She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Director:

Lowell Sherman

Writers:

Mae West (play)
Harvey F. Thew (writer) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine. Unfortunately...

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Singer | Jealousy | Jewelry | Cabaret Singer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Mae West	...	Lady Lou
Cary Grant	...	Capt. Cummings
Owen Moore	...	Chick Clark
Gilbert Roland	...	Serge Stanieff
Noah Beery	...	Gus Jordan
David Landau	...	Dan Flynn
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Russian Rita
Dewey Robinson	...	Spider Kane
Rochelle Hudson	...	Sally
Tammany Young	...	Chuck Connors
Fuzzy Knight	...	Ragtime Kelly
Grace La Rue	...	Frances Kelly
Robert Homans	...	Doheney
Louise Beavers	...	Pearl (Lou's maid)

Also Known As:

Diamond Lady (USA) (working title)
Diamond Lil (USA) (working title)
Diamonds (USA) (working title)
Ruby Red (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | Finland:(Banned) | USA:Approved

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: Gus and Lou talk about having gotten sally a job. Gus' hand is on the arm rest, but in the next shot he's lowering his hand from taking a drag on his cigarette.

Quotes:

Captain Cummings: Surely you don't object to my holding your hand?
Lady Lou: It ain't heavy - I can hold it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

Soundtrack:

She Done Him Wrong

The incomparable Mae West at her finest

Mae West was a veteran of burlesque, vaudeville and the Broadway stage by the time she made her first film in 1932 at the age of 39. `She Done Him Wrong' was her second film and her first starring role in an adaptation of her smash Broadway hit `Diamond Lil'. It was a play that West had written herself and it played to packed houses on Broadway for years. This film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture and made Cary Grant into an instant star. Mae went on to write nine of the fourteen screenplays for films in which she was to star. Thus, all those great quotes we've heard that are attributed to her were not only said by her, but written by her as well. By 1935, she was the most highly paid woman in America. To this day, she remains one of the female stars most often imitated by female impersonators.

This film is among her best. It is full of the bawdy double entendre that became her trademark. She was the queen of sexual innuendo and suggestive dialogue and many of her lines have become part of Americana (e.g. `Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?' And, `A hard man is good to find.' And of course, `Come up and see me sometime.')

The plot of this film is simplistic and it is clearly a vehicle for her enormous talent, leading up to the now famous proposal by Cary Grant at the end of the film. Mae commands every frame of the film with her incomparable combination of sex appeal and ribald humor. Her sense of comic timing is impeccable making the funny lines she writes that much more hilarious by the snide way in which she delivers them.

Before this film, Cary Grant had appeared in half a dozen films and was building a reputation as a solid actor. However, none of his early films gave him the exposure that this film did due to its wild popularity at the time. West handpicked him for the part saying that he combined virility with the bearing of a gentleman. She wanted someone who would epitomize the now famous line, `Hello, warm, dark and handsome.' Though his role in this film is minor compared to West's, it made him a household name and a bankable star.

This classic film is a piece of film history that shouldn't be missed. I rated it a 10/10. It is among Mae West's best moments. I highly recommend it.