She Done Him Wrong

The name is Lady Lou, “the finest woman that ever walked the streets.” The film was the first to make Mae West, and a young Cary Grant, famous. Lou, based on West's own Broadway creation, Diamond Lil, is the big woman with the big heart, gaudy, bawdy, with a magnetic strut that miles of opulent yardage and pounds of jewels never could hide. Despite the title, she never done no one wrong. She's a working girl (“my career is diamonds”) who knows her trade (“you can be had”) and plies it with the delicate aggressiveness of a professional (“Why'n'cha come up and see me sometime?”). And in the end, it's Lou's generous heart and not the fixtures around it that brings on her demise. West works wonders with “I Wonder Where My Easy Rider's Gone,” filling the song with staggering double entendres, “Frankie and Johnnie,” and “I Like a Man Who Takes His Time.” You'd better believe it.

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