Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)

Very Cool!!!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Expected more

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Ann Sothern (Maisie Ravier), Red Skelton (Hap Hixby), Allen Jenkins (Pappy Goodring), Donald Meek (Mr Stickwell), Lloyd Corrigan (Mr Denningham), Fritz Feld (Professor Orco), Walter Catlett (Jasper), Leo Gorcey (Cecil), Ben Welden (Percy Podd), Rags Ragland (Ears Cofflin), Frank Jenks (Art Giffman), Florence Shirley (Mrs Taylor), Pamela Blake (Elsie), Frank Faylen (theater manager), Phil Van Zandt (stage manager), Harry Tyler (peeler salesman), Joe Yule (elevator man), Pat Flaherty (bone-crusher), Esther Dale (Elsie's mother), Willie Best (Sam), Robert Emmett O'Connor (Frawley).Director: ROY DEL RUTH. Screenplay: Betty Reinhardt, Mary C. McCall Jr. Story: Betty Reinhardt and Ethel Hill. Based on the character created by Wilson Collison. Photography: Harry Stradling. Film editor: Fredrick Y. Smith. Supervising art director: Cedric Gibbons. Associate art director: William Ferrari. Set decorator: Edwin B. Willis. Costumes: Kalloch. Music: Lennie Hayton. Song, "Cookin' with Gas" by Roger Edens. Dance choreography: Danny Dare. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: J. Walter Ruben.Copyright 26 May 1942 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 15 July 1942. U.S. release: Not recorded. Australian release: 7 January 1943. 8 reels. 7,704 feet. 85 minutes. U.K. release title: SHE GOT HER MAN. SYNOPSIS: Down-but-not-out hoofer meets a stage-struck country boy eager to make his comic mark on Broadway. (Theodore Strauss in his New York Times review suggests the script was inspired by A.J. Liebling's "Jollity Building" series of short pieces in The New Yorker).NOTES: Unlike the Andy Hardy series which, although produced by M-G- M's "B" unit, were sold as "A" attractions, the studio's nine Maisie entries never amounted to anything more than fodder for the lower half of double bills. All the same, the series was well-liked. In working-class neighborhoods, Maisie was often booked for Saturday nights, particularly if the main feature was thought to lack drawing power. "Maisie Gets Her Man" was the 6th of the series.COMMENT: Better than average offering in the series — thanks more to Roy Del Ruth's good direction than to any great virtues of the script. Some of the ideas are good but they are almost smothered in a plethora of lightweight dialogue. Conclusion is disappointing and seems to have been hurriedly tacked on.My guess is that Harry Stradling did the photography while he was asleep.OTHER VIEWS: Maisie Gets Her Man just limps along without ever being very amusing or ruefully touching. The script lacks the flavor of A.J. Liebling's sketches, the direction is ambling. Skelton labors heroically over some soggy material — but all to little avail. — Theodore Strauss in The New York Times.I'm not a great fan of Red Skelton, but for once he's perfectly cast as an aggressively obnoxious, unfunny comic, whose nerve fails him when most needed. Not exactly an enjoyable interpretation, but accurate. More appealing characters are enacted by Allen Jenkins (as an undischarged bankrupt reduced to running a rundown office block), Donald Meek (as the mean-tempered, miserly-minded landlord), and some of the tenants of this Jollity Building, including surly Leo Gorcey, gushingly phony Lloyd Corrigan, crick-necked Walter Catlett and tricky Ben Welden. Ann Sothern, as usual, not only tends to overplay but unashamedly hogs the camera. Aside from this unwelcome indulgence of his star, Del Ruth's direction seems capable enough. A boost is provided by Harry Stradling's attractively glossy camera-work. Nonetheless, despite the originality of the film's setting and characters, the script's main story remains a liability. Not only does it firmly adhere to traditional lines, but finally peters out in a tamely naïve conclusion. = JHR writing as Charles Freeman.

As usual, Maisie is out of work. However, HOW this occurs at the beginning of the film you'll just have to see for yourself! Following this debacle, Maisie is broke and is taken in by a nice guy 'Pappy' Goodring (Allen Jenkings) and allowed to stay as his apartment building. Unfortunately, Maisie is yet another non-paying tenant and Goodring is in jeopardy of losing the place because he can't pay the mortgage. However, when another tenant, Marshall Denningham, moves in, things begin to look up. And, the more successful Denningham is selling his 'Sapphire Water', the better things get between Goodring and the guy who keeps threatening to take the building (Donald Meek). Another huge plot involves an obnoxiously bad comic, 'Hap' Hixby, with stage fright (Red Skelton). Maisie first becomes Hap's stage partner and soon things start to heat up between them off-stage as well. So why's it called "Maisie Gets Her Man"? See the film and find out for yourself.Like the rest of the films in the series, this one is entertaining and well made. Now I am NOT saying it's deep or will change your life--it is just light entertainment. But it's enjoyable and a worth addition to the series.By the way, although his role was small, it was sure nice to see Willie Best playing a non-offensive and non-stereotypical sort of role. Fans of old-time movies often would remember him for playing Stepin' Fetchit-type roles in many films--the sort of characters that make most folks uncomfortable today. In fact, his character was pretty smart here!

Spoilers Included - It's strange to see the well-known A.J.Liebling story The Jollity Building used in this film. A lot of the characters (I see Jack McGuire, Morty Ormont, Jerry Rex and Dave, Hi Sky, Marty the Clutch, and Barney the lunch counter owner), sets, and lingo are lifted whole from the story, and many of the situations as well. I didn't see Liebling's name in the credits, though. All the names and a few of the situations were changed in the building, and the locale (Chicago instead of NYC), but it's still quite obviously the Liebling story with a boy/girl romance thrown in. It's a likable film, and Allen Jenkins is very impressive as the building manager (he could be straight from the story's gloomy Morty Ormont).

Ann Sothern again plays Maisie in "Maisie Gets Her Man," a 1942 film featuring Red Skelton, Leo Gorcey, Allen Jenkins, Donald Meek and Lloyd Corrigan. Maisie's hired by a comedian, Hap Hixby (Skelton) who gets horrible stage fright, so her job is gone before she even gets to do it. However, the building owner (Jenkins) is impressed with Hap and gives him a job managing the building, and Maisie becomes his assistant. Hap and Maisie fall in love, but when Hap's fiancée shows up, Hap can't tell her the truth. Maisie leaves and gets a job in a show. But when she finds out Hap is in trouble, she decides she has to do something.This is a lively movie, in part because of Jenkins and Gorcey, who are very funny. I can't say I've ever been a Red Skelton fan, but MGM stuck him in every B movie as they attempted to build him up. Here he's nice-looking and plays it straight except when he's on stage. Sothern of course is a delight as the fast-thinking Maisie. Like most serials, the quality varies from film to film. This was one of the better ones, with a little more plot and a strong supporting cast.