Gold Rush Maisie

Plot summary

On the way to an audition at the Hula Parlor Café, singer Maisie Ravier (Ann Sothern) gets trouble with her car in the middle of nowhere in Arizona. She manages to get to a ranch nearby, owned by a grumpy man named Bill Anders (Lee Bowman), who gets overly friendly during the night.

Maisie barricades herself in her guest room and leaves early the next morning. When she finally arrives at the café, her position is already filled. Maisie meets a little girl named Jubie Davis (Virginia Weidler) and hears rumors about a gold rush in a nearby abandoned smalltown. The same day she leaves for Phoenix, riding with the Davis family, who are there because of the gold findings.

Maisie takes pity on the poor family who has been tricked to come to Arizona, and persuades them to set up camp on Bill's land instead of in the smalltown, where hustlers are working the new arrivals for their savings. Bill eventually gives in, letting the Davis family raise their tent on his ranch.

Maisie joins the family in their search of gold, making a deal with the head of the family, Bert Davis (John F. Hamilton). They dig for days without finding anything, but suddenly they strike upon a vein of gold. They report their finding and wait for the paperwork to be finished. Meanwhile, a storm comes in over the ranch, destroying the family's camp, forcing them to take refuge in Bill's house.

The next morning the family is informed that their gold vein is worthless, and the disappointed Davis family gets ready to go back onto the road, looking for work elsewhere. Maisie explains to Bill that they never came to find a fortune, but to survive because they had nowhere else to go. Bill takes pity on the poor family and offers to irrigate some land in a nearby valley with water from his estate, so that they can stay and become farmers. Maisie then leaves to find her own fortune.

Cast