I'm No Angel

Infobox Film
name = I'm No Angel


image_size =
caption = "I'm No Angel" poster
director = Wesley Ruggles
producer = William LeBaron
writer = Mae West
starring = Mae West
Cary Grant
Gregory Ratoff
Edward Arnold
Ralf Harolde
music = Karl Hajos
Herman Hand
Howard Jackson
Rudolph G. Kopp
John Leipold
cinematography = Leo Tover
editing = Otho Lovering
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = Start date|1933|10|6
runtime = 87 min.
country = flag|USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0024166

"I'm No Angel" (1933) is Mae West's third motion picture. Mae West received sole story and screenplay credit. A young Cary Grant plays the male lead. This was one of the few Mae West films that was not subjected to heavy censorship. Ms. West plays Tira, a circus performer who becomes a socialite.

Plot summary

"A story about a gal who lost her reputation - and never missed it!"

Tira begins as a sideshow attraction where she shimmies and sings for crowds of admiring men. She has a collection of expensive jewelry from various admirers and expensive tastes. When her sleazy boyfriend Slick goes to jail, she becomes a lion tamer to earn extra money. (West did some of her own stunts, including riding an elephant into the ring.) Putting her head into a lion's mouth makes Tira a circus star and affords her a fancy residence and servants.

Tira's quest for respectability introduces her to cousins Kent Taylor and Jack Clayton, two New York City socialites. Despite his pedigree, Kent's interest in her is much the same as any other man's. He showers Tira with presents. Kent's outraged fiancee regards Tira as a guttersnipe. Soon Kent's cousin Jack (Cary Grant) takes an interest. After a brief romance, a misunderstanding leads Tira to believe Jack has jilted her. She sues for breach of promise - an outrageous suit considering her past - and cross examines the witnesses herself. When Jack lets her win in court, she realizes he is really in love with her and she with him. A triumphant Tira ends up rich and famous, with a handsome husband.

Context

"I'm No Angel" was released immediately after "She Done Him Wrong", when Mae West was the nation's biggest box office attraction and its most controversial star. In the early 1930s Mae 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 stars opposite her for the second and final time. The film makes little use of his talents. 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", changed to "No One Loves Me Like a Dallas Man".

Memorable lines

"Rajah (a fortuneteller):" Ah, you have a wonderful future. I see a man in your life.
"Tira:" What, only one?

"Tira:" Beulah, peel me a grape.

"Tira:" It's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men.

"Tira:" When I'm good I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.

"Jack Clayton:" Look darling, you need a rest and so do I. Let me take you away somewhere. We'll...
"Tira:" Would you call that a rest?
"Jack Clayton:" What are you thinking about?
"Tira:" Same thing you are.

"Tira:" I ain't never done this before. Marriage is a new kind of racket for me.

Cast

*Mae West as Tira
*Cary Grant as Jack Clayton
*Gregory Ratoff as Benny Pinkowitz
*Edward Arnold as Big Bill Barton
*Hattie McDaniel as Tira's manicurist

ee also

*List of United States comedy films

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024166/ IMDB]
* [http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Mae_West/maewest.htm Reel Classics]
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=80247 The New York Times]
* [http://www.carygrant.net/reviews/angel.html Cary Grant.net] republished original "Variety" and "New York Times" reviews
* [http://www.amctv.com/show/detail?CID=1621-1-EST Filmsite.org review]

Bibliography

*"When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment", by Marybeth Hamilton (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997). ISBN 0-520-21094-8
*"Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It", by Mae West (Avon: 1959). ASIN B0007HCX2O
*"Mae West: A Bio-Bibliography", by Carol M. Ward (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989). ISBN 0-313-24716-1
*"The Complete Films of Mae West", by Jon Tuska (Secaucus, NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1992). ISBN 0-8065-1359-4