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She Done
Him Wrong (1933)
In director Lowell Sherman's classic comedy - it provided another
of voluptuous Mae West's funny vehicles as an excuse to throw off
unabashed one liners, brazen and naughty
innuendoes and sexy double-entendres,
and other liberated quips;
It was buxom Mae West's star-making, most
famous film role as a liberated, racy woman who enjoyed her sexuality.
The actress' main goals were to demolish the double standard, to
be sexually frank, and to end prudery on screen. Its melodramatic-comic
story involving white slavery and an unlikely romance between a Gay
Nineties saloon singer and a Salvation Army officer/undercover cop
- the film deeply worried censorship officials and helped to speed
the enforcement of the Code in the next year:
- bejeweled chanteuse and brash entertainer Lady Lou
(Mae West) worked in the 1890s Bowery bar-room saloon of her boss
and benefactor Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.), "Gus Jordan's Place,"
who had given her many diamonds (hence her nickname Diamond Lil).
There was a large nude painting of Lady Lou over the bar - it was
the audience's first view of the star performer
- Lady Lou was the object of many other admiring males,
including Gus, shyster Dan Flynn (David Landau), and others
- Gus (who was running for Sheriff) secretly trafficked
in white slavery (prostitution) and ran a counterfeiting ring (to
help finance Lou's expensive diamonds); Gus worked with two other crooked
entertainer-assistants, Russian accomplices: Rita (Rafaela Ottiano)
and Serge Stanieff (Gilbert Roland) - Rita's suave boyfriend-lover
(who also admired Lou)
Shyster Dan Flynn (David Landau)
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Owner of Saloon Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.)
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Gus' Two Crooked Russian Accomplices: (l to r) Serge
and Rita
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First Appearance of Lady Lou (Mae West) In a Carriage
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- next door to the saloon was a city mission (a thinly-disguised
Salvation Army), whose young missionary
director, Captain Cummings (Cary Grant) was, in reality (later revealed)
an undercover agent working to infiltrate and expose the illegal
activities in the bar
- one day in Jordan's barroom,
depressed young Sally Glynn (Rochelle Hudson) entered with torn
clothes. (Was she pregnant?) In silhouette, the pretty runaway
had attempted to commit suicide but was prevented. To recover after
failing to kill herself after a failed romance with a married man,
she was brought to Lou's upstairs room to recover; it appeared
to be fateful luck when Rita expressed an interest in the innocent
but wronged girl, by offering her a 'song and dance' job on the
Barbary Coast. However, Rita was only thinking of how Sally might
become useful to their 'white slavery' operation (possibly as part
of their corrupt racket to use her as a pick-pocket or as a prostitute)
- Lou's past was uncovered when she heard from her
forgotten former boyfriend Chick Clark (Owen Moore). He had been
was convicted for robbery and went to Sing Sing prison for trying
to steal diamonds for her (after being set up by Flynn; Flynn
was also trying to expose Jordan's criminality, take over the saloon,
and run for the office of Sheriff himself
- meanwhile, Lou was more smitten and attracted to
the young handsome, psalm-singing Captain Cummings from the next-door
mission, and invited him to visit her in her apartment, with two
variations on her famous come-on line: "Why don't you come
up sometime 'n see me?"
Lady Lou's Famous Two Invitations to Captain Cummings
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"Why don't you come up sometime 'n see me?"
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"Why don't you come up sometime, huh?"
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- when Lou Lady visited ex-boyfriend Chick in his
Sing Sing jail cell, he rightly suspected that Lady Lou had been
untrue and unfaithful to him during his incarceration; he threatened
her, and let it be known that he expected to soon escape
- Lou bought the next-door Mission building's mortgage/rent
for $12,000 when the bar was about
to close for not paying rent, offering her large diamond bracelet
as payment; it was meant as a way to lure Captain Cummings closer to
her
- Lou was tipped off by Flynn that Gus' illegal
operations (including counterfeiting) had been found out by a slick
undercover agent ("dick") nicknamed "The Hawk" ("the
slickest bird in the business")
Lou Tipped Off by Flynn About Gus' Illegal Operations
and
"The Hawk"
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Lou with Capt. Cummings in Her Apartment
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Lou to Capt.: "Come up again, anytime"
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- Lou was also informed by bodyguard
Spider Kane (Dewey Robinson) that Chick, who missed her and his freedom,
had escaped from jail, and was in the area
- Captain Cummings also
called on Lady Lou in her upstairs quarters to ask about the fate
and whereabouts of Sally - who had been sold by Rita (into slavery?).
Lou claimed that she knew very little about
Sally Glynn's current situation; as he was leaving, she stopped him
at the door, and when he tried to kiss her, she deflected his attempt
but offered another invitation: "Come up again, anytime"
- meanwhile, police arrived at the club to search
for escaped con Chick, who stealthily entered Lou's bedroom
window, and threatened to choke and strangle her, but was dissuaded
when Lou promised to meet him later in the evening after her
performance in the show
- at the same time, Serge arrived to romance
Lou with the gift of a diamond pin (it belonged to Rita); jealous
Rita walked in on him pinning her diamond on Lou's bodice and planting
a brief kiss on Lou's lips. Their kiss was aborted by the upset
and furious Rita with a sharp knife, who demanded the diamond stick
pin and in the struggle, Lou accidentally stabbed Rita to death
in the abdomen. Lou had her bodyguard Spider
dispose of Rita's body, while she would take to the stage to sing
"A Guy What Takes His Time"
- as the film concluded after Lou returned to the
saloon to sing "Frankie and Johnny," shots rang out as Chick killed
Flynn in the saloon. The gunfire drew a police raid upon the establishment;
Cummings revealed himself to Gus as the undercover federal agent "The
Hawk" with
a badge, arrested Gus and Serge and sent them to jail to end their
criminal operations and activities; Chick was also shot when wielding
a gun at Lou, and apprehended by the Hawk and his men during the
confrontation
"The Hawk" Arresting Gus
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Apprehending Lou
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Taking Lou Away in a Horse-Drawn Carriage
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- last but not least, the Hawk
pulled out handcuffs for Lou to arrest her and take her to jail
for her association with the criminals; instead of placing Lou in
the police wagon, the Hawk took Lou away to 'prison' in an open,
horse-drawn carriage
- instead of
handcuffing her, though, he had another alternative - he put his
own diamond ring on her finger, and then threatened 'jailing her'
with a marital proposal that she gladly accepted
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Lady Lou's Nude Painting Over Saloon Bar
Lady Lou in Her Apartment with Black Maid Pearl (Louise Beavers)
Near-Suicidal Sally Glynn (Rochelle Hudson) Comforted by Lou
Lady Lou's Stroll Down Row of Sing Sing Prison Cells
Former Boyfriend Chick Threatening Lou For Being Unfaithful to Him
Lou on Stage Singing: "Easy Rider"
Chick Threatening to Strangle Lou
Lou Being Wooed by Serge with a Diamond Pin
Lou Singing: "Frankie and Johnny"
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