To me, this movie is perfection.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A different way of telling a story

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

"She Done Him Wrong" is an early hit film for both Mae West and Cary Grant. West is Lady Lou and Grant is Captain Cummings. Other key players include Owen Moore as Chick Clark, Gilbert Roland as Serge Stanieff, Noah Beery as Gus Jordan, David Landau as Dan Flynn, and Rafaeta Ottiano as Russian Rita. The cast are all good and the story is interesting, if a little slow. Others describe the plot, and I thought some movie buffs would be interested in some of the background of the movie and the stars. This film is credited as the movie that made Mae West a star. It was only her second film, but first lead role. She already had made her mark on Broadway where she acted in plays that she wrote for herself. In an introduction on the DVD of this movie, host Robert Osborne says that this film saved Paramount studios from bankruptcy. Paramount was due to go under, but the box office from "She Done Him Wrong" put the company back in the black. And, with Mae West as the studio's new star, Paramount continued on its track back as one of the big filmmakers. The movie also helped push Cary Grant's career. Grant had risen to male leads in three films the year before. A check of histories elsewhere affirms that Mae West's two films in 1933 (the other being "I'm No Angel") were a boost to Paramount, but none attributed the recovery directly to that. The company remained in trouble for a time. Studio head Adolph Zukor is credited with pulling the company out of receivership. He had also acquired a number of other top stars along with West and Grant. Those included Claudette Colbert, Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard, Jeanette MacDonald, and the Marx Brothers. They all made some hit movies that helped restore Paramount's star. Osborne related some interesting background on this movie. Mae West had written and starred in the hit 1928 Broadway play on which it is based, "Diamond Lil." But, when Paramount bought the movie rights, apparently the Production Code office notified the studio that there was no way it could make "Diamond Lil" into a movie. The play was far too racy for the motion picture industry's new standards. So, Mae West, the other writers and the director went to work to revise the film. The first thing they did was change the name. The new screenplay replaced racy dialog and scenes with innuendo and double entendre. Osborne said that Mae West later was quoted as saying that the Production Code led to better movies because the studios wrote better stories with innuendo and suggestion that made them much funnier than they were otherwise. It's interesting too that West made only 13 films in her movie career. Three of those were more than two decades after she left Hollywood in 1943 to return to the stage and nightclub entertaining. She was 87 and living in Hollywood when she died in 1980. Of course, all those other names above from Paramount went on to become huge stars as well. This is a good film, but nothing special. West made only two films considered very good –"'I'm No Angel" and "My Little Chicaddee." She was more of a sex symbol with a come-on persona, than she was an actress. She had some good years on stage, acting and writing, and she worked the nightclub circuit for most of her career. Here, West sings "Frankie and Johnny," which may be the first time that long-time popular American song was used in the movies.

It's interesting that this is one of the films cited as pushing to get the Hays Code in place the following year, since there is certainly less skin shown than many other movies in the time period. What frightened people saw was Mae West, and not her curves that pretty clearly signaled the end of the era of the flappers, but how brazenly she flaunted her sexuality. She purrs and sizes men up and down as she sees them. She makes it clear she wants nothing but a tumble in the hay. This is the first movie she drawls "Why don't you come up sometime 'n see me?" to Cary Grant. Talk about a movie with larger-than-life personalities and accents in Grant and West! The line that summarizes West's persona best from the film is this one: "Men are all alike - married or single. It's their game. I happen to be smart enough to play it their way". To the censors, hypocritically, the idea that women could take control of their sexuality was as bad or worse than seeing a bare thigh here or there.As for the film itself, if you're a Mae West fan, this is probably must-see. It may be of interest to see a younger Cary Grant as well, though I found later he was already 29 at the time (West was ten years older). While I smiled as she slinked around in tight, sparkly dresses, moaning one double entendre after another, she just doesn't do it for me, and the plot which takes place in the 'gay 90's' isn't enough to recommend the film. I did love the very last lines, with Grant saying "You baaad girl", and West smiling and saying "You'll find out" before they kiss. Oh Mae, you're so naughty.

Written by, and starring Miss West her very own self. A title card at the beginning tells us that, tho filmed in 1933, the story takes place in the 1890s. Noah Beery and Cary Grant (ten years younger than Mae!) co-star in this fun, naughty, saucy story. Lu (M. West) comes back to town, and although the town women disapprove of her, she is in town to stir things up, and be the social center of so many gentlemen. Some very clever double entendres....my favorite is when someone compliments a painting of her, and she replies she wishes that they hadn't hung it up over the "free lunch"! Lu and her friends help out a young lady who has run into trouble. Also some fun lines from Louise Beavers, who plays Lu's maid Pearl. They sure pack a lot into 66 minutes, although the version I'm watching on netflix is a couple minutes shy of that. Must be to keep it "family friendly"... directed by Lowell Sherman; one of the last films he directed... he died just two years later at 46 from pneumonia. Definitely watch this one if you can catch it - Loads of fun, and a look at pre-code film.

Those who don't Understand the Appeal of Mae West don't Understand what the Appeal is. Her Character is just more than that, it is a Caricature, a Cartoonish Whimsy of Womanhood. She is the Embodiment of Sexuality with a Body that is Constructed with Broad Lines and Exaggeration. Not a Classic Beauty. She is a Singing Sensation who doesn't Sing Very Well, but it is what She Sings ABOUT that is the Attraction. She is All Swagger and Sway, a Bawdy, Gaudy, Gal with a Libido on Full Display and a Heart of Gold.Nothing about Her is Remotely Real and has Little to do with a Real Woman. She is a Fantasy, for the Male and the Female. An Uninhibited Sexpot that's Ready and Wiiling for the Men and an Unbridled, Free Spirit for the Women. This Movie is Full of Mae West Quotes that have become a Part of Popular Culture. To set the Record Straight the most Famous is also the most Misrepresented. It is Often said..."Come up and see me sometime." But the Actual Quote is..."Come up sometime, and see me." When Quoted Accurately, there is a Big Difference. She is Offering a Peek and the Inaccurate Quote is just an Invitation to Visit.The Movie has quite a Few other Interesting Things going on that, along with the Famous Sexual Innuendos and Double Entendres, there is White Slavery, Counterfeiting, a Killer that is not put on Trial, an Almost Fetish Photography of Beer, Nudie Trading Cards, a Bare Breasted Painting that Hangs over the Free Lunch Counter, the Black Maid is Nicknamed "Eight-Ball", and more.The Movie was Sighted as a Major Reason by the Production Code as a Moral Imperative to Extinguish such Corrupting Influences, it saved Paramount Studios from Bankruptcy, Made Mae West a Star and a Star Maker who Insisted on an Unknown Cary Grant to Play Opposite.Overall it is a Short, Racy, but not Raunchy, Slice of Pre-Code Fun.