Not the same caliber of work as Mea West's other 1933 film, She Done Him Wrong, but still an entertaining, one of a kind picture. This one, again, was adapted from a hit stage show written by West herself. In it, West pretty much reprises the seductive, loose living but tough as nails character that she made famous. This time she is Tira, a circus performer who goes on the road with a hit lion taming act. The story at first seems to be moving along without much point as Tira simply moves from man to man, eventually landing on a young Cary Grant, who she decides to settle down with. Everything comes to a head quite nicely, though, in the final courtroom scene in which all her past lovers are put on the stand to testify against her character. This scene is an absolute classic as West decides to cross examine the witnesses herself, taking each of them apart with such flash and comic timing that you can't help but think of Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny. The film may lack the depth and drama that made She Done Him wrong such a complete movie, but it still stands in a class of it's own among early 1930s movies.
Review of I'm No Angel
