BEFORE: Back to the tournament - my third film in a row starring Mae West is also the 2nd film in which she co-starred with Cary Grant. Why, it's almost like I planned it this way. From here I head forward through Cary's filmography for 4 more films, all of which have to do with various wars or military actions. But first, back to Ms. West.
THE PLOT: The bold Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent need of money, she agrees to a risky new number: putting her head into a lion's mouth! With this attraction the circus makes it to New York and Tira can persue her dearest occupation: flirting with rich men and accepting expensive presents.
AFTER: I'm still not sure that I "get" Mae West - I think maybe you have to be someone from the 1930's to get her. OK, she's a passable singer, though she's got way too much vibrato in her voice and she had a bad habit of rolling her eyes for emphasis. Was this supposed to be sexy? Did it suggest some sort of orgasmic pleasure? Or was it just something to do with her eyes while she sang? Basically, Mae West just sort of stands there while she sings, which isn't very interesting at all. Sure, sound was still relatively new in motion pictures, so she's a good singer in the way Al Jolson was a good singer, which means very little by today's standards.
In terms of sex appeal, I think you really have to be a product of the times to fall for her charms. In an age where I can jump on the internet and see all manner of explicit actions, where more is more, but she was a star where you couldn't show more, so I guess she's sexy, if you haven't seen things that are much more shocking. But playing off her "experience" also makes her read as sort of oldish, almost like the first on-screen cougar or something. Hey, whatever floats your boat, horny men of 1933.
It's also a little hard to see how men found the "bad girl" thing attractive - so you WANT to date a gold-digger? Someone who's been around the block more than a few times, and is probably only interested in your money? OK, good luck with that. She seems like the "Charlie the Tuna" of on-screen sirens. (Charlie the Tuna used to be a mascot for Star-Kist tuna, he would mistakenly think that Star-Kist tuna wanted fish with good taste, when in fact that they just wanted tuna that tasted good. Common mistake I guess, but it never made much sense - why would Charlie WANT to be caught and killed and canned?) In the same vein, men only THINK they want a bad girl, when what they really want is a good girl, who's willing to act like a bad girl, but only with them. I can't imagine why this parade of men is so enamored by her, when they all know what she's about. Does each suitor think things are going to be different with her, but just for him?
I also think you have to be from that era to appreciate the circus scenes. With the recent announcement that Ringling Bros. will be phasing out elephants from their circus shows - because apparently using elephants in performances AND treating them humanely can't be done simultaneously - it's odd now to watch scenes where lions are being whipped and also shot at (probably blanks in the gun, but still...) and this is considered appropriate entertainment.
The best part of the film is probably the court scene - and you know this took place in a different time than today, because back then you could sue someone if they called off an engagement. Breach of promise suit - but today this would be laughed out of court, because people are more allowed to follow their hearts, call off weddings and that sort of thing. Logically, calling off a wedding would be preferable to getting married under false pretenses and then having lengthy divorce proceedings.
A number of Tira's men are called to the stand, each one describing how they bought her expensive presents, and then "spent time" with her. But Tira cross-examines each one, asking about, for example, their marital status at the time. Since each man can't admit to cheating on his wife in court, he's forced to "admit" that nothing untoward happened - so she basically calls each man out. Clever bit, that.
Still, it wasn't really enough to hold my interest - again, it's more of a character study than an actual plot, though there's more storyline than in "She Done Him Wrong", there's less than was seen in "My Little Chickadee". I fell asleep at about 2/3 of the way through, and had to finish the film in the evening.
Also starring Cary Grant (last seen in "She Done Him Wrong"), Edward Arnold (last seen in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"), Gregory Ratoff (last seen in "All About Eve"), Ralf Harolde, Gertrude Howard.
RATING: 3 out of 10 horoscopes
No comments:
Post a Comment