She Done Him Wrong (1933)

She Done Him Wrong (1933) – A beautiful saloon singer is caught between a violent escaped criminal (and former beau) and a handsome temperance league member.

Directed by Lowell Sherman                   Starring Mae West, Cary Grant, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery

Once upon a time, Mae West was as a big star as you could be.  Hit shows on Broadway, successful movie career, a pioneer in equal rights, actress, singer, play and screenwriter and sex symbol.  Yet today, she is mostly unknown or a caricature afterthought.

It’s just not right.

West took on the established mores of the day head-on.  She not only wrote, directed and starred in a show called “Sex”.  Censors of the day had her arrested, but ticket sales were strong.  West refused to simply pay a fine and went to jail.  She turned it into a publicity bonanza.  Her next show was “The Drag”, a show about homosexuality.  It was also banned in New York.  An early supporter of both women’s rights and gay rights West said what she believed and lived the life she wanted.

Know for her racy double entendres, she wasn’t afraid to mock the prudery of her time as well.  In every way possible, Mae West was a trailblazer.

And my bet is that most folks under the age of fifty have no idea who she was.

“She Done Him Wrong” is the film adaptation of her hit Broadway show “Diamond Lil”.  It was a box office hit, saved struggling Paramount, and earned an Oscar nomination for “Best Picture”.  It’s also one of Cary Grant’s earliest movies.

West does a great job here balancing her character on the razor’s edge of what she can get away with and the men who believe they control her.  Some of the comedy is a little dated, what was “racy” in 1933 seems mainstream today, but the overall story holds together.  The movie shows its stage roots with some musical numbers that don’t hold up so well.

Why You Will Like It: It’s all about Mae West, and there’s never been anyone quite like her since.

Rating: ***1/2 Worth A Long Look