She Done Him Wrong (1933)
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She Done Him Wrong Movie Review
She Done Him Wrong is a 1933 Pre-Code comedy film directed by Lowell Sherman and starring Mae West and Cary Grant. It’s a problematic, but hugely enjoyable flick.
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“When women go wrong,
men go right after them“
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One of the most abundant criticisms leveled against this film is that it’s not particularly good when you take Mae West out of the picture. And I realize that and I agree to some degree, but you can’t take her out of it because she’s the protagonist. The film is messy in many of its areas including its storytelling, but nonetheless I enjoyed this story quite a bit.
Well, I enjoyed the film is a better, more correct term as the story is thin and just an excuse to focus on her talents as a performer. The movie is a look into the 1890s and all of its filth, not glory which is usually portrayed in movies. And I loved that unabashedly dark quality to this film as it deals with crime, pornography, prostitution, alcoholism and gold digging all in one messy, but undeniably fun package.
Mae West as Lady Lou is a revelation. This character created here is one of the most risqué female characters of all time. She wouldn’t be created even nowadays and that says a lot about the film’s apparent edge throughout. She is the dominant one in the power play and not the men and that twist was awesome and very feminist.
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Mae West the actress demands your presence in her every moment. She is built up well and appears only ten minutes into the film, but from then on it’s her movie to shine in which is exactly what she did. Her performance is out of this world, yet very believable as she’s very talented. She had this terrific comedic timing and thus her delivery of her many humorous lines was top-notch. But just her presence is intriguing as she’s very big and thus not your typical idea of what is considered female beauty, but still she’s portrayed as beyond hot.
The other characters serve their purpose as all the buffoons in love with Lou, but she personally couldn’t care less and is only in it for the diamonds. But when she meets Captain Cummings, things become interesting and suddenly she’s brought at least a little bit to her senses. He’s played by Cary Grant in one of her first roles and he knocked it out of the park as he always did. But just their chemistry and playful dialogue together was superb to witness and whenever the two were together on screen, the movie reached greatness.
But otherwise She Done Him Wrong isn’t paced well at all and the editing needed some work. The runtime of around an hour was simply too little and I wanted more, but that led to a very entertaining movie on the other hand so maybe it was the right choice, but I’m not sure. The structure of the film is problematic and the musical numbers are unnecessary and they drag the film a bit.
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But the dialogue is awesome as the film contains many iconic lines still remembered fondly today. They are very funny and oh so sophisticated. The same should be said about the humor as the film made me laugh quite a bit with all of West’s very direct sexual remarks. The film was nominated for Best Picture and is thus one of the most atypical nominees ever.
The shortest and probably the most atypical Best Picture nominee of all time is She Done Him Wrong – a film which is messy in plot and pacing, but undeniably immensely entertaining and very funny. The humor is great and the dialogue is outstanding with many hilarious lines still famous today. Cary Grant is excellent and Mae West demands your attention with her one of a kind, edgy persona, charisma and top-notch comic timing.
