She Done Him Wrong

My all-time favorite Mae West line (from “Go West Young Man”) was mangled by the censor.In the film she says,“You may kiss my hand. And tomorrow, perhaps you may kiss me.”---- which doesn't even make sense.It should have been:“You may kiss my hand. And tomorrow, perhaps, you may kiss the rest of me.”In her prime, Mae West starred in ten films (1932-1943)---- In 2016, the first nine films were conveniently gathered in a three DVD box from Universal (see photos), at the ridiculously low price of $20 on Amazon. Nice pictures and sound + subtitles. No commentaries. In the Amazon Search bar look up “Mae West Essential Collection”---- The rights to the tenth film are owned by a different studio, so you have to buy it separately:  The Heat's On  (1943) - DVD, not yet on Blu-ray.THE NINE PARAMOUNT FILMS:1932 Night After Night - with George Raft PRE-CODE1933 She Done Him Wrong - with Cary Grant PRE-CODE, reviewed on this page1933 I'm No Angel - with Cary Grant PRE-CODE1934 Belle of the Nineties - with Roger Pryor1935 Goin' to Town - with Paul Cavanagh1936 Klondike Annie - with Victor McLaglen (directed by Raoul Walsh)1936 Go West, Young Man - with Randolph Scott1937 Every Day's a Holiday - with Edmund Lowe1940 My Little Chickadee - with W.C. FieldsThe first three are pre-code films (released before May 1934) and were given the dreaded “C” rating: CONDEMNED by the Legion of Decency.Mae West was one of the primary reasons the Legion was formed.Roman Catholics were forbidden to see these films.All three are presented uncut in the 2016 DVD box and on the Blu-rays.Kino Lorber has licensed all nine films and released them on individual Blu-rays with SDH subtitles, plus each film gets a brand-new audio commentary (‘She Done Him Wrong” gets two commentaries).The picture quality on Blu-ray is an improvement over the five-year-old DVD transfers, but nothing dramatic.The ten audio commentaries are informative and entertaining, but there is inevitably a lot of overlap.Nine Blu-rays cost $160 on Amazon versus $20 for the three DVD box.Classic film fans should at least own the three-DVD box.If you are a serious film student, you need the nine Blu-rays, or at least the first three - the pre-code films.If you are new to Mae West, the best place to start is with her second film, “She Done Him Wrong” (1933), with the best all-around supporting cast, screenplay and music (“I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone”).It was Cary Grant’s eighth feature film - he had already co-starred with Marlene Dietrich in “Blonde Venus” (1932), look up the Criterion Collection Blu-ray collection “Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood”.It's also Mae’s only film to be nominated for an Academy Award. *The old DVD and the new Blu-ray both include a 1933 Walter Lantz cartoon “She Done Him Right” in which Pooch the Pup is enamored of Poodles - a canine version of Mae West - who sings “Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day”, a song with obvious drug references.**Her first film, “Night after Night” (1932) was a George Raft gangster movie.A nifty pre-code film, but it’s only intermittently a Mae West film.In a supporting part, Mae plays one of Raft’s old girlfriends - This is the only time she did not receive top billing in a film (she is actually billed fourth).And it's the only time that Mae did not receive a writing credit, even though she wrote the best line in the film - “Goodness had nothing to do with it”.Also worth the extra expense of Blu-ray is the third pre-code film “I’m No Angel” (1933) in which she was reunited with Cary Grant.The remaining six films were subject to Production Code censorship.All have their moments, but can be a disappointment after you’ve seen the first three.“My Little Chickadee” was the only time she was teamed with W.C. Fields, who tends to dominate the proceedings.* Sixth Annual Academy Awards (1933) - Best Picture Nominees:-- Cavalcade - winner-- 42nd Street-- A Farewell to Arms-- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang-- Lady for a Day-- Little Women-- The Private Life of Henry VIII-- SHE DONE HIM WRONG-- Smilin' Through-- State Fair** “Minnie the Moocher’s Wedding Day”by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler, made popular by Cab Calloway:Grab a taxi and go down, China town's on a spree,Let me give you the lowdown, This is really history.Whenever folks in Chinatown start acting gayThere's something in the air that makes them feel that way.Yeah, man, I heard somebody sayIt's Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!Old Smoky Joe's so happy he can hardly wait,He's spent a million dollars for his wedding date,Yeah, man, they're gonna celebrate,It's Minnie the Moocher's wedding day.You better come on down, Way down in Chinatown,Oh, let me take you down to see them kick the gong around.A million cokies shouting, "Hay-de-hay-de-hay!"The king of Sweden's gonna give the bride away,Yeah, man, I heard somebody say,It's Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!The king and queen of every nationWere glad to get an invitation;The prince of Wales said he would get awayFor Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!They said a hundred thousand hoppiesWent over to China picking poppies,They're gonna put them all in one bouquetFor Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!Hi-de-hi-de-hi,Ho-de-ho-de-ho-de-ho!Hay-de-hay-de-hay,It's Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!Yeah, man! Why, what's that them boys say?It's Minnie the Moocher's wedding day!

I greet the release of She Done Him Wrong on DVD with mixed emotions.First, my review of the film - She Done Him Wrong was Mae West's personal favorite among her 12 movies, and 75 years after its release, it is still considered a classic by most critics and many fans. The film is often credited with saving Paramount Studios from bankruptcy, and made Mae West the box-office sensation of 1933. Thanks to this film, the phrase, "Come up and see me sometime" entered the language and immortalized a woman now long-revered for her comic timing and salty double-entendres (although her most famous phrase was something of a misquote; her actual line to Cary Grant was, "Why don't `cha come up sometime, see me? Don't be afraid, I won't tell. Come up, I'll tell your fortune. Ooohh, you can be had!"). Based on her notorious Broadway smash Diamond Lil, Miss West was forced to change the lead character's name (if not the basic plot) to appease the censors, and Diamond Lil became Lady Lou, "One of the finest women ever walked the streets". Peppered with hilarious bons mots such as, "When women go wrong, men go right after them", the script, which she wrote herself, contains more wit in each scene than some modern so-called comedies have in a whole movie. For a film that runs a mere 62 minutes, it's packed with fun, drama, wonderful period atmosphere and great performances from an ensemble cast, many of whom appeared in the stage version. Mae's sultry singing of the song, "A Guy What Takes His Time" was so suggestive that the censors removed all but one verse of it from her filmed rendition, although she managed somehow to simultaneously release it on a 78 record that contained verse after verse of uncensored, ribald, raw sexuality.While I am thrilled to finally have this movie available on DVD, it dashes my hopes that some of Mae West's more obscure films will ever find a digital release.Universal Studios (who owns the rights to all Paramount titles) previously released on individual DVD's only three Mae West classic titles: I'm No Angel (1933), Belle of the Nineties (1934), and Klondike Annie (1937). Each of these early DVD releases has been long out of print. Early in 2005, My Little Chickadee (1940) was released as part of the W. C. Fields collection, and later that year, Universal released five titles in the "Mae West Glamour Collection", Night After Night (1932), Go West, Young Man (1935), Goin' To Town (1936) and the previously mentioned I'm No Angel and My Little Chickadee. I was hoping that a "Mae West Glamour Collection, Volume Two" would eventually contain the out-of-print Belle of the Nineties and Klondike Annie, along with She Done Him Wrong, and her remaining two classic films, Every Day's A Holiday (1937) and the rarely seen, The Heat's On (1943), both of which have never been on DVD at all. Curiously enough, the UK version of the Mae West Classic Collection included The Heat's On, although it was originally released by Columbia; I guess this means that Universal does have the rights. BUT, the release of She Done Him Wrong as a single DVD has now dashed my hopes that the other classic titles will ever be released. This is a pity. Some critics - and I concur - consider Klondike Annie (more of a drama than a comedy) to be Mae's finest effort, and Every Day's A Holiday is one of her more hilarious outings on celluloid.I am hoping against hope that this release signals the forthcoming issue of the few of Mae West's classics that have not been seen in a digital format, but only time will tell.

This is probably the best and most representative of the great Mae West's few films.The one-liners are sharp and funny, the screenplay is saucy, Cary Grant is Cary Grant in embryo, and Mae sings her guts out.Better written, acted, and directed than her next movie I'm No Angel, this is the great dame at her languid, lubricious best.'I've heard a lot about you.''Yeah, but you can't prove a thing.'

Mae West is Mae West and this is Mae doing what only she could do in great style co-starring with a young and devastatingly handsome Cary Grant. They are dated, but the double entendres survive perfectly and Mae sings songs as only she could. It is a time capsule I suppose, but if she was to become a legend in her lifetime this shows why.

She is so funny a woman before her time

Classic zmaeFull of inuendo and cheap jokes but still I will wTch this again and againFull of

Good short film; surprised how short - 1 hour!