She Done Him Wrong

Movie Review: She Done Him Wrong

Year of Release: 1933
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Lowell Sherman
Cast: Mae West, Cary Grant

Plot outline: New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than she can handle (IMDb).

Based on her own successful Broadway play Diamond Lil (1928), this is the movie to watch if you want to know what the fuss was all about. Her bawdy double entendres (spoken phrases that can be understood in either of two ways) make Mae West the queen of sexual innuendo, e.g. "A hard man is good to find," "Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly," "Why don't you come up some time and see me? " All these great lines were not only said by her, they were also written by her. Even though Cary Grant had appeared in half a dozen movies, this was one of the movies where he got his first major role, which boosted his career. Ms. West had spotted him at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead, as he combined masculinity with the bearing of a gentleman - "Hello there, warm, dark and handsome." And how right she was (!) Along with I'm No Angel, which was released the same year and also co-starred Grant, both movies earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, were tremendous financial blockbusters and saved Paramount from bankruptcy. In a time when sex was seen as either evil lust or sacred matrimonial act, her bluntness was indeed subversive (!) She was definitely a woman ahead of her time. The movie is full of legendary May West one liners, e.g. (other than what's already said above):

"When women go wrong, men go right after them."
"Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? "

The movie is rather light on plot, but heavy on Ms. West, and frankly, who cares about anything else? Even though she's not pretty then and much less so now, her presence commands every man's attention. I like Ms. West's versatility - she sings, acts and writes, her personality - she's funny, sexy, brave and blunt, and the twists and turns in the story, especially the ending. She Done Him Wrong is by all means a funny and entertaining movie.

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars