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Product Description: "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" Screen legends Mae West and Cary Grant heat up the screen in the racy comedy She Done Him Wrong! Nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award® this classic from the pre-code Hollywood era follows a brash saloon singer (West) with a penchant for troubled men - especially the mission director (Grant) who wants to reform her. The unabashed queen of the double-entendre shines in her first starring role in what has been called "Mae West's best film" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide).System Requirements:Running Time: 65 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SCREWBALL COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 025192578823 Manufacturer No: 61025788Amazon.com: In her first starring film vehicle, She Done Him Wrong, Mae West is Lady Lou, a saloon singer and "slick article" who drives every man who sees her mad with desire. She positively oozes sex, but always with sly, self-mocking humor. Lady Lou remarking on the nude painting of her hanging over the bar: "I gotta admit that is a flash, but I do wish Gus hadn't hung it over the free lunch." West warbles several numbers in her Brooklyn-accented, sweetly nasal voice, accompanied by her famous suggestive roll of the eye and flip of the hip: "Frankie and Johnny," "Easy Rider," and "A Guy What Takes His Time." Based on West's Broadway play Diamond Lil, the film is set in the Gay '90s, "a lusty, brawling, florid decade, when there were handlebars on lip and wheel and legs were confidential." The corny plot involves the eternal male rivalry for Mae's favors, as well as a white slavery ring that is shipping unsuspecting girls to the Barbary Coast. But the movie's real treat is the cat-and-mouse game between West's Lady Lou and the Hawk, a detective disguised as a missionary, played by a devastatingly handsome young Cary Grant. West: "Why don't you come up some time, see me? I'm here every night." Grant: "Yeah, but I'm busy every night." West: "What're you tryin' to do, insult me?... You can be had." In She Done Him Wrong, Mae West is absolutely in her prime. Her one-of-a-kind intermarriage of eroticism and humor, worldly wisdom and scalding wit are presented with perfect panache. --Laura Mirsky
Customer Reviews:
- Mae West in all her bawdy, wisecracking glory: Never having seen "She Done Him Wrong" before (although I've heard plenty about its notoriety), I was pleased to find Mae West in top form. Yet another film based upon her notorious stage plays, it must've had quite an impact on audiences when it debuted. Although Miss West was not the first female comedian (Mabel Normand was there long before her), she was important in film history as the first female character which was strongly assertive. When others did her wrong, Mae was quick in putting them in their place with a suggestive comment or sharp one-liner. After spending years on the stage, Mae was an old pro at tossing out bawdy one-liners with ease, a trademark of her character. And she could speak volumes with just a roll of her eyes or sway of her hips; quite a contrast from today's actresses who must engage in graphic sex scenes or bare all to get our attention.
Armed with a strong script & surrounded with a solid cast (the young, handsome Cary Grant, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., etc.), Mae entered into a confrontation with the Censorship Bureau over the film's content---the first of many battles for her. Ultimately (and obviously), the film was made, was a box office smash, and saved Paramount Pictures from the brink of bankruptcy. Quit an impact, indeed!
Balancing comedy & drama, SDHW sets the mold for many vehicles in which Mae's character was continually assaulted because of her "past", but she always won out due to her unflappable manner & deep-down integrity. Singing & talking in her husky, slightly nasally voice, Mae was certainly impressionable.
Handsomely packaged & remastered, the DVD also includes a dandy introduction from Robert Osbourne, as well as an early cartoon clearly patterned after Miss West titled "She Done Him Right". Undoubtedly, Mae West at the peak of her powers. - AT LONG LAST UNIVERSAL PICTURES RELEASES DVD OF "SHE DONE HIM WRONG": "SHE DONE HIM WRONG" IS THE FILM VERSION OF MAE WEST'S THEATRICAL HIT "DIAMOND LIL" AND IS THE MOVIE THAT SAVED PARAMOUNT PICTURES FROM BANKRUPTCY 75 YEARS AGO (1933).IT IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS THE BEST OF ALL OF HER 12 FILMS..IN THIS CINEMA CLASSIC, MISS WEST SINGS 3 OF HER POPULAR SONGS "EASY RIDER","I LIKE A MAN WHO TAKES HIS TIME" AND HER SIGNATURE SONG "FRANKIE AND JOHNNY".THE DVD RELEASE IS REAL CLEAR AND CONTAINS BONUS FEATURES WHICH IS UNUSUAL FOR MOST OLDER FILMS TRANSFERRED TO DVD.IT HAS AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT OSBORNE(THE FILM HISTORIAN AND MOVIE HOST OF TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES) AS WELL AS A CARTOON PARODY OF THE FILM THAT IS ENTITLED " SHE DONE HIM RIGHT" IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF UNIVERSAL HAD ALSO INCLUDED TRAILERS FROM HER OTHER MOVIES BUT ALAS DID NOT.PERHAPS THEY MIGHT IN FUTURE DVD TRANSFERS OF HER MOVIES.WE CAN ONLY HOPE.
WILLIAM J. LANDIS - Unfortunately, a Famous Quote Is Missing: I eagerly watched the new DVD release of "She Done Him Wrong" which is one of Mae West's best films, and contains some of her best dialogue. One famous quote from this film "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me" must have been excised from the print used for the DVD transfer. I'm surprised that Universal would use a source that has been edited. Aside from that, it's great to have this classic to view. Just wish it was all there.
- West is wonderful--the transfer terrible....: I am a huge Mae West fan and collector of almost 3 decades (now that stung!) and this is a GREAT film. However....once again, nothing has been cleaned up or remastered. In fact, it is so grainy, I almost think the VHS release is better. This is good to have simply for the sake of "preservation" instead of relying on VHS, and because Mae West is always a total joy. But don't expect anything new or exciting, such as QUALITY. I'm pretty sure Universal has enough dough to have done a little something with this. Mae West's films are GEMS! They deserve the same treatment (to be cleaned up and have an excellent transfer), like so many great old films have when released on DVD. As it stands, no Mae West films have been remastered (with the exception of 'Myra Breckenridge').
As I said before, with Mae West, you can't go wrong! But with Universal...well... - PRIME VINTAGE MAE WEST....: The Bowery of New York...circa the Gay '90s. When "they said and did such things..."...where "She Done Hm Wrong". This is the only Mae West film I never had the chance to see until now. Over and over I read that it was her best film etc.etc. I am not disappointed. It is wonderful. West is in her Pre-code prime here, plunging necklines (with later forbidden cleavage) and all. The film is pungent with vivid Bowery atmosphere, great period costumes, suspicious characters with sinister motives and moves along at a brisk pace. West is Lady Lou, a shady saloon singer obsessed with diamonds and a young Cary Grant is her foil. Some of her most famous quips are here as well as some of her most naughty songs---although even in 1933 they had to be cleaned up a little. Bizarre, unique and most enjoyable in a fine print with only minor scratching here and there. Good extras too. A true collector's item. Enjoy. And watch for the "Cherry sisters" (!).
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