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Thursday, April 23, 2020

Maisie (1939)

A chorus girl (Ann Sothern) gets stranded in a small Wyoming town without a dime to her name. She inveigles her way into working as a maid at a ranch where she finds herself attracted to the ranch's manager (Robert Young) whose bitter experience with women causes him to resist her. Loosely based on the novel DARK DAME by Wilson Collison and directed by Edwin L. Marin. Originally a vehicle for Jean Harlow who died before production began, the film was a popular success which lead MGM to make nine more MAISIE films all starring Ann Sothern. Sothern had been at RKO but was never an "A" star as Ginger Rogers got first crack at all the major comedies. MAISIE finally made Sothern a bankable star and MGM started putting her into some A pictures. As to the film itself, it's a modestly enjoyable programmer heavily dependent on Sothern's brassy sassy performance which makes it a pleasure to watch. With Ruth Hussey, Ian Hunter, George Tobias and Cliff Edwards.

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