Goin' to Town [Blu-ray] in Bloomington, MN

Mae West
is
Goin' to Town
in this elegant post-Production Code vehicle. West plays Cleo Borden, a nouveau riche cattle rancher who hopes to crash into high society. Though she is willing to subject herself to "refinement" lessons, she still has a high old time puncturing the pretensions of those around her: when aristocratic Ivan Valadov (
Ivan Lebedeff
) haughtily announces that he is the backbone of his family, West gives him the once-over and replies "Then your family'd better see a chiropractor." Through the connections of her husband-by-convenience Fletcher Colton (
Monroe Owsley
), Cleo is able to move freely among the glitterati of Southhampton but is forced to rely on her tried-and-true "street smarts" when she crosses swords with haughty villainess Grace Brittony (
Marjorie Gateson
) at a Buenos Aires race track. Through it all, aristocratic British engineer Edward Carrington (
Paul Cavanaugh
) awaits the opportunity to claim Cleo for his own -- as if anyone could ever "own" our fiercely self-reliant heroine. The film's highlight is a society operatic gala, in which Mae West delivers a serious (and most effective) rendition of "My Heart at Thy Still Voice" from
Samson and Delilah
. In a more characteristic vein, the star gets down and dirty (well, at least semi-dirty) with "He's a Bad Bad Man, But He's Good Enough for Me."