By Violet LeVoit
Ringside Maisie
Brief Synopsis
A Brooklyn showgirl sets pulses racing at a boxers' training camp.
Cast & Crew
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Edwin L. Marin
Director
Ann Sothern
Maisie Ravier
George Murphy
Skeets Maguire
Robert Sterling
Terry Dolan [also known as Young O'Hara]
Virginia O'brien
Virginia O'Brien
Natalie Thompson
Cecelia Reardon
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Sports
Release Date
Aug
1,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Wilson Collison.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 36m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,542ft
(10 reels)
Synopsis
When fed-up New York taxi dancer Maisie Ravier quits her job, she is offered a real dancing job in the Adirondacks. Because she cannot afford to buy a ticket, Maisie sneaks onto a train, but is thrown off fifteen miles from her hotel. While she is walking, Maisie encounters boxer Terry Dolan, who fights under the name "Young O'Hara." The kind Terry offers Maisie a ride to the hotel. but when they first stop at his training camp, they incur the ire of his manager, Skeets Maguire, who trades insults with the feisty dancer. That evening, Maisie encounters more trouble when her amorous partner, Ricky Du Prez, fires her for rejecting his advances. Terry, his girl friend Cecelia Reardon and Skeets are dining at the hotel and Terry offers to drive her back to New York when he takes "Cissy" home. Privately, Skeets, who is very protective of Terry, infuriates Maisie when he accuses her of being a gold digger. The next day, on the way to New York, Terry tells her that Skeets acts tough but is really all heart and supported Terry's wheelchair-bound mother, who thinks her son is a salesman, long before the boxing started paying off. They stop for a visit at Mrs. Dolan's and when Terry sees how much his mother likes Maisie, he offers her a job as his mother's companion. Two weeks later, Maisie and Cissy attend Terry's next fight, and Skeets is very friendly toward Maisie. After the fight, which Terry wins by a knockout, Maisie and Skeets "bury the hatchet" and go dancing. At home, when Maisie congratulates Terry, he confesses that he hates boxing and would like to quit after his next fight, then buy back the grocery store his mother lost. When he says that he cannot quit because of his contract with Skeets, she assures him that Skeets will understand. Two months later, Terry tries to tell Skeets how he feels, but Skeets misunderstands and thinks Terry is trying to thank him. On the night of Terry's next fight, Maisie tells Mrs. Dolan that Terry will soon be quitting "sales" and coming home to buy a grocery store. Terry easily wins the fight, and after talking with Maisie, finally is able to tell Skeets that he wants to quit boxing. Skeets feels betrayed and threatens to ruin him if Terry does not honor their contract. Even Maisie cannot change Skeets's mind, and he and Terry remain at odds during training for the next match. During his fight, Terry doesn't seem to have his old spark and takes a terrible beating. Skeets, who at first thinks that Terry is deliberately holding back, won't stop the fight, despite Maisie's pleadings. Terry is knocked out cold in the sixth round and in his dressing room, they discover that he is blind. Maisie then lashes out at Skeets, who feels terrible. Cissy is also chastised by Maisie when she admits that she needs someone to take care of her and cannot bear the thought of having to care for a blindman. Later, Mrs. Dolan, who learns of Terry's sacrifices from Maisie, visits him in the hospital and is told that his blindness might be cured by an operation to relieve pressure on the brain. Mrs. Dolan then tells Terry to use his money for the operation and forget about the grocery store. After the operation, which is a success, Maisie learns from one of the doctors that Skeets chartered a plane to bring a specialist down from Boston and that he is planning to set Terry up in the grocery business. Maisie then rushes to Skeets's hotel and they embrace.
Director
Edwin L. Marin
Director
Cast
Ann Sothern
Maisie Ravier
George Murphy
Skeets Maguire
Robert Sterling
Terry Dolan [also known as Young O'Hara]
Virginia O'brien
Virginia O'Brien
Natalie Thompson
Cecelia Reardon
Margaret Moffat
Mrs. Dolan
Maxie Rosenbloom
Chotsie
Jack Larue
Rickey Du Prez
"rags" Ragland
Vic
Oscar O'shea
Conductor
John Indrisano
Peaches
Roy Lester
Jitterbug
Eddie Simms
Jackie-Boy Duffy
Jonathan Hale
Dr. Kramer
Purnell Pratt
Dr. Taylor
Tom Hanlon
Radio announcer
Tom Dugan
Checker
Almira Sessions
Landlady
Leon Belasco
Band leader
Hooper Atchley
Waiter
Larry Mcgrath
Referee Zinick
Lawrence Creighton
Scribe
Marty Faust
Scribe
Al Hill
Scribe
Harry Harvey
Photographer
Eddie Chandler
Policeman
James G. Blaine
Policeman
Eddie Hogan
Hank Johnson
Dan Tobey
Garden announcer
Russ Clark
Al Donnelly
Robert Perry
Duffy's manager
Helen Brown
Nurse
Harold Minjir
Clerk
Ralph Mccullough
Sports writer
May Mcavoy
Day nurse
Edna Holland
Surgical nurse
Dick French
Ambulance doctor
Billy Coe
Timekeeper
Frank Riggi
Cardin, fighter
Mickey Martin
Boy
Crew
Joe Boyle
Assistant Director
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Kalloch
Gowns
Arthur J. Lamb
Composer
Charles Lawton
Director of Photography
Roy Lester
Instructor to Ann Sothern for Jitterbug number
Mary C. Mccall Jr.
Original Screenplay
Stan Rogers
Associate (Art Direction)
J. Walter Ruben
Producer
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Frederick Y. Smith
Film Editor
David Snell
Music Score
Harry Von Tilzer
Composer
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Sports
Release Date
Aug
1,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Wilson Collison.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 36m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,542ft
(10 reels)
Articles
Ringside Maisie
In this, the fifth Maisie movie, everyone's favorite choosy floozy Maisie (Ann Sothern) skips out on a crummy taxi dancer gig and gets mixed up in the boxing underworld, where prizefighter Terry Dolan (Robert Sterling) and his suave manager Skeets Maguire (George Murphy) have a disagreement about going on to the next fight. Sothern and Murphy have such great chemistry on screen that it's a surprise to learn the big off-screen romance was really between Sothern and Sterling. The couple met on set and married each other a week after Sothern's divorce from Roger Pryor was finalized. (The marriage didn't last long, but it's their daughter Tisha Sterling who plays a younger version of her mother in The Whales Of August (1987)). Maybe it's the flush of being in love that gives extra juice to Maisie's sex appeal in this film-watch how, during the opening dance sequence, Sothern pulls off the nifty trick of looking simultaneously bored, exhausted and in heat while she cuts a rug with a doofus dance partner. Cameos from real fighter Maxie "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom and stoneface crooner Virginia O'Brien round out the fun.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Ringside Maisie
In this, the fifth Maisie movie, everyone's favorite choosy floozy Maisie (Ann Sothern) skips out on a crummy taxi dancer gig and gets mixed up in the boxing underworld, where prizefighter Terry Dolan (Robert Sterling) and his suave manager Skeets Maguire (George Murphy) have a disagreement about going on to the next fight. Sothern and Murphy have such great chemistry on screen that it's a surprise to learn the big off-screen romance was really between Sothern and Sterling. The couple met on set and married each other a week after Sothern's divorce from Roger Pryor was finalized. (The marriage didn't last long, but it's their daughter Tisha Sterling who plays a younger version of her mother in The Whales Of August (1987)). Maybe it's the flush of being in love that gives extra juice to Maisie's sex appeal in this film-watch how, during the opening dance sequence, Sothern pulls off the nifty trick of looking simultaneously bored, exhausted and in heat while she cuts a rug with a doofus dance partner. Cameos from real fighter Maxie "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom and stoneface crooner Virginia O'Brien round out the fun.
By Violet LeVoit
TCM Remembers - Ann Sothern
TCM Remembers - Ann Sothern
Actress Ann Sothern passed away on March 15th at the age of 89. Her film career spanned sixty years and included a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for The Whales of August (1987) and several Emmy nominations for her roles in the TV shows Private Secretary (1953) and The Ann Sothern Show (1958). Sothern was born as Harriette Lake in North Dakota. She made her first film appearance in 1927 in small roles (so small, in fact, that some sources omit any films before 1929) before deciding to work on Broadway instead. Shortly afterwards she signed with Columbia Pictures where studio head Harry Cohn insisted she change her name because there were already too many actors with the last name of Lake. So "Ann" came from her mother's name Annette and "Sothern" from Shakespearean actor E.H. Sothern. For most of the 1930s she appeared in light comedies working with Eddie Cantor, Maurice Chevalier, Mickey Rooney and Fredric March. However, it wasn't until she switched to MGM (after a brief period with RKO) and made the film Maisie (1939) that Sothern hit pay dirt. It proved enormously popular and led to a series of nine more films through 1947 when she moved into dramas and musicals. During the 50s, Sothern made a mark with her TV series but returned to mostly second tier movies in the 1960s and 1970s. Finally she earned an Oscar nomination for her work in 1987's The Whales of August (in which, incidentally, her daughter Tisha Sterling played her at an earlier age). Turner Classic Movies plans to host a retrospective film tribute to her in July. Check back for details in June.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to Hollywood Reporter news items, actor John Shelton was originally scheduled to co-star in the film. Ringside Maisie was director Edwin L. Marin's last M-G-M contract picture after seven years with the studio. The remainder of Marin's career was spent at various studios. Hollywood Reporter production charts include Florence Bates in the cast, but she was not in the released film. Ringside Maisie marked the motion picture debut of actor "Rags" Ragland, who had recently become well-known due to his success in the stage version of the musical Panama Hattie. According to news items, M-G-M brought Ragland to Hollywood to re-create his role in the film version of the musical, but placed him in other pictures first when production of Panama Hattie was delayed until 1942. He spent his entire motion picture career at M-G-M. His last picture was The Hoodlum Saint, released in 1946, the year of his death,.
Actress Ann Sothern and actor Robert Sterling were married from 1943 to 1949. This was their only film together. Actor Purnell Pratt, who portrayed "Dr. Taylor" in the film, died in late July 1941. It is unclear whether Ringside Maisie or Life Begins for Andy Hardy (released on August 15, 1941, ), which were shot simultaneously, was his last completed film. Ringside Maisie was the fifth picture in the Maisie series. For additional information on the series, consult the Series Index and see entry for Maisie in (AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2662.
