• • The New York Sun wrote that she "danced with considerable grace and agility" doing The Philadelphia Drag (a ragtime parody). "A girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and a snappy way of singing and dancing," observed The New York Times. The New York Tribune was also smitten, applauding Mae West for showing "a bit of a sense of nonsense, which is the very latest addition to wit." And though Variety's churlish critics usually savaged Mae West in their pages, this time a reviewer gold-stamped her act: "She danced in Turkish harem trousers in a most energetic, amusing, and carefree manner" [23 September 1911].
• • The show was A La Broadway and Hello Paris. It opened on 22 September 1911 at the Folies Bergere, a beautiful venue that, unfortunately, did not have enough seating to make such a costly production pay off. Over budget and under-attended, the revue closed after eight performances. Fortunately, Lee and J.J. Shubert were in the house on opening night, enjoying Mae's rosy splashdown across the major New York City newspapers.
• • A La Broadway was written by William LeBaron [16 February 1883 — 9 February 1958]. Neither the 28-year-old LeBaron nor the 18-year-old actress could suspect how important they would become to each other's careers, but they were meant to click.
Why? Because William LeBaron appreciated a laughmeister who could improve on a role. And Mae West loved to polish a line 'til it glowed.• • At first, Mae had not been pleased with her anemic role as Maggie O'Hara, an Irish maid, nor with the fact that a comedy duo who was supposed to accompany her number couldn't deal with their props. But Mae always met her material halfway. After delivering a sassy send-up of the servant in a broad Irish brogue, and after getting applause for the novelty she sung — — "They Are Irish" — — she was ready for her encore.
• • Secretly, during rehearsals, Mae had written extra choruses in various Irish dialects for her production numbers. When she was called back for seven encores, she stunned the producers (and ticket-holders) by having a new verse ready for each. LeBaron, who had written this satire, applauded Mae's creativity.
• • Let's back up and introduce him properly. American producer William LeBaron left New York University with the desire to be a playright. This dream came to fruition, after which LeBaron signed on as managing editor of Collier's magazine. His instinctive sense of what constituted a good story enabled LeBaron to take charge of the East Coast branch of Famous Players/ Lasky Studios in 1924.
• • Film historians claim that William LeBaron had an overriding fascination with low comedians, especially W.C. Fields — — whom LeBaron insisted upon starring in silent films even though Fields was hardly big box office at the time. In 1928, LeBaron moved to FBO Studios, which evolved into RKO Radio, the company where LeBaron served as vice president in charge of production from 1929-1932. A disagreement with the RKO brass immediately led LeBaron back to Famous Players, which was now formally known as Paramount Pictures. In 1932, he was an associate producer there.
• • Once more, LeBaron pushed W.C. Fields on the public, this time with more success. With a few hits under his belt, LeBaron was also in a position to nurture the screen career of Mae West.
• • In 1932, two years after Diamond Lil played in Los Angeles, Mae West was back in Hollywood to make her first movie: Night After Night, George Raft's first starring picture. William LeBaron, the producer, gave her permission to rewrite her own role. Mae made sure her brief scenes dazzled movie-goers.
• • By December 1932, Mae was in front of the cameras again. This time she was starring in She Done Him Wrong. Lowell Sherman was Mae's director and LeBaron was the producer. When he produced I'm No Angel, LeBaron also assigned Cary Grant to play Jack Clayton, Tira's major love interest.
• • When he was a producer at RKO, LeBaron won an Oscar for Best Picture 1930 — 1931: Cimarron.
• • When he was at Paramount, LeBaron was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture 1932 — 1933: She Done Him Wrong.
• • With the departure of Ernst Lubitsch, LeBaron became Paramount's chief of production in 1936, a post he held until 1941. Five years later, he set up an independent unit at 20th Century-Fox. William LeBaron's final production, released through United Artists, was the film Carnegie Hall [1947].
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Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • on the set with actor Cary Grant and producer William LeBaron • • December 1932 • •
NYC
Mae West.
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