“When women go wrong, men go right after them…”
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Synopsis:
Diamond Lil (Mae West) works in the saloon of her benefactor Gus (Noah Beery, Sr.), who secretly traffics in white slavery and counterfeiting. Meanwhile, an undercover cop posing as a Salvation Army captain (Cary Grant) tries to arrest Gus and his cronies.
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Genres:
Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, this classic Mae West vehicle “is not the comedy masterpiece that many critics contend it to be.” Nonetheless, West is a pleasure to watch as she sashays around the saloon flinging one-liners and swaying her ample hips — as Matthew Wilder notes in his City Pages review (see link below), the fun in this movie “lies in how extremely West perforates the goody-gumdrop female persona of her era”. You’ll enjoy the quips, but forget the plot immediately.
Redeeming Qualities:
- Cary Grant in his first major role
- Mae drawling one of most (mis)quoted lines in movie history: “Why don’t you come up sometime ‘n see me?”
- Plenty of memorable quips: “I wasn’t always rich. No, there was a time I didn’t know where my next husband was coming from.”
Must See?
Yes. As one of the key movies which prompted the formation of the Hays Production Code, it’s a part of cinematic history film fanatics shouldn’t miss.
Categories
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)
Links:
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Posted on March 10th, 2006 by admin
Filed under: Response Reviews
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