Thursday, April 30, 2015

Mae West: When It's Good

Our indomitable friends in Australia have tipped us off to the "MAE WEST test."
• • News.com Australia wrote:  SIRI might pass muster as a casual acquaintance but nothing puts a relationship to the test like a 2000km road trip with Apple CarPlay.
• • News.com Australia explained:  And after driving from Melbourne to Brisbane with Siri as a sidekick, it seems CarPlay doesn’t yet meet the Mae West test.  When it’s good, it’s very, very good. When it’s bad, well, it’s just bad.
• • Doesn't meet "the Mae West test"!!!  Hey!  Enough said!
• • On Monday, 30 April 1956 in N.Y. World-Telegram Sun • •
• • It was on Monday, 30 April 1956 that Robert W. Dana's felicitous coverage of "The Mae West Review" appeared.
• • Robert Dana's popular daily dish "Tips on Tables" was published in the now defunct New York World-Telegram and Sun.
• • His column "Mae West's Show Grows" [dated April 30th] indicated Dana had seen the routine previously.
• • Robert W. Dana wrote: The old belief that everything should be bigger and better — — a thought most forcefully pronounced by Hollywood trailers — — can be applied with forthright honesty to Mae West, who has returned to the Latin Quarter [in New York City on West 48th Street], where she scored heavily in the fall [sic] of 1954.  ...
• • On Wednesday, 30 April 1969 in Los Angeles • •
• • On Wednesday, 30 April 1969, on light blue note paper (engraved Miss Mae West at the top), the Hollywood icon took time out to send a warm letter to her cousin Tillie.
• • The Delker Family: Mae's mother Matilda (Delker) West had 5 siblings who emigrated from Germany to the USA together. By the time the family reached New York, they were Lutherans.  Her brother Carl Delker married Miss Mathilde Misdorn on 26 May 1889. Notice the reference to Mae's "Aunt Tillie," her mother's sister-in-law. [I also noted the absence of the surname "Doelger." On Mae's marriage license in April 1911, her mother's maiden name was given as Matilda Dilker, probably a clerical error.]
• • Mae West wrote: Dear Tillie:  For a long time I have been wanting to write to you, and also send you these little gifts. Some years ago, I received them from Aunt Tillie Delker.  I believe they belonged to her daughter, our Cousin Eleanor.  I thought you might enjoy wearing them.  They are a lovely necklace of garnets and a cameo pin.  . . .
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Not so long ago, Mae West came to Hollywood with ominous prophecies echoing in her ears.  The smart fellows on Broadway opined that she could never get into a studio, let alone get herself a lucrative contract.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A thrill a day keeps the pills away."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The jazz radio station mentioned Mae West.
• • Arthur Johnston's "My Old Flame" • •
• • Jazz journalist Natasha Pepperl wrote: Accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, actress and vocalist Mae West first introduced "My Old Flame" in the 1934 film Belle of the Nineties.  Composed by Arthur Johnston with lyrics by Sam Coslow, it has been rumored that West - known for her "lightly-veiled eroticism" — — had some input in the song's racy (for the time) lyrics. 
• • Natasha Pepperl continued:  However, lines such as “I can’t even think of his name” and “my new lovers all seem so tame” might explain why the song never gained widespread popularity until later years.   ...
• • Source: Item in Kuvo.org; posted on Monday, 30 March 2015
• • 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 1,430 visitors. We reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3168th 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 1955

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