I'm No Angel

Starring:Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold, Ralf Harolde, Kent Taylor, Gertrude Michael, Russell Hopton, Dorothy Peterson, William B. Davidson, Gertrude Howard, Libby Taylor, Walter Walker, Dennis O'Keefe, Duke York, Edward Hearn, Tom London, Larry Steers, Eddie Borden, Hattie McDaniel
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The triumph of personality is beautifully demonstrated in Mae West: The Glamour Collection, a bundle of five comedies featuring the never duplicated (if often imitated) Ms. West. Never altering her insouciant, sexed-up persona, Mae West sashays through these films like a tour guide in a well-lit bordello, cheerfully cracking herself up with a series of perfectly-timed one-liners. Since she wrote her own material, there was no separation between the lady (what a feeble word) and her scandalous dialogue.

If you doubt this, check out Night After Night, her film debut. The first half of the picture is an unremarkable gangster comedy: George Raft in his usual inert form, Constance Cummings the good girl, capable comic support from Roscoe Karns and Alison Skipworth. Then West blowses in, and it's all over. Within a minute she's tossed off an eternal signature line (hatcheck girl: "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds." West: "Goodness had nothin' to do with it, dearie") and disrupted the high-class aims of gangster Raft. The other actors look agog at this unapologetic force of libido. Watching this, you might recall the first time you ever saw Groucho Marx or Bill Murray on film--the movie itself disappears, replaced by gratitude that someone like this exists.

I'm No Angel followed her first starring vehicle (She Done Him Wrong, not included here), and its lunatic plot--Mae as a lion tamer taken up by New York society--does nothing to slow the barrage of sexual innuendo. West hums her way through the film with the kind of confidence that must have inspired countless fans to try something disreputable. Cary Grant is the bemused recipient of West's attention. Goin' to Town is nearly as good, as dance-hall gal Mae inherits an oil fortune, then sets her cap for the haughty Englishman working on her, uh, wells. West's style is undiminished (she was in her mid-forties already), although by this time the Production Code--concocted in part as a horrified response to her first films--was trimming her entendres.

Tamer still is the tongue-in-cheek Go West Young Man, although the spectacle of West (playing a "temperamental" movie star) leering after hunky Randolph Scott is pleasant. My Little Chickadee, made at Universal after her run at Paramount ended, is the legendary pairing with W.C. Fields. It's full of great bon mots from both drawlers, even if the sum is less than its parts. Disapproving Margaret Hamilton tells Fields of West, "I'm afraid I can't say anything good about her." Fields replies, "I can see what's good, tell me the rest." These five films are a good introduction to the rest. Beulah, peel me a grape. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Sexy and curvaceous Hollywood icon Mae West made a name for herself with the five films gathered here. MAE WEST: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION includes the films NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, I'M NO ANGEL, GOIN' TO TOWN, GO WEST YOUNG MAN, and MY LITTLE CHIKADEE. See individual descriptions for details.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

MORE MAE.......2007-05-24

I'm a big Mae West fan and this collection is terrific. My favorite Mae film is I'M NO ANGEL. I enjoy all of these titles and I've always thought MY LITTLE CHICKADEE is under-rated. I look forward to a second collection featuring BELLE OF THE NINETIES.

Written in my best Mae West impression .......2007-04-24

Boys, some of us are growing old here waitin' for the good stuff.

It's better than nothing.......2007-01-30

This is not the DVD treatment the real fans were hoping for. Far more lavish boxed sets and retrospectives have been put together for lesser talents from the past!

I've long suspected that the current owners of her films are oblivious of her cult potential, as shown by the long non release status of her films, and the general lack of a marketing plan that befits such a unique property. Much of the disappointment with this DVD set stems from the lack of obvious "star treatment".

Like the title suggests, it's better than nothing (i.e. non-release). We are going to buy this collection, because there is no better alternative.

I hope "they" come to their senses and do it better in the future. What this woman's memory deserves is:

1) A full boxed set with ALL of her films from 1932-1940, each on its own individual DVD disk.
2) Extras on each disk, including shorts, stills, historic materials and critic commentary.
3) For the copyright holders of these films to get a better clue and figure out how to rekindle this star's cult status.

Buy this crummy set! If you don't, then the powers- that- be will not have the $ incentive to consider repackaging her better in the future!

MY MAE WEST.......2007-01-23

MAE WEST WAS ONE OF THE MOST GREAT HOLLYWOOD ICON, I LOVE HER BEHAVIOR AS A WOMAN AND HER ACTING ...FOR ME IS NO ACTRESS TODAY THAT COMPARE WITH HER ...I LOVE OLD HOLLYWOOD , THE ACTORS AND ACTRESS CHARM IN THOSE TIMES WERE UNIQUE, SHE WAS A LEO LIKE ME , AND I KNOW THE MEANNING " WHATEVER LEO WANT ,LEO GETS" AND SHE WAS RIGHT ON THAT...IM A STRONG FAN OF HER AND NO HOLLYWOOD ICON TODAY WILL ABLE TO REPLACE MY MAE WEST ...NONE

Mae West looked like the gangster's moll to top them all..........2007-01-10

"Night After Night" was an otherwise unmemorable George Raft opus of the early 1930's... The scene was the entrance to a nightspot...

Enter Mae West, magnificently dripping in so much jewelery it must have given the lighting cameraman several heart attacks in his attempts to "damp it down" so that it didn't "flash up the bottle" as she moved...

Cries the hat-check girl: "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!"

Mae West: "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."

Gangsters' molls... they are part of the legend of the mobster movie... And in "Night After Night" it was never openly established just what kind of a dame Mae West was playing, but with all those rocks she looked like the gangster's moll to top them all...

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
I'm No Angel
"It's not the men in your life that count. It's the life in your men."
Quintessential Mae West.
"Oh Beulah... peel me a grape!"

I'm No Angel
Starring: Mae West , Cary Grant , Gregory Ratoff , Edward Arnold , and Ralf Harolde
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305077622
Release Date: 1998-03-18

Amazon.com

In I'm No Angel, Mae West's second star vehicle, she's sideshow attraction Tira, "the girl who discovered you don't have to have feet to be a dancer." As usual, West wrote all her own dialogue for the film, and it's full of priceless wisecracks. A crowd of men ogles her as she tosses off a saucy little number, "They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk," swinging her hips phlegmatically. Then she slithers offstage, muttering "Suckers." Bored with life, Tira consults a fortuneteller. "I see a man in your future," he drones. "What, only one?" quips Mae. Tira wants to quit the carnival, so her boss (an unctuous Edward Arnold) makes her a proposition. If she'll become the show's lion tamer, she can meet "the swells." Just one little thing: she's got to put her head in the lion's mouth. (West insisted on performing this stunt herself, to the horror of Paramount Pictures' executives.) Enter Cary Grant as Jack Clayton, an aristocrat who falls for this floozie from the wrong side of the tracks. Some of the film's merriest scenes show Tira and her five black maids having a ball dancing and singing as she prepares for her dates with Jack. (West made it her business to keep as many of her black girlfriends working in movies as possible.) Tira's head maid, Beulah, played by Gertrude Michael, is the object of that momentous line "Oh, Beulah, peel me a grape." Mae slays 'em all in this picture, dressed, as always, in fabulously flamboyant finery. --Laura Mirsky

Description

In an effort to escape jail, a woman takes a job as a lion tamer. After her successful debut in New York, she attracts the atttention of two friends. One is engaged and the other isn't.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-01-07

I've read many wonderful things about this movie, and it certainly is an important one in the history of Mae West's career because it is a film adaptation of her scandalous theatrical show called Sex. However, I found it to be quite dull.

Basically what we have here is a study about a woman who enjoys the company of men and who gets tired of them as quickly as she falls for them. One day, a special man rolls along (Cary Grant) and she wants to become a one man woman. This does not happen, though, until about halfway through the film.

Perhaps the code helped West more than it hurt her. When it was put into effect, she had to censor herself more, forcing her to limit the amount of inuendo used and to create a solid storyline. The lack of any real direction makes the movie more of a curiosity than an endurable classic. There is no refuting West's talent with words and her obvious sexuality, but you CAN have too much of a good thing, and this is a perfect example.

I'm No Angel.......2005-10-17

Witty. Great costumes. Mae West's mannerism's got old after a while. Something I will probably watch again. Family friendly and culturally educational.

"It's not the men in your life that count. It's the life in your men.".......2005-09-22

Tira (MaeWest) is a circus performer who catapults to fame with a lion tamer act on Broadway. The boldness of sticking her head in a lion's mouth attracts the attentions of some 'swells', and soon Tira is racking up expensive gifts from wealthy Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor)--jewels, gowns from Paris, and a penthouse apartment. Lawrence's obsession with Tira alarms both his snooty fiancee, Alicia Hatton (Gertrude Michael) and his stuffy cousin, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant). Tira makes short work of Hatton ("A better dame than you once called me a liar, and they had to sew her up in 12 places"). Clayton doesn't quite know what to make of Tira, and soon there's another smouldering romance.

If you are a Mae West fan, and you haven't seen this one, grab a copy and prepare yourself for a great display of exactly what made Mae West a unique performer. How does someone slither across the stage while barely moving?

Tira is a powerful, sexually liberated character who isn't embarrassed to admit having a "colourful past." She saunters and wisecracks her way across the stage in outrageous costumes (she has a sparkly spider web train the first time she meets Cary Grant). In one scene she wears a partially see-through clingy gown and gives the circus attendees a preview with a few wiggles of her hips. In the best scene in the film, she cross-examines witnesses in a breach of promise case. After a few direct questions, the witnesses--mainly previous lovers trouped into court to damage Tira's reputation--are mincemeat.

Mae West monopolizes this comedy film--whether she's performing "Sister Honky Tonk", swinging her beads as she swaggers in front of the jury, or delivering her suggestive one-liners, she's magnificent. "I'm No Angel" is one of Mae West's best films, and the script (pre-code) allows her talent free reign. The film contains some memorable lines: "Never let one man worry your mind." "Find 'em, fool 'em, and forget 'em." "Take all you can get and give as little as possible." "Marriage is a new kind of racket for me." "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better." This is quintessential Mae West--don't miss it--displacedhuman

Quintessential Mae West........2004-02-04

Tira (Mae West) is a gold-digging circus performer who reluctantly agrees to a dangerous lion-taming act to get herself out of a jam. The act is a great success, making Tira the talk of the town. Her flashy show at Madison Square Garden catches the eye of a wealthy businessman named Kirk Lawrence (Kent Taylor), who becomes infatuated with Tira and lavishes her with expensive gifts. Concerned for Kirk's social situation, his cousin and business partner, Jack Clayton (Cary Grant), attempts to convince Tira to reconsider their relationship. She does, and falls head over heels for Jack. But just as it looks like Jack and Tira will live happily ever after, Jack breaks off the relationship. A heartbroken but still stubborn Tira decides to sue him for breach of promise.

1933's "I'm No Angel" was Mae West's second starring role on the silver screen. After her previous film, "She Done Him Wrong", saved Paramount Pictures from financial ruin, the studio gave her carte blanche to do whatever she liked on this one. "I'm No Angel" was written entirely by Mae West. It's a romantic comedy, but West's character is not a romantic. Tira is nothing if not practical in her relationships with men. And there is no mistaking that the film exists entirely to showcase Ms. West's oversized personality and eye-catching figure. This is Self promotion and Star vehicle with capital S's. Mae West was 40 years old and a tad chunky when she made this film. But she didn't hesitate to cast herself as a sex goddess whom men of all ages found irresistible. And she gets away with it by sheer force of personality. West deserves a lot of credit for making audiences root for a union between a trash-talking middle-aged strumpet and a 29-year old gentleman of means. Such a relationship wouldn't gain approval in real life in 1933, and it wouldn't now. The success of "I'm No Angel", then and now, is testament to its star's great charisma. Cary Grant is more handsome than he would be during his years of star status, and surprisingly thinner. I don't think any actor could hope to share a scene with West without being upstaged by her, but Grant does a nice job of making Jack Clayton sympathetic, especially during the trial scenes. "I'm No Angel" is sometimes absurdly contrived, but that's the nature of romantic comedy. No bigger personality than Mae West ever graced the screen, and it's her presence that makes this film worthwhile. The DVD has no menu, only scene selections. And the movie begins as soon as the disc is inserted into the player.

"Oh Beulah... peel me a grape!".......2003-11-23

Mae West basically saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy with this and her other hit film of 1933 "She Done Him Wrong" (her other career highlight, also with Cary Grant). She was 40 when she made this film, and even for the early 30s she was plumper than the female ideal, and her face was wide and her nose was too long. But since she acted like she was the sexiest thing who ever was, and told you so too, you believed her: her uncontrollable sex appeal was her costant running joke and it never ever palled. Here she's Tira the lion tamer, who tames the richest men in New York society with equal ease: when Cary Grant withdraws his engagement she sues him for breach of promise, and she has great fun cross-examining the witnesses in her trial. Years before Lucille Ball or Carol Burnett, Mae West proved the old sexist canard that "female isn't funny" is an out and out lie. Who could be funnier than she is, sashaying around with her African-American maids delivering her ripest lines?

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Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes
Starring: Ángel Garasa , Sonia Infante , and Rodolfo De Anda
Director: Miguel Morayta
Manufacturer: I.M. Records
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Jalisco Canta en Sevilla
Me he de comer esa tuna
Hasta Que Perdio Jalisco

ASIN: B000FEA61E
Release Date: 2006-04-14

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I'm No Angel [Cary Grant and Mae West]
Starring: Cary Grant
Director: Wesley Ruggles
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Description

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: she'll put her head into a lion's muzzle! 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. Among the guys she searches the love of her life, from whom she only knows from a fortune-teller that he'll be rich and have black hair. When she finally meets him, she becomes a victim of intrigue.

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