One of my all time favorites.

How sad is this?

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

And the first one's better, a typical Maisie entry where Sothern cracks wise, plays tough, and gets stuck in upstate New York, romancing both prizefighter Robert Sterling (whom she married in real life) and his promoter, a not very likable George Murphy. Sterling's engaged to a weakly written dame who overeats and gets carsick, and the always welcome Virginia O'Brien, given fourth billing, shows up to do a deadpan "Bird in a Gilded Cage" and exits. Then it takes a dark turn as Sterling's blinded in the ring, and the comedy completely vanishes. Maisie and melodrama don't mix, and we're not really rooting for her to end up with either leading man, least of all the one she does end up with. We love Annie, and she does her usual good work here, but the screenplay lets her down.

As usual, Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) is broke and trying to get to her next job--but has no money. When she sneaks aboard a train, she is caught and deposited in the middle of no where. However, she soon meets up with an exceptionally nice prize fighter, Terry Dolan (Robert Sterling), and he helps her get on her feet. However, his manager (George Murphy) takes an almost instant dislike for Maisie, as he doesn't want any 'dames' distracting Dolan from becoming champion. In fact, they dislike each other so much that you KNOW they'll eventually fall for each other--a common old Hollywood cliché.As for Terry, although he is a great fighter, he is hiding a secret--a secret he eventually confides with Maisie. It seems that every time he goes into the ring, he's scared to death--scared that he'll hurt the other guy and afraid he'll end up punch-drunk after repeated blows to the head. This is a normal and healthy concern, but he wants to give up the fight business--even though he could become champion. Maisie advises him to tell his manager and quit--and this is sure to impact on her new romance with the manager. So what's to come of all this? Well, considering that Maisie was in ten films and this is only the fifth, you can pretty much assume she WON'T be getting married and settling down to a life of domesticity--at least not yet (even though it sure looks that way at the end)!I appreciated this film, as "Ringside Maisie" did NOT glamorize the fight business. Few other contemporary boxing films talked about the ugly side of it--the brain damage, detached retinas, the wear and tear and the fact that promoters and managers really couldn't care less about the boxers. And, the film did a wonderfully touching scene with Terry and one of his opponents, Jackie, at the hospital. Because of this, the film has a lot more depth than you'd expect from a boxing film or an installment of "Maisie". Because of this, it's one of the best films in the series and is well worth seeing--particularly if you have any family members who has aspirations of going into the ring.By the way, I thought it very strange that they billed Terry as a heavyweight, as he looked amazingly small and undeveloped for such a weight class (or to be a boxer at all). I know they had a lot fewer classes back then, but he sure looked like a middleweight to me--not that this seriously hampered the story.

I have seen many of the Maisie films, and this one was another pleasant entry into the series.When I watched the first Maisie film, I felt like I was watching Jean Harlow. I later learned that the Maisie character was intended for Jean; however I enjoyed Ann Sothern's performance as the sassy character.Ann does a great job showing that a woman could handle herself in every situation and always land on her feet. She is smart, sexy, and savvy.I am so grateful to TCM for showing these films, so that I can get the chance to see them for the first time.

This is a enjoyable, fun, moving movie. Ann Sothern is one of my favorite actresses, she could do anything, sing, dance, act, and be funny. She should of became a bigger star, she should of made it in the 1930s, she had the screen image of women who were in the movies at the time, she could of been up with Jean Harlow, Kay Francis, Constance Bennett, Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Norma Shearer, Glenda Farrell, Joan Blondell. She had their kind of talent and screen presence which was popular in the 1930s, but they had too many women like that and besides Ann Sothern became popular around the mid-1930s, when movies and women were changing on screen, and that kind of acting style women did in the 1930s wasn't popular in the 1940s. Maybe if Ann would of came around and became popular in the early 1930s, maybe she would of been a bigger star. But who cares she made it. But Ann Sothern remain well-known and popular in the 1940s, and is very watchable. MGM should of made her a bigger star. She's beautiful in this movie. The funniest, memorable scene is the beginning of the movie, Ann Sothern is dancing with a guy, their doing the dances of the time, Ann is really getting down, its actually funny how the guy spins and kicks around her while their fast dancing. You have to see it. She switches from comedy to drama beautifully. Ann really takes your breath away in this movie right along with dashing George Murphy and Robert Sterling. Seeing Robert discover that he's blind will make tears come in your eyes. Beautiful Virigina O'Brien is always a delight. like Turner Classic Movies shows it from time to time. Try to catch it.