The role of Maisie - brassy, sassy, but still-classy showgirl -- was originally intended as a vehicle for Jean Harlow, but her untimely death meant it went to Ann Sothern. The ghost of Harlow still hovered over the second Maisie movie, billed in trailers as "Racier than Red Dust!" Not really, but the story of how the Brooklyn-born scatterbrain skips out on a hotel bill only to end up down the river at a Congo rubber plantation still had parallels aplenty, most notably Sothern playing against Clark Gable lookalike John Carroll. More racially sensitive modern audiences will cringe at the film's ooga-booga attitude towards the African natives, but it's still a treat to see Sothern all dolled up in black sequins, gamely doing her nightclub routine to a less-than-optimal audience. Her bump and grind in the heart of the jungle is a great example of the appealing mix of awkward comedy and genuine sex appeal that Sothern brought to all the Maisie movies, much to the delight of audiences and her employers MGM. At her peak Sothern received fan mail addressed only to ''Maisie, U.S.A.'' -- no other explanation was needed.

By Violet LeVoit