She Done Him Wrong

In the presence of Mae West, the story is smart enough to take a backseat to her ribald sexuality and zest for quips. A ham of the highest order, West was goofy on the blonde sex goddess persona before it was even solidified as an iconic image of the cinema. After all, this was around the same time that Jean Harlow was only beginning her ascendency into the Valhalla of pop culture iconography and movie stars. Not even the supporting cast, with a young Cary Grant, can gain much footing while standing next to her. She Done Him Wrong is the very essence of West’s star persona, it’s her show and nothing else even matters or compares.

The plot, vaguely based on her play Diamond Lil but watered down due to the demands of Hollywood production, concerns a showgirl, her gangster ex-boyfriend, and an undercover police officer all keeping track on what’s possibly going down. Of course there’s subjects like prostitution, jewelry theft, and the bad girl goes semi-good ending, only the last one is outwardly spoken of while the rest are elliptically mentioned since the Production Code was in full force. But none of this matters, we know exactly where everything is going from the time each character is introduced, and the plot is smart enough to pause itself to allow time for West to do what she does best. And that’s really the only reason necessary to watch She Done Him Wrong, and it’s a damn fine reason.