She Done Him Wrong

Released Jan 27, 1933

1 hr. 6 min.

Comedy

List

93%

40 Reviews

Tomatometer

52%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Burlesque barroom singer Lady Lou (Mae West) knows everyone in town, especially the men. Unfortunately, her convict ex-boyfriend Chick Clark (Owen Moore) is the jealous type and vows violence against her if she behaves unfaithfully while he's in prison. To make matters worse, Lou's boss, Gus Jordan (Noah Beery Sr.), secretly runs a prostitution and counterfeiting ring, and the director of the city mission next door is actually a federal agent (Cary Grant). What's a girl to do?

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Critics Consensus

She Done Him Wrong, but putting Cary Grant and Mae West together is pretty much nothing but right.

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Blobbo X

It's a 100 year old relic say Blobbo, 10 years from now.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is one of those quick black and white movies that entertains as well as shows a little naughtiness. This film saved Paramount Studios when they were having financial woes. It's a reproduction of a Broadway play called Diamond Lil. Cary Grant also played in this movie alongside star Mae West.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is known for Mae West having said the (often-misquoted) line, "Why don't you come up sometime and see me? I'm home every evening." It even won the award known as "Outstanding Production" for 1933, and it supposedly prompted the Hays Commission to crack down on movie standards. Based on the stage play "Diamond Lil", West plays the girlfriend of a criminal bar owner who has bought her expensive diamonds, but she has cheated on him with a variety of other men. One of them is none other than an undercover policeman who is after said bar owner. The movie had good potential for comedy or drama, but realizes neither. It is instead dull, and Mae West proved to be a weak performer and an even worse singer. Presumably she was more famous for being rebellious than for her talent.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

William L

This film is entirely borne on the shoulders of Mae West. Her distinctive drawl, wry humor, and comedic timing are far and away the most memorable and enjoyable elements, but once the film switches from a lighthearted comedy based around West's Lady Lou to an undistinguished gangster drama-romance with a rather nonsensical ending, it loses steam fast. Grant is initially unrecognizable this early in his career with his schoolboy looks and gangly frame, and doesn't really carry the charisma that he would build his career off of. Still, this is the first film starring West that I've seen, and it makes me want to see more for her alone, hopefully other films featuring her incorporate a story that takes advantage of her unique strengths. (2.5/5)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/21

Full Review

steve d

Nowhere near enough Grant to be fun.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

By today's standards Mae West is not a particularly attractive woman but in 1933 a woman willing to show some cleavage and speak like an antecedent of Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly! (1969) was something worth paying to see. I was relieved that this film was only one hour and six minutes long as it's plot was fairly thin and West was clearly intended to carry the film but I was never very charmed by her personality and she didn't dazzle me with her looks as Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946) did. Perhaps your great-great grandfather was titillated by it but it is unlikely to entertain young men today and I am glad that West did not continue her rein as the queen of the box office. In the 1890s in New York City, Prostitute and singer Lady Lou, Mae West, is financially supported by her many male admirers who offer her jewels so that they can continue sleeping with her. Her primary supporter is employer Gus Jordan, Noah Beery, but her attention has drifted to Mission director Captain Cummings, Cary Grant, who is more resistant to her charms than most men are. She finds herself in a bind when Jordan forces her to visit her ex-lover, the dangerous gangster Chick Clark, Owen Moore, in prison. She has tired of him but fears what he will do when or if he gets out and bides her time convincing other men who are attracted to her to protect her in this case. She is shocked, as is everybody else working with her, when it is discovered that Cummings is in fact an undercover police officer and arrests Jordan and all of his accomplices. He lets Lou go free but slips and engagement ring onto her finger and tells her she will marry him. I assume that the argument made in favor of the film was that it was presenting the transformation of a woman from a dirty, impure prostitute into a good, devoted woman who commits herself to one man. This was to cover up the fact that the entire film is really about how large West's breasts are and what it would be like to be around a woman who would agree to sleep with men for so little. Because of this the film feels slight and struggles to fill it's 66 minute running time with all of the loving close-up shots of the hideous West and the amount of times we hear it reiterated that the men around her desire her. The film would have worked better as a comedic short film of about 20 minutes in length instead of being a full feature in which much more is expected. This did not stop the film from being a huge hit as it was one of the top grossers of 1933 and is credited with singlehandedly saving Paramount Pictures from financial ruin. West was the big problem with the film for me as she was clearly set up as it's star attraction and there is rarely a moment when the camera is not focused solely on her. As previously stated I do not find her physically attractive but it is her personality that makes it particularly hard to believe that she was such a success with the men as she was bawdy and vulgar but never funny. Just because she delivered several lines in the style of Rosalind Russell as though they were witty one liners it did not mean that what she was saying was funny. I never liked her but never found her to be a compelling anti-hero or a deliciously villainous manipulative woman who controls those around her. The film very clearly wants you to love here or at least see the events that unfold from her perspective and I had trouble supporting a woman who uses people for money and gets away with crimes because she is attractive in the eyes of one man. Very few modern audiences watch this film as it is terribly outdated and I can not see it experiencing a rediscovery as it has little to offer and shows off West's limitations as an actress which meant that she produced few other hits.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

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Lowell Sherman

Director

Mae West

Lady Lou

Cary Grant

Capt. Cummings

Owen Moore

Chick Clark

Gilbert Roland

Serge Stanieff

Noah Beery

Gus Jordan

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Philip K. Scheuer

Los Angeles Times

It is a rough, raucous, bawdy picture, Frankily and Johnnily prurient but so vitalized, so authoritatively and effectively staged and acted, that it becomes one of the more exciting exhibits of recent weeks.

Apr 15, 2024

Full Review

Irene Thirer

New York Daily News

Lots of action, much colorful background, tough-mug acting and snappy direction by Lowell Sherman -- plus songs by Mae, warbled in her inimitable manner -- make She Done Him Wrong strong for the box-office.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 15, 2024

Full Review

THR Staff

Hollywood Reporter

Some folks may object to this one on the ground that the "garbage has been piled too high" -- BUT it is plenty funny. Mae West's first starring film is steeped in sin and sex -- but, boys and girls, the laughs are there.

Apr 15, 2024

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Charles Aaronson

Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)

The picture has been extremely well mounted, the atmosphere of the period and the surroundings appearing definitely authentic, and, in common with reproductions of that period, always appealing.

Apr 15, 2024

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Picture Parade

Motion Picture Magazine

Whatever you may think of the sensational career of the heroine with her gowns, parasols, jewels and drooping glances you will cheer the presence of Mae West's colorful personality in the movies.

Apr 15, 2024

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P.S. Harrison

Harrison's Reports

Mae West is in a class by herself, since she can do and say vulgar things, sing ribald songs, and still not be particularly offensive because of her likeable personality. As for the story, one should not take it seriously if one hopes to be entertained.

Apr 15, 2024

Full Review

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Synopsis

Burlesque barroom singer Lady Lou (Mae West) knows everyone in town, especially the men. Unfortunately, her convict ex-boyfriend Chick Clark (Owen Moore) is the jealous type and vows violence against her if she behaves unfaithfully while he's in prison. To make matters worse, Lou's boss, Gus Jordan (Noah Beery Sr.), secretly runs a prostitution and counterfeiting ring, and the director of the city mission next door is actually a federal agent (Cary Grant). What's a girl to do?

Director: Lowell Sherman
Screenwriter: Mae West, Harvey F. Thew, John Bright
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 1933, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2011

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