Thursday, August 28, 2014

Mae West: London Bound

In 1947 MAE WEST was going to Great Britain and happy headlines heralded her visit.
• • "Mae West for Own Play in London" • •
• • LONDON, Thursday. Mae West, who turned down £2,000 a week to play here before the war, is packing, her bags to come to England.
• • She is due here on September 11 to begin rehearsals for her own play "Diamond Lil," a tale of New York's Bowery in the 1890s.
• • Mae insists on bringing American actors with her to play a low down Tammany politician and a Chicago gangster, but 50 hefty middle-aged Britons will be sought for American "tough guy" roles, including dope fiends, gigolos, crooked lawyers, and political racketeers.
• • Daily auditions for these roles are being held in London. Qualifications: Applicants must "talk rough and look it."  — — "News" Special Service.
• • Source: Front page article in News (Adelaide); published on Friday, 29 August 1947.
• • On Wednesday, 29 August 1979 • •
• • An item about Mae West's radio spot for Poland Spring appeared. Kevin Thomas wrote the article "Mae West — Testing Commercial Waters" for The Los Angeles Times; the paper ran it on Wednesday, 29 August 1979.
• • Mae West didn't need the money and rarely did things of this nature.  But with Poland Spring, she was merely endorsing a product she had personally used for years.
• • On Tuesday, 29 August 1989 in The Village Voice • •
• • Arlena Gibson's article "Go West, Young Man," which referenced Mae West and the opportunities she gave to young actors, was printed in The Village Voice, a weekly, on Tuesday, 29 August 1989 (pages 37, 38). 
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Perhaps surprisingly, Miss West deplores the current film trend toward sex and nudity.
• • "I don't approve of it, it's just not right," she declared. "I can see what's happening. The picture makers have run out of titles; that's why you get all those long titles nowadays. They've also run out of plots."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Don't ever make the same mistake twice — — unless it pays."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A letter in The L.A. Times defended Mae West.
• • "He Done Her Wrong" • •
• • Ramfis Diaz wrote: I was appalled at director Ken Hughes' story about Mae West in "Sextette," Miss West's final film in 1978 ("Acting Had Nothing to Do With It," Feb. 23).
• • Ramfis Diaz continued:  God bless her, she couldn't have looked or been so great as she was at age 85! Why is it that every time this film is mentioned, it's panned and blame quickly goes to Miss West? Since the 1930s, Miss West was treated so poorly by Hollywood — —but adored by her friends and fans all over the world.
• • Ramfis Diaz noted:  To the fan, Mae West was Mae West at any age. When we fans asked her to please make another movie, she gave us "Sextette" and we love her for it.  The fact is, when she did this very difficult film she was a diabetic and suffered from other ailments, as could any 85-year-old or younger person. Shame on Ken Hughes for deciding to bash Miss West.  
• • Source: Letter in The L.A. Times; published on Sunday, 2 March 1997
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2991st 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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• • Mae West in 1947

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