Friday, October 31, 2014

Mae West: Scandals

MAE WEST is discussed in a new book. In "Scandals of Classic Hollywood," the University of Texas grad Anne Helen Petersen analyzes the machinery of celebrity gossip.
• • Reviewer Melanie Haupt explained:  For example, Anne Helen Petersen's breakdowns of the scandals behind Depression-era bombshells Jean Harlow and Mae West reveal the ways in which women's sexuality was circumscribed and how both women in the Hollywood spotlight massaged their images to make them more palatable to Will Hays' prescriptive Production Code. When Harlow's icy-blond hair became a signifier of her image as a man-eater (the alleged affair with married boxer Max Baer didn't help, either), studio fixers stepped in and not only arranged for her to marry a safe, older man, they also ditched the peroxide and tinted her hair a tamer shade of "brownette." Mae West's bawdy take-it-or-leave-it embrace of the double entendre sent the censors into a tizzy — — and made West a very rich woman in the process.
• • Source: Article written by Melanie Haupt for The Austin Chronicle;  published on  Friday, 24 October 2014.
• • On Friday, 31 October 1919 in Variety • •
• • In the write-up of Ned Wayburn's "Demi-Tasse Revue" at the Capitol Theatre (a movie house on Broadway with a wide stage for vaudeville acts), Variety mentioned Mae West on 31 October 1919, noting that she "also scored as a single with a burlesque 'shimmy' number."
• • On Friday, 24 October 1919 Mae West also sang "Oh, What a Moanin' Man."
• • On Monday, 31 October 1932 • •
• • Mordaunt Hall reviewed two motion pictures starring Mae West: "Night after Night" [NYT, 31 October 1932] and "I'm No Angel" [NYT, 13 October 1933] and loved both.
• • The gala premiere on Saturday, 29 October 1932, revealed that "Night After Night" was only 73 minutes long. And no one remembers anything at all about this sobering speakeasy film except for the hilarious moments when Mae West was onscreen. Actor George Raft said, "She stole everything but the cameras."
• • On Tuesday, 31 October 1933 • •
• • Headlines on this date emphasized the big box office Mae's movie was doing. For instance,  "West Bubbles Hub [Boston] for $47,000" was circulated by wire on Tuesday, 31 October 1933.
• • On Tuesday, 31 October 1933 in New York World-Telegram • •
• • Mae West told Douglas Gilbert, a vaudeville reporter, "Women much prefer to be feminine, believe me."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • King-siding at Mae's sensational nightclub debut in Las Vegas was laughing boy, Johnny Ray — — once again with his ex — — Marilyn Morrison.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:   “Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Westchester Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • Westchester Magazine wrote:  The Tarrytown Music Hall—This 843-seat Queen Anne-style theater is one of only 6 percent of all US theaters built before 1900. In 1976, the village proposed the structure be demolished to make room for a parking lot, but it was saved by the nonprofit The Friends of the Mozartina Musical Arts Conservatory and placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1980. The eclectic lineup of performers and speakers that have graced its stage include Mae West, Woodrow Wilson, Gregg Allman, and Joan Rivers.
• • Source: Article on Tarrytown in Westchester Magazine; published on Thursday, 16 October 2014
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. The other day we entertained 1,223 visitors. 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3038th 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 1935

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