She’s one of the few to admit it. Arguably one of the first ever feminist films, I’m No Angel (1933), directed by Wesley Ruggles is a black and white rarity. It was also one of the first Hollywood films to characterise African-American actors positively.
‘Get as much as you can and give as little as possible’
Mae West ‘Tira’ in I’m No Angel (1933).
Actress Mae West plays Tira in this thrilling comedy. Sexually confident and headstrong, her character is a refreshing picture of a woman. Definitely a nice change from the tiny, thin, damsel in distress stereotype Hollywood placed on women.
The film, set in New York at a fairground where singer/dancer Tira performs and flirts with rich, ignorant men. Her performance is seamless and left me in awe of her blunt attitude towards these sexist and lousy men. There is a scene in the film, including animal abuse, with lions in a circus act, which ruined the innocence of the film for me.
I read a journal article about West’s role in the film and also includes more general information on her career, which I found most endearing. I discovered that she wrote the film herself as well as many other films.
Likewise, I believe this film was created to show women in a new light. In one scene, a woman that had just met Tira told her how wonderful she is. Tira replies, ‘Coming from a woman that’s a big compliment’. This is the director shining a torch on female power and how women struggle to see one another other than as competition for men. Every woman is Tira, whether a lot or very little. There is a scene where the character Alicia, performed by Gertrude Michael, is speaking negatively to her friends (about Tira). This is a representation of modern problems with female cliques.
The director’s use of tone in the film is feministic as it shows Tira, scrutinised for seeing more than one man, being allowed to argue against the cruel allegations. Such as that she plays with these men even though they were doing the same with her (they were all married men). The film is a rollercoaster of genres, thanks to Mae West’s witty remarks, but in the end, a love story.
Spend Some Time 
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