The Maisie series at its best found our heroine, a showgirl, stranded in some atmospheric spot, like a dude ranch out west, where she had to rely on her wits to find some kind of employment. In the course of the proceedings, she often united lovers, reconciled parents and children, told off snobs, and fell in love with some good-looking guy.
The Maisie pictures were always enjoyable due to Ann Sothern's great performance as a regular gal who could take care of herself, and the sharp writing that had a healthy dose of common sense and understanding of human nature. A good egg who often let her niceness get the better of her, until she woke up and told off some stupid or selfish individual who should have known better, Maisie was a terrific person whose adventures were very popular.
This one came late in the series. It starts out enjoyably, but gets bogged down in a lot of plot. It winds up with Maisie (who has no flying experience) piloting a helicopter that figures centrally in the story. She even manages to take a call from a land-line phone handed out a window to her while the craft is hovering in the middle of downtown Los Angeles!
Unfortunately the bad guy is obvious to the audience from his first appearance, but not to the characters. Which strains credibility to the breaking point. And it's hard to believe that George Murphy (no spring chicken, at this point) could portray a grown man who is so naïve in so many ways.
I guess I prefer the Maisie pictures where she stays on the ground and deals with more or less believable problems, though this one is pretty well done overall.
