Mae West: Getting a Head

MAE WEST was on the minds of her Canadian fans in Ottawa during 1977.
• • "Mae West — She still more than measures up" • •
• • Written by George Anthony — Special to The Ottawa Journal • •

• • Edith Head said, "Mae West is in her 80s now, but she stands for costume fittings for hours and never complains. Some of our young actresses on the way up should take lessons from her!" 
• • Designing for Mae West, Edith Head maintains, is easy as pie. "Her own style dictates her own styles. She is unique a one-of-a-kind original. Did you know she started the whole feather-boa look, years ago? Well, she did. When that look was adopted by Paris they called it Le Vogue Mae West and that was the only time an American style was adopted by Paris. It's always the other way around."
• • But still, Miss West is almost 86 now. Surely she requires some, uhhhh, camouflage?
• • "Not a stitch," said Head. "And everyone on that set knows it, because people were coming in and out all the time we did the fittings, and it didn't faze Mae one bit. Why should it? Her measurements now are exactly the same as they were when she was at Paramount last time. And I know, because I did her clothes."
• • "It pays to have fans like that," said Mae West • •
• • "Sextette" wasn't supposed to be made at Paramount. MGM and Warner Bros., both wanted it but balked over West's script, which she refused to change. Finally, two wealthy young men who had been her fans from childhood came up with the money to finance the film, and the studio facilities they rented happened to be at Paramount. "It pays to have fans like that," says West with a sly smile.
• • When West walked onto the set at the studio she helped save during the Depression with such box-office bonanzas as "I'm No Angel" and "She Done Him Wrong," the foundations of Tinsel Town quivered. "It's just like yesterday," said West. "I feel like I've never left." But leave she did, in 1943, saying she'd "rather do nothing than the wrong thing."
• • She returned to the screen briefly in the Ill-fated "Myra Breckinridge," but decided that her own scripts were best for her. "Let's face it," says West "I have a gift for sex gags."
• • According to designer Head, Mae has a knack for wearing clothes that is unbeatable. "I've created 12 new gowns for Mae, as well as a few pantsuits one in black velvet, one in white satin. She was wearing pantsuits long before anyone else too. But the director (Kenneth Hughes) wasn't crazy about her in pantsuits, so I don't know if you'll get to see them on her."  . . .
• • To be concluded tomorrow — — on Tuesday, 2 September 2014.
• • Source:  Interview in Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, Canada);  published on Tuesday, 30 August  1977.
• • On Tuesday, 1 September 1931 • •
• • After "The Constant Sinner" (set in Harlem) opened, Variety made its feelings known in their issue dated for Tuesday, 1 September 1931.  Variety noted:  "Diamond Lil" was a Mother Goose story compared to this one. 
• • On Friday, 1 September 1939 • •
• • It was on Friday, 1 September 1939 in Great Britain when English viewers saw Mae West featured in a splashy cameo in “Mickey’s Gala Premiere” on the telly.
• • On Monday, 1 September 2014 in Manhattan • •
• • Catch the vocalist Molly Ryan tonight at Birdland. She has prepared a tribute to Mae West called "Come Up and See Me Sometime."  Good luck to Molly!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Noxema shaving cream girl tries to come on like Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Considering what 'Sex' got me, a few days in the pen 'n’ a $500 fine ain’t too bad a deal.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Film Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Due in large part to gangster threats, Mae West will not leave Hollywood on a personal appearance tour on completion of her next Paramount pix. ...
• • Source: Item in Film Daily; published on Thursday, 26 April 1934  
• • 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 2994th 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 • • in 1978 • •
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