for work. She meets up with the boxing mug Terry Dolan (Robert Sterling), and stirs things up. ( Sothern was married to Sterling from 1943 to 1949, and it appears this was the only film they made together. Sothern has an interesting family history, for those who have the time to read her bio....) "Maisie" butts heads with the boxer's manager "Skeets", who is sure she wants to distract Dolan from his boxing. For me, its all about Virginia OBrien - she sings Bird in a Gilded Cage at the night club, and she does her usual deadpan face with small, fun, facial expressions that say so much with so little movement. Written by Wilson Collison & Mary McCall, it appears Collison died young at 47. Sothern would also make six films with Gene Raymond; for those looking for other good Ann Sothern films, my favorites are Smartest Girl in Town, and Walking on Air - tons of fun if you can catch em on Turner Classics.

David (Handlinghandel) Ann Sothern is delightful in her Maisie roles (and in virtually everything she did.) This is an especially charming entry in the series.It has a few small problems that can be attributed to its time. The flouncy desk clerk is one, but prissy, effeminate desk clerks were a staple of movies for a couple decades. (Alas.) In a way, the notion that prize fighter Robert Sterling would rather die than continue his life as a blind person is dated, too. But this movie is generally good with disabilities. People are still terrified of blindness, though more is known about it now; and the character of Sterling's mother is in a wheelchair and not treated in at all a condescending fashion.The idea that a smart, pretty, self-sufficient woman like Sothern's Maisie would chose the (to me) thoroughly unappealing George Murphy over the tender character played by the very handsome Robert Sterling is kind of laughable. And apparently the offscreen Sothern felt that way too, since she and Sterling were married two years after this picture's release.