She Done Him Wrong (1933)

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66 min – view video trailer

Director: Lowell Sherman
Starring: Cary Grant, Mae West

Genres: Comedy, Drama, History

IMDB 6.5 / Amazon 4.7 / Tomatometer 95%

Oscars: Nominated for 1 (Best Picture) won  0

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine, unfortunately one of them is a vicious criminal who’s escaped and is on the way to see “his” girl, not realizing she hasn’t exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader, though. IMDB 6.5 from over 2,765 users

“Why don’t you come up sometime and see me?” Screen legends Mae West and Cary Grant heat up the screen in the racy comedy She Done Him Wrong! Nominated for Best Picture, this classic from the pre-code Hollywood era follows a brash saloon singer (West) with a penchant for troubled men – especially the mission director (Grant) who wants to reform her. The unabashed queen of the double-entendre shines in her first starring role, in what has been called “Mae West’s best film” – Amazon 4.7 stars from over 48 users

“I’m the finest woman who walked the streets,” declares bejeweled, hip-swishing Lady Lou (Mae West) at the beginning of She Done Him Wrong. Lou works as a singer at the Gay Nineties saloon of Gus Jordan (Noah Beery Sr.), who plies her with diamonds to keep her by his side. She runs afoul of stalwart mission captain Cummings (Cary Grant), who warns her that she’s on the road to perdition. Mae West’s first starring film, She Done Him Wrong literally saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy.  Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 95% Audience 57%

MRQE has links to 15 reviews

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoCibgub3fg]

Duck Soup (1933)

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68 min – view video trailer

Director: Leo McCarey
Starring: Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico)

Genres: Comedy, Musical

IMDB 8.0 / Amazon 4.5 / MRQE 85% / Decent Films A+

Oscars: none

Ranked #48 Greatest Movies Through 1960, a Zagat Top Movie

Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale. IMDB 8.0 ranking from over 34,252 users

For those new to the Marx Brothers, this is the perfect introduction to Groucho, Chico, and Harpo (and even Zeppo), three of the funniest men to ever grace the screen.  Amazon 4.5 stars from over 117 users

Probably the greatest and funniest film from one of the cinema’s funniest acts, Duck Soup is as absurdly nonsensical as comedy can be and still be about something. A satire of Fascism, Mussolini-style dictatorship, and the banality of war, the Marx Brothers’ masterpiece is best remembered for Groucho’s blistering throwaway witticisms, a classic broken-mirror scene with Harpo posing as Groucho’s reflection, and a surreal slapstick hat-switching sequence. Read full Decent Films review (rated A+ , Superior artistic-entertainment for Kids & Up)

MRQE 85% from over 57 reviews

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