She Done Him Wrong (4 Stars)

"She done him wrong" was made in 1933. It's Mae West's first lead role in a film, and it's the only one of her films to be nominated as Best Film at the Academy Awards. It's based on the Broadway play "Diamond Lil", also written by Mae West.

Mae plays Lady Lou, a woman who lives and works in a saloon in New York's Bowery in the 1890's. She's the main attraction. Men swarm to see her when she sings on stage. She was a woman who loved diamonds years before Marilyn Monroe sang "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". Whatever outfit she wore on stage, she was adorned with diamonds. Some of them were given her by Chick Clark, a jewel thief who's now in prison. The rest were given by Gus Jordan, the saloon boss.

Men all want her, with one exception. Captain Cummings, played by Cary Grant, leads the Salvation Army mission next door. He frequently visits the saloon, looking for lonely drunks who want to repent. Gus tolerates him, as long as he doesn't lure too many men away. Lou sees him as a challenge. She can't bear to see a man in the room who doesn't want her.

That doesn't mean Captain Cummings is the only man she's interested in. She's attracted to a rich Russian called Sergei. Women wore long dresses in that day, but she still manages to get his attention when she's walking upstairs.

Sergei can't take his eyes off her as she walks upstairs. She invites him to come up and see her. This is the best known quote by Mae West, and she says it to several men in the course of the film. Sergei has a girlfriend, but when has that ever stopped her? She'll take any man she wants, whether he's single or not. Sergei's girlfriend flies into a rage when she finds him in Lou's room. Lou doesn't care how many relationships she breaks up.

Meanwhile, her ex-lover Chick is languishing in prison. All he has is a photo of Lou to keep him company when he's lying in bed at night. Lou tells Gus that she never cared for Chick. She was only with him because of the diamonds he stole for her. Gus is a lovesick fool. It doesn't occur to him that Lou is only with him because he's giving her diamonds. The saloon doesn't make enough money to feed Lou's greed. Gus is making counterfeit money which Sergei is distributing for him. Men have to turn to crime for Lou's attention.

The film takes a turn when a young woman called Sally attempts to kill herself. Lou takes her under her wing. Lou immediately guesses that she's had trouble with a man. Why else would a woman want to kill herself? Not Lou, of course. Lou would never kill herself because of any man. Lou is the woman who leads men to their destruction.

But Sally is collateral damage. Gus isn't just making money by making money. (Is there a better way to say that?) He sends women to San Francisco as pickpockets. Lou thinks nothing of it when Sally disappears. Captain Cummings comes to the saloon, because her father is looking for her. He's worried about her because she's only 16.

Captain Cummings asks Lou where Sally has gone, and Lou honestly has no idea. The Captain can't take his eyes off Lou's diamonds.

Or is he looking at something else? It's difficult to say. He's a man of God.

"Come up and see me".

The next day he comes up to see her. Look at the way he's shrinking back from her. He's scared. I have to praise Cary Grant as an actor. This was one of his first films, but he puts on an excellent performance as a straight-laced counterpart to Mae West's brazen sexuality.

Could you resist a woman like Mae West? I couldn't. I wouldn't even try. I'd end up as yet another frustrated man in a jail cell.

Eventually he sits down to discuss Sally. At this point Mae West delivers her most notorious line of the film. "That's it. Loosen up. Unbend". She looks down at his crotch to make sure he understands what she means. This is a film that should have been made in colour, so that we could see the Captain blushing furiously.

The Captain leaves when he realises that Lou knows nothing about Sally. It's a brilliant scene. I'll post a few screenshots, but I'd need to post a video to show the mechanics.

The Captain opens the door to leave, but Lou moves close and pushes the door shut.

 He attempts to kiss her, but just before their lips meet she pushes him away.

How frustrating that must be when he's finally unbent!

Lou opens the door and tells him to come up again, any time.

When he leaves Lou sighs contentedly and says "It won't be long now". The fish is on the hook. How long will it be until the man of God is committing crimes for her?

It never comes to that. Chick escapes from prison and starts shooting people in the saloon. And there are unexpected events. Films already had plot twists 90 years ago.

This was a promotional photo for the film. It's interesting that Cary Grant spoke badly of Mae West after the film. Apart from saying rude things about her appearance, he said she was a fake, not sexual at all. However much I enjoy his acting, I have no respect for him as a man.

I understand him exactly. He was a charming man who expected women to fall at his feet. When they were together, Mae West behaved exactly as she did in the film. She was highly sexual, but for her, sexuality wasn't about getting into a man's bed, it was a power game. She used her sexuality to intimidate men. Cary Grant, who considered himself a stereotypical alpha male, didn't like to be intimidated. First she made him unbend, and then she pushed him out of the door while he was standing fully unbent. The film was over, so he couldn't come up again. And even if he had come up, the result would have been the same every time.

Cary Grant thought he could have Mae West. That's what she wanted him to think. He wasn't enough of a gentleman to admit that he could never have her.

At the time of the film Mae West was the highest paid actor of any gender in Hollywood. She was paid a salary of $5000 per week. Cary Grant was paid $450 a week, which was considered a high salary for actors, but it was only a fraction of what Mae was earning. He complained about it, and his weekly salary was increased to $750 after the film. That's probably another reason for his rude words about her. As an alpha male he couldn't tolerate that a woman earned much more than him.

P. S. Multiply the numbers by 22 to see what their salaries would be worth today.