I'm No Angel (1933)

After her pickpocket boyfriend (Ralf Harolde) goes to prison, a sideshow performer (Mae West) in a carnival moves up in society when she hooks a wealthy playboy (Kent Taylor) even though he's engaged to someone else. But when her ex-con boyfriend gets out of jail, there's trouble ahead for her. Written by Mae West and directed by Wesley Ruggles (SEE HERE PRIVATE HARGROVE). This is one of West's best vehicles. The dialogue is suggestive and witty ("When I'm good, I'm very good but when I'm bad, I'm better", "Beulah, peel me a grape!") and she gets to sing They Call Me Sister Honky Tonk. The film was a huge hit and along with SHE DONE HIM WRONG which had come out earlier in the year made West Paramount's biggest female star. Some of West's later vehicles were uneven and by the end of the decade, her novelty had worn thin. But this film shows her at her best and why audiences flocked to her movies. With Cary Grant, Edward Arnold, Gregory Ratoff, Gertrude Michael, Gertrude Howard and Hattie McDaniel.