She Done Him Wrong (1933) Review

She Done Him Wrong was an overall good picture, in my opinion. I thought that some parts didn't make sense and at times I found it a bit difficult to pay attention even though the movie was only about an hour and four minutes long.

The amazingly talented Mae West plays Lady Lou and she is a singer/entertainer at a bar/cabaret. Mae West was great as Lady Lou and she delivered her lines amazingly well. I would have nominated her performance for an Oscar because I enjoyed her that much!

I did have some problems with the movie though. I thought that it only served to showcase Mae West's talents and her humor and not much more. I found some of the plotlines rather silly, if I'm being honest. The one where her lover escapes from prison is kind of silly. I also didn't really feel any chemistry between Mae West and Cary Grant (although his performance was rather enjoyable on its own).

Back to Mae West though, the movie is clearly made to showcase all her talents and I've read that it was criticized and lauded for launching Mae West's career so fast. The way she says her lines is great as it adds to the humor that is supposed to be in the film. I believe that it was Mae West's performance that made the film interesting because at other times I thought it was somewhat dull.

Mae West's musical numbers were also done pretty well. "A Guy What Takes His Time" was definitely the most memorable to me especially because of the dialogue that came before it when she was talking about being nervous.

The costumes were another thing that I found especially enjoyable, particularly the dresses worn by Mae West through out the movie.

All in all, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend that one watches it. It's easy to see why it is considered a classic by some and that's because of Mae West's star-making performance as Lady Loud. The movie offers some good old fashioned humor and has enough drama to keep one interested for a bit.

3/5 stars

What do you think if you've seen the movie?