May. 29, 2003 - 11:44 pm
this is one of the films in Dr. Larsen's huge collection that we hold on reserve for him at the media center. if you don't remember me mentioning him before, he was one of my favorite professors at UT and he taught many of my film courses. anyway, i felt like seeing a Mae West movie and this seems to be one of her more important ones. this was really the breakthrough film for her. it's weird and rather hard to believe, but she was only in 12 films in her entire life. actually she wrote most of the screenplays for her films and this one was nominated for Best Picture.
if you're not familiar with the Mae West character, she always plays sort of the "man's lady." like she's a tramp, but it's never explicit. plus she's very witty and very strong. it's a winning combination really and you can't help but like her. she's so open about her sexuality in a time when people found that absurd.
in this film she runs a club and sings in a show. the rest of the plot is rather muddled. Cary Grant is in it (breakthrough role for him too) and acts as a Salvation Army captain that Mae takes an interest in. he's not the only one by a long shot though. Mae tries to talk just about every man in this movie into her bedroom. but there's also something about her being given diamonds to act as a front for some sort of seedy prostitution ring, and there's a convicted boyfriend who comes and tries to kill some people. it's a rough plot to deal with.
this was said to be Cary Grant's least favorite of his roles. i can see why. it was very crappy and confused. he didn't stand out at all except for his youth and his weird Salvation Army uniform that he wears.
i think it was worth it just to get a feel for a Mae West movie. i mean this one is only 65 minutes long, so why not take a look at it. it's definitely something different from current movies.