Gold Rush Maisie (1940)

Finding herself stranded in a boom town settlement that rose because of a gold strike, a showgirl (Ann Sothern) befriends a displaced migrant family and joins forces with them to dig for gold. Directed by Edwin L. Marin (MISS ANNIE ROONEY), this was the third entry (there were a total of 10) in the Maisie franchise from MGM and all starring Ann Sothern. I've enjoyed all the Maisie movies I've seen so far but this is easily the weakest I've seen yet. No fault of Ms. Sothern who's wonderful but it's the screenplay that lets her down. It's formulaic and you can pretty much guess every turn the movie takes. To the film's credit, it portrays the migrants plight clearly and with empathy. There's one scene with Sothern's Maisie wordlessly observing a migrant family that sums the subject up in about two minutes as effectively as the entire overrated film version of THE GRAPES OF WRATH. With Lee Bowman, Virginia Weidler, Scotty Beckett, Mary Nash and Slim Summerville.