Mae West: Becomes a Convert

"MAE WEST Becomes a Convert" was a front page headline on Saturday, 19 August 1939.  The reporting was done from Vancouver, Canada and the story made its way around the world.

• • Vancouver, Saturday — — Mae West is all for moral rearmament and is ready to join the Oxford Group. It would be a good thing for W.C. Fields, she told Dr. Frank Buchman, leader of the Moral Rearmament Movement, today.  Miss West and Dr. Buchman had quite a tete-a-tete in her apartment. "It's a wonderful work," she said of the movement. "I owe my success to the fact that I have been practising that philosophy in recent years. Early in my career, before I discovered the importance of correct thinking and correct consideration for others, it was a hard and bitter struggle to get ahead."

• • Dr. Buchman told her, "You are a splendid character, Miss West. You have done wonderful work, too, in pleasing and entertaining millions with your charming personality." They posed for photographers together, and Mae drawled, "Y 'u're doing fine, Doctor." Miss West and Fields are to be starred together soon.

• • "Have you met Bill Fields yet?" she asked Dr. Buchman.

• • "No, but I'd love to meet him," he said.

• • "This moral rearmament is just what Bill needs," Mae exclaimed. ... "By all means meet Bill, and tell him all about moral rearmament. Please get to him before we start this picture. I want him to be full of it."

• • Source: Article: "Mae West Becomes a Convert" printed on page 1 in The Mail (Adelaide, Australia); published on Saturday, 19 August 1939.

• • Franco Corsaro [19 August 1900 — 19 April 1982] • •

• • Born on Sunday, 19 August 1900 in Mae's hometown of New York City, Franco Corsaro snagged some work in 74 productions in TV and on film. Between 1931 — 1978, casting agents found his Continental looks useful for Italian, French, or gypsy roles. He was seen as an "Italian Officer" in "Goin' to Town."

• • Franco Corsaro died in Los Angeles on 19 April 1982. He was 81.

• • On Sunday, 19 August 1934 • •

• • Motion Picture Daily published this picture preview on Sunday, 19 August 1934.

• • Hollywood, 19 August 1934 — With shock-proof punches but with haymakers nevertheless, Mae West uncorks a flashy, melodramatic entertainment of the Nineties, trippingly gay and gaudy for the most part but lingering in spots.

• • As with all the Mae West films, her showmanship personality dominates the scene. Her story assembles herself as the American Beauty, a headline actress; Prizefighter Roger Pryor, Villainous Promoter John Miljan and his girl friend, Katherine de Mille, sets them in pleasure-loving New Orleans and lets music, gambling, stolen jewels and prizefight knockout drops work its dire drama, making it clear at the same time that no man outsmarts Mae and gets away with it.

• • While the production is hardly a model of uplift drama, by the same token nothing offends the sensibilities in La West's cleanest film. Her performance, including singing and comedy, is the best she's done. Her wisecracks ripple along in laughing cadence with her curvacious walk and there is no reaching for gags or straining for effects.

• • Mae warbles four numbers, one, "Scandalizin' My Name," counterpointed with Negro spirituals being particularly effective to eye and ear.

• • Leo McCarey's direction has flavor and distinction.

• • Exploited smartly, "Belle of the Nineties" should do Golden West business even though repeat bookings may or may not be so abundant. ...

• • Source: Article: "Hollywood Preview: "Belle of the Nineties'' by Paramount written by Motion Picture Daily; printed on 19 August 1934.

• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said: "As a rule I have most actors around me work faster than I do; they keep the pace while I take my liberties in my timing."

• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An article about a Glasgow hotel mentioned Mae West.

• • Phyllis Stephen wrote: It numbered Sir Winston Churchill, the Beatles, Laurel and Hardy, Mae West, Alice Cooper, Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger among its guests.  It turned away Hollywood mega-star Charlton Heston and members of the Led Zeppelin rock band from its restaurant because they weren’t properly dressed.  And it received the first long-distance television pictures ever transmitted.

• • Phyllis Stephen wrote: Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel, the iconic five-story hotel built adjacent to Central Station, has been part of the city’s history since opening in 1883. ...

• • Source: Article: "Edinburgh International Book Festival — RNIB launch book today" written by Phyllis Stephen for The Edinburgh Reporter; published on 17 August 2012 

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2400th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

 

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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