"Maisie Was A Lady" is an undiscovered comedic gem from 1941. It is not quite as humorous as "Bringing Up Baby" or "It Happened One Night" because it is more ambitious-injecting a fair amount of social commentary into the story in place of additional comedy elements. About the only explanation for its obscurity is its association with the less than overwhelming "Maisie" series.
"Maisie Was a Lady" is the fourth film in the series; each story being completely unrelated (like episodes of "The Three Stooges") and linked only by the title character, a part that Sothern specialized in portraying.
"Maisie Was a Lady" transcends the other films in the series in part because the formula had been debugged by that point yet had not yet exhausted story ideas. More important, Sothern was finally given a strong supporting cast for this one; Lew Ayres as the disillusioned rich kid, Maureen O'Sullivan as his vulnerable sister, and C. Aubrey Smith as the family's very proper but kindhearted butler. All four actors give quite possibly the best performances of their careers, at least in part due to the perfect physical casting. All four parts (especially the Ayres and O'Sullivan characters) require extensive behavioral elements to enhance the characterizations, and they manage this quite deftly.
The film begins with drunken Bob Rawlston (Ayres) heckling Maisie Ravier (Sothern) while she is working as the headless woman in a carnival sideshow. When his antics destroy the illusion Maisie loses her job. She borrows Bob's car to get home but is pulled over by the police and spends the night in jail. Maisie get off her best line when she tells the cop that she knows a pinhead in the carnival and wonders why he never mentioned having a son on the police force.
In court the next morning a sympathetic judge orders Bob to give Maisie a job for two months, at the salary she was receiving with the carnival. When sober, Bob is a really nice guy and he makes her a maid in his mansion, under the kind direction of his butler Walpole (C. Aubrey Smith). Bob's sister Abby (O'Sullivan) is also very nice. They have been neglected by their globe-trotting father, Abby has accumulated a collection of unwanted jewelry-sent to her each time her father misses a special occasion. Maisie arrives on the eve of Abby's engagement party and quickly catches onto the true nature of her fiancée Link Phillips (Edward Ashley).
Abby is devastated when she receives yet another piece of jewelry in the mail, meaning that her father is not planning to attend the party. This is compounded by revelations about Link's real reason for wanting to marry her. O'Sullivan's performance as the vulnerable and insecure (yet very likable) Abby is especially convincing and should bring out the protective instincts in all viewers.
All in all a nice little film, with excellent performances from the entire ensemble.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
