In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 90 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 5 Dec 2017 and The 90th Annual Oscars on 4 Mar 2018.
Here is my 4th review of the 90 chosen Films…
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“Listen, when women go wrong, men go right after them.” – Lady Lou
Number of Times Seen – 1 (4 Dec 2017)
Brief Synopsis – A singer in a saloon is wooed by many suitors and tries to find a normal life despite all of the corruption going on around her.
My Take on it – I’ve always heard that Mae West was an actress who helped change the industry in the 1930’s.
She made such an impression on pop-culture at the time that her figure was supposedly the model for the coca-cola bottle and even the nickname for flotation devices by soldiers and pilots during WWII.
I was actually surprised that I had never seen any of her movies and also to the fact that she only starred in a dozen films over her long career.
She is superb in this role as her character must find the delicate balance in life between staying good or being corrupted by the system.
The story is presented really well and we easily get to know each of the characters and what they stand for.
The dialogue is superb and helps keep things so much fun.
This role is probably one of the earliest ones where there is such a powerful female lead who must try and find a way to maneuver herself within the world run by men.
Bottom Line – Fun film that has great dialogue and an interesting story. West does such a great job here balancing everything all by herself. She made such an impact on the industry eventhough she only made a dozen films during her career. Loved the way that her character is given the ability to be such a powerful female role which was rare for that day and age. Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – At 66 minutes, this is the shortest movie to ever receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy
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MovieRob 
I’ve seen this one – but never knew it was an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. I’m a bit shocked to hear it. Mae West WAS a character. Not having the sensibilities of a moviegoer from the 30s, I was never able to grasp what her attraction was in an era of Hedy Lamarr and Jean Harlow. West’s hourglass zaftig figure didn’t seem very sex symbol to me through the prism of watching it all decades later. But she could write – and she pushed boundaries – and she got away with Hays Code murder for the time. If this is still the only one of her films that you’ve seen – I’d suggest running to see “My Little Chickadee” – which she co-wrote and co-starred in with WC Fields. They didn’t get along in real life – but you wouldn’t know it from their on screen shenanigans. The movie is hysterical.
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tnx Mike, I’ll add it to my (long) list!
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Mae West was an ace star. I love her outrageous appeal and not giving a damn attitude.
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