I'm No Angel
Encyclopedia
I'm No Angel is Mae West
's third motion picture. West received sole story and screenplay credit. A young Cary Grant
plays her leading man
for the second time. Being Pre-Code
, this was one of the few Mae West movies that was not subjected to heavy censorship. The film was directed by Wesley Ruggles.
Tira (Mae West) shimmies and sings in the sideshow
of Big Bill Barton's Wonder Show, while her current boyfriend, pickpocket
"Slick" (Ralf Harolde
), relieves her distracted audience of their valuables for Big Bill (Edward Arnold
). One of the customers arranges a private rendezvous, during which she shows him her collection of jewelry from her many admirers. However, a jealous Slick barges in and hits him with a bottle. Mistakenly thinking he has killed the man, Slick flees, but is caught and jailed.
Fearing that Slick will implicate her, Tira asks Big Bill for a loan to retain her lawyer, Bennie Pinkowitz (Gregory Ratoff
). He agrees on condition that she does her lion taming
act, which includes putting her head into the mouth of one of the beasts, promising her that it will get her (and him) to the "Big Show". It does. (West did some of her own stunts, including riding an elephant into the ring.)
Tira's fame takes her to New York City, where wealthy Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor) is smitten, despite being engaged to snobbish socialite Alice Hatton (Gertrude Michael
). He showers her with expensive gifts. Kirk's friend and even richer cousin, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), goes to see Tira to ask her to leave Kirk and his fiancée alone. He ends up falling for her himself. Tira and Jack’s romance leads to a wedding engagement.
Tira tells Big Bill she is quitting to get married. Unwilling to lose his prize act, he has Slick, recently released from prison, sneak into Tira's penthouse suite, where Jack finds him in his robe. As a result, Jack break off the engagement. Jilted, Tira sues Jack for breach of promise. The defense tries to use her past relationships to discredit her, but the judge allows her to cross examine the witnesses herself and in doing so she wins over not only the judge and jury, but also Jack. Jack agrees to give her a big settlement check. When he goes to see her, Tira tears up the check, and the two reconcile.
, when Mae West was the nation's biggest box office attraction and its most controversial star. In the early 1930s, West's films saved Paramount Pictures
from bankruptcy. Depression era audiences responded to the fantasy rise of a woman from the wrong side of the tracks.
Cary Grant starred opposite her for the second and final time; their first film together had been She Done Him Wrong. Grant remained annoyed for decades that West often took credit for his career despite the fact that he had made major films before. The smash hit Blonde Venus
, starring Marlene Dietrich
and Cary Grant, predates She Done Him Wrong by a year even though Mae West always claimed to have discovered Grant for her film, amusingly elaborating that up until then he had only made "some tests with starlets." She would frequently claim to various reporters through the years that she spotted him as an unknown walking across a parking lot, asked who he was (nobody knew according to her story) and stated that, "If he can talk, I'll use him in my next picture." This tale remains routinely incorporated into most magazine articles about either West or Grant to this day.
West's ribald satire outraged moralists. Film historians cite her as one of the factors for the strict Hollywood production code
that soon followed. The Hays Office forced a few changes, including the title of the song "No One Does It Like a Dallas Man", altered to "No One Loves Me Like a Dallas Man".
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
's third motion picture. West received sole story and screenplay credit. A young Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
plays her leading man
Leading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
for the second time. Being Pre-Code
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
, this was one of the few Mae West movies that was not subjected to heavy censorship. The film was directed by Wesley Ruggles.
Plot
A story about a gal who lost her reputation - and never missed it!Tira (Mae West) shimmies and sings in the sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
of Big Bill Barton's Wonder Show, while her current boyfriend, pickpocket
Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person of a victim without their noticing the theft at the time. It requires considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection...
"Slick" (Ralf Harolde
Ralf Harolde
Ralf Harolde was an American character actor. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including Jimmy the Gent, Night Nurse, Baby Take a Bow, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Relations, and Murder, My Sweet.Harolde was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Santa Monica,...
), relieves her distracted audience of their valuables for Big Bill (Edward Arnold
Edward Arnold (actor)
Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
). One of the customers arranges a private rendezvous, during which she shows him her collection of jewelry from her many admirers. However, a jealous Slick barges in and hits him with a bottle. Mistakenly thinking he has killed the man, Slick flees, but is caught and jailed.
Fearing that Slick will implicate her, Tira asks Big Bill for a loan to retain her lawyer, Bennie Pinkowitz (Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. His most famous role as an actor was as producer Max Fabian who feuds with star Margo Channing in All About Eve ....
). He agrees on condition that she does her lion taming
Lion taming
Lion taming is the practice of taming lions, either for protection, whereby the practice was probably created, or, more commonly, entertainment, particularly in the circus. The term is also often used for the taming and display of other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and pumas...
act, which includes putting her head into the mouth of one of the beasts, promising her that it will get her (and him) to the "Big Show". It does. (West did some of her own stunts, including riding an elephant into the ring.)
Tira's fame takes her to New York City, where wealthy Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor) is smitten, despite being engaged to snobbish socialite Alice Hatton (Gertrude Michael
Gertrude Michael
Gertrude Michael was an American film, stage and television actress....
). He showers her with expensive gifts. Kirk's friend and even richer cousin, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), goes to see Tira to ask her to leave Kirk and his fiancée alone. He ends up falling for her himself. Tira and Jack’s romance leads to a wedding engagement.
Tira tells Big Bill she is quitting to get married. Unwilling to lose his prize act, he has Slick, recently released from prison, sneak into Tira's penthouse suite, where Jack finds him in his robe. As a result, Jack break off the engagement. Jilted, Tira sues Jack for breach of promise. The defense tries to use her past relationships to discredit her, but the judge allows her to cross examine the witnesses herself and in doing so she wins over not only the judge and jury, but also Jack. Jack agrees to give her a big settlement check. When he goes to see her, Tira tears up the check, and the two reconcile.
Context
I'm No Angel was released immediately after She Done Him WrongShe Done Him Wrong
She Done Him Wrong is a Pre-Code 1933 Paramount Pictures comedy romance film starring Mae West and Cary Grant. Others in the cast include Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery, Sr., Louise Beavers and Rochelle Hudson....
, when Mae West was the nation's biggest box office attraction and its most controversial star. In the early 1930s, West's films saved Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
from bankruptcy. Depression era audiences responded to the fantasy rise of a woman from the wrong side of the tracks.
Cary Grant starred opposite her for the second and final time; their first film together had been She Done Him Wrong. Grant remained annoyed for decades that West often took credit for his career despite the fact that he had made major films before. The smash hit Blonde Venus
Blonde Venus
Blonde Venus is a 1932 is a Pre-Code drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant. The movie was produced and directed for Paramount Pictures by Josef von Sternberg with a screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren adapted from a story by Furthman and von Sternberg. The music score was by W...
, starring Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and Cary Grant, predates She Done Him Wrong by a year even though Mae West always claimed to have discovered Grant for her film, amusingly elaborating that up until then he had only made "some tests with starlets." She would frequently claim to various reporters through the years that she spotted him as an unknown walking across a parking lot, asked who he was (nobody knew according to her story) and stated that, "If he can talk, I'll use him in my next picture." This tale remains routinely incorporated into most magazine articles about either West or Grant to this day.
West's ribald satire outraged moralists. Film historians cite her as one of the factors for the strict Hollywood production code
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
that soon followed. The Hays Office forced a few changes, including the title of the song "No One Does It Like a Dallas Man", altered to "No One Loves Me Like a Dallas Man".
Cast
- Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
as Tira - Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
as Jack Clayton - Kent TaylorKent TaylorKent Taylor was an American actor.Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including I'm No Angel , Death Takes a Holiday , Payment on Demand ,...
as Kirk Lawrence - Gregory RatoffGregory RatoffGregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. His most famous role as an actor was as producer Max Fabian who feuds with star Margo Channing in All About Eve ....
as Benny Pinkowitz - Edward ArnoldEdward Arnold (actor)Edward Arnold was an American actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants Carl Schneider and Elizabeth Ohse.-Acting career:...
as "Big Bill" Barton - Ralf HaroldeRalf HaroldeRalf Harolde was an American character actor. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including Jimmy the Gent, Night Nurse, Baby Take a Bow, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Relations, and Murder, My Sweet.Harolde was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Santa Monica,...
as "Slick" Wiley - Kent TaylorKent TaylorKent Taylor was an American actor.Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including I'm No Angel , Death Takes a Holiday , Payment on Demand ,...
as Kirk Lawrence - Gertrude MichaelGertrude MichaelGertrude Michael was an American film, stage and television actress....
as Alicia Hatton - Russell HoptonRussell HoptonRussell Hopton was an American film actor. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945.He was born in New York, New York and died of an overdose of sleeping pills in North Hollywood, California....
as "Flea" Madigan - Dorothy PetersonDorothy PetersonDorothy Peterson was an American actress.Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota of Swedish immigrant ancestry. She made her screen debut in 1930's Mothers Cry, a domestic drama that required the 29-year-old actress to age nearly three decades in the course of the film...
as Thelma - William B. DavidsonWilliam B. DavidsonWilliam B. Davidson was an American film actor. He attended Columbia University where he played football. He became a popular football star. This fame eventually led to his foray into motion pictures after he had spent some time as a lawyer...
as Ernest Brown (as Wm. B. Davidson) - Gertrude Howard as Beulah Thorndyke, Tira's main maid
- Libby Taylor as Libby, Tira's hairdressing maid
- Hattie McDanielHattie McDanielHattie McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
as Tira's manicurist (uncredited)
Signature Mae West lines
- Come up and see me sometime. (Repeated with slight variations.)
- Beulah, peel me a grape.
- It's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men.
- When I'm good I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.
Soundtrack
- "They Call Me Sister Honky-Tonk" (1933) (uncredited)
- Music by Harvey BrooksHarvey BrooksHarvey Brooks is an American bassist. He has played in many styles of music...
- Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
- Sung by Mae West
- Music by Harvey Brooks
- "That Dallas Man" (1933) (uncredited)
- Music by Harvey Brooks
- Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
- Played on a record on which Mae West sings
- "I Found a New Way to Go to Town" (1933) (uncredited)
- Music by Harvey Brooks
- Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
- Sung by Mae West
- "I Want You, I Need You" (1933) (uncredited)
- Music by Harvey Brooks
- Lyrics by Ben Ellison
- Played on a piano and sung by Mae West
- "I'm No Angel" (1933) (uncredited)
- Music by Harvey Brooks
- Lyrics by Gladys DuBois and Ben Ellison
- Sung by Mae West at the end and during the closing credits
External links
- Reel Classics
- The New York Times
- Cary Grant.net republished original Variety and New York Times reviews
- Filmsite.org review