Mae West: Hand Kissing

MAE WEST was quick to comment on kissing. Here are some statements from the empress of osculation.
• • Mae West on Kissing • •
• • Mae West said: "A man's kiss is his signature."
• • Mae West said:  “I have found men who didn't know how to kiss. I've always found time to teach them.”
• • Mae West said:  "Kiss and make up — — but too much makeup has ruined many a kiss."
• • Mae West said: "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?"
• • Mae West on Hand Kissing • •

• • Hand kissing, says Mae West, goes all right with evening clothes but aside from that she wants no part of it. So Ivan Lebedeff [18 June 1895 — 31 March 1953], famous for the gesture, will kiss the blonde star's hand only rarely in their scenes in her new Paramount picture, "Goin' to Town."
• • "It's a nice custom, and a nice gesture, when they're both dressed formally," explained Mae West. "But I can't picture a man kissing a woman's hand when she's in street clothes or a bathing suit. Besides it starts a man off on the wrong foot with a woman." ...
• • Source: an excerpt from "Mae West on Hand Kissing" syndicated widely and printed in The Western Champion, Barcaldine, Australia; published in 1935.  
• • An amusing but forgotten bit of movie dialogue from "Goin' to Town" that also involves the lips is Cleo Borden's snappy command: "Cigarette me, Cossack!" Mae West directed the line to Ivan Valadov (played by Russian actor Ivan Lebedeff).
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 • •
• • April was the cruelest month for Mae West in 1927.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On Thursday, 5 April 1928 • •
• • "You'd have thought that a favorite bootlegger had come back from Atlanta," wrote drama critic Robert Garland in the New York Evening Telegram [Thursday, 5 April 1928]. "Mae West makes Miss Ethel Barrymore look like the late lamented Bert Savoy."
• • On Monday, 5 April 1954 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • A devout Roman Catholic, Jim Timony carried rosary beads and began each morning by going to Mass. Mae accompanied him during this daily ritual. For decades they went everywhere together — — on cross-country trains, on the Queen Mary, in Mae's "house car," and in limousines.
• • The New York Times obituary, alas, reported his age incorrectly when they announced his death on Monday, 5 April 1954 from a heart attack at his Hollywood home. According to his obit, Timony had been in retirement for five years due to poor health.
• • Calling James A. Timony the manager of Mae West for 25 years, and the person who "guided her to success," The Times also noted that he "received major credit for her development from a relatively obscure singer and dancer into an internationally known prototype of the American siren."
• • The Mae West Blog is saluting James A. Timony — — celebrating his life and successful partnership with the Empress of Sex.
• • On Sunday, 5 April 2009 in England • •
• • On Sunday, 5 April 2009 Britons who tuned into BBC Radio 2 from 5:00 — 7:00pm had a chance to enjoy Mae West.
• • Music during the first program on BBC Radio included tracks from Mae West and the Pet Shop Boys, Josh Groban and Take That, plus a selection of great Northern Soul hits.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A gold rush is what happens when a line of chorus girls spot a man with a bankroll."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A letter by Will Hays mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West's stage plays were banned in Philadelphia due to their content. A theatre owner in Philadelphia questioned Paramount Pictures's decision to use her in their films, feeling there is no place for such "filth on the screen." ...
• • Source: Letter written by Will Hays to Adolph Zukor; letter written on Monday, 12 September 1932 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2621st 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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• • Photo: • • Mae West caricature • • 1935 • •
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