Saturday, March 09, 2013

Mae West: Confessions

"The Real MAE WEST" is an article that seems to have been released only in certain parts of Australia during 1935. It's a lengthy piece, unsigned and printed in small type dominating a single column, and positioned opposite two large advertisements, one for "Quick Pile Relief (for pile misery)" and the other for "High Blood Pressure, an Amazing New Prescription." Here's an excerpt.
• • Mae West loves white. She wears white whenever possible for daytime and evening or black, rarely any color.  Her studio dressing-room is done in white with touches of coral and apricot. Her favorite flowers are any white ones. And because it is white, vanilla ice-cream is one of her favorite foods.
• • Miss West collects bottles of scent and has nearly 50 glorious cut-glass bottles of different perfumes on her dressing table. But she never uses any but sweet pea. Alt her powders and creams are scented with this simple fragrance.
• • For amusement she goes to the cinema and to prize-fights. ...  She declares that the things she never can resist are tall, dark handsome men, diamonds, writing stories in bed, reading, calling policemen by their christian names, and food, more food!
• • Miss West has been acting since she was four, encouraged by her mother. Family bonds are strong in the West family, and Mae's greatest chums are her sister, Beverly, and her brother, Jack. One of the greatest thrills of her career was buying a ranch in California for her father a few months ago.
• • Mae declares that she is superstitious, believing that white and the number eight are lucky to her. She is very fond of children. She adores shopping, but her expeditions to the Hollywood stores are usually for clothes and luxuries for friends, people she knows need a little help. ...
• • Source: from "The Real Mae West" in Cairns Post (Queensland); published in 1935.
• • On Thursday, 9 March 1933 • •
• • On Thursday, 9 March 1933, a letter was sent by Will H. Hays, President, MPPDA, to James Wingate, Director, Studio Relations, Association of Motion Picture Producers. The bone they had to pick was Mae West's "She Done Him Wrong." Hays emphasized: "I cannot too strongly urge you to proceed in the strict enforcement of the Code. ..."
• • Did Will Hays tuck into others as much as he cut into Mae West?
• • On Friday, 9 March 1934 in The Hollywood Reporter • •
• • "Mae West Set For Modern 'Du Barry'" • •
• • The Hollywood Reporter wrote: Mae West is to do a modernized version of "Du Barry," from a story now being developed by the William Le Baron unit. The story will not conflict in any way with the Warner Brothers production of "Du Barry," starring Dolores Del Rio. The idea is to have Miss West play her famous character of "Diamond Lil," who has visions of herself as the famous French woman. ...
• • Source: "Mae West Set For Modern 'Du Barry'" in The Hollywood Reporter; published on Friday, 9 March 1934.
• • On Monday, 9 March 1936 in Time • •
• • It was inside their weekly issue dated for Monday, 9 March 1936 that readers could read a review of "Klondike Annie" critiqued for Time Magazine.
• • On Tuesday, 9 March 2004 • •
• • Starring Mae West, "Myra Breckinridge" [20th Century Fox, 1970] was issued as a DVD Release on Tuesday, 9 March 2004.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Beards can do one of two things for men. One type becomes very distinguished looking, the other achieves a primitive sexy look. What's bad about that? Some women say they couldn't bear to kiss a man with whiskers. All I've got to say is whiskers or not, he's a man isn't he?"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on screwball films mentioned Mae West.
• • Kasia Boddy wrote: As part of the London-based Bird's Eye View film festival, the British Film Institute's Screwball Women season (until 27th March) provides a welcome introduction to a wide variety of talented "comediennes in classical Hollywood," both on and behind the screen. It's great to see Mae West performing her own dialogue in "She Done Him Wrong" (1933), and to be reminded of Anita Loos's 1925 novel, "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" ...
• • Source: Article: "Clowning glories: Hollywood's screwball women" written by Kasia Boddy for Open Democracy;  posted on Thursday, 13 March 2008
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2600th 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/
________

Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlAdd to Google

• • Photo:
• • Mae West 1935
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West

No comments:

Post a Comment