• • "Movie Gossip" • •
• • "Mae West in Story of Gay Nineties" • •
• • Mae West returns to the gay naughty nineties in her latest starring picture for Paramount, "Belle of the Nineties," coming next Wednesday and Friday to the Crescent Theatre, Fairfield. "Belle of the Nineties" presents Mae West as a colorful burlesque queen who leaves St. Louis for New Orleans when the man she loves walks out on her. The star introduces several new typically Western songs written for her by Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston.
• • Source: Item in The Biz (Fairfield, NSW); published on Friday, 29 March 1935.
• • On Saturday, 29 March 1930 • •
• • As reported by The N.Y. Times on Saturday, 29 March 1930, the "Pleasure Man" trial presided over by Justice Amedeo Bertini was not without its own impromptu entertainment value. Called to the stand by Nathan Burkan, cast member Chuck Connors II sang the controversial "She's the Queen of the Beaches" for Judge Bertini and the jurors. Though somber and bereaved, Mae West had to stuff a black handkerchief in her mouth to keep from laughing as Chuck Connors, "clasping his hands together, crooned the song."
• • Prosecutor James Wallace insisted the title really was "I'm the Queen of the Bitches" — — and the lyrics to that and another number "Cruising for the Moon" were rife with homosexual argot and innuendo. Wallace had explained to the jury that Police Captain Coy was an expert on the swishy vernacular of gents given to female impersonation off, as well as on, the stage.
• • The defense counsel had no luck rattling the two police witnesses, the theatrical Captain Coy, who delighted in mimicking the girlish soprano "whoops" of the brassiere-wearing drag queens, and the much more somber police stenographer, the dour Mr. Powers.
• • Chuck Connors also testified for the defense that he and his co-star Ed Hearn (who had also been his vaudeville partner), performed traditional gags and routines in "Pleasure Man," skits that had been used in variety for decades and seen by thousands of people.
• • Mae did get a bit of relief in mid-March when the court ruled out the count of "public nuisance" from the indictment.
• • On Sunday, 29 March 1936 • •
• • "Has Mae West Done Herself Wrong?" was the intriguing headline teasing readers of the Atlanta Journal Magazine in their issue dated for Sunday, 29 March 1936. The byline went to Frank Daniel. Congressional hearings being conducted in February and March 1936 by the U.S. Senate were peppered with the name of Mae West, whose new motion picture "Klondike Annie" caused a lot of concern on Capitol Hill. Ramona Curry has written well-researched articles on this topic of how censorship tightened its noose around Mae's neck.
• • On Saturday, 29 March 2008 in NYC • •
• • Offered for free in the Times Square area on Saturday afternoon, 29 March 2008 was a commemorative reading of the stage play "Courting Mae West" at The Producer's Club [358 West 44th Street, NYC]. Louis Lopardi directed the cast. Based on true events 1926 — 1932, the play dramatizes moments from both of the obscenity trials.
• • On Monday, 29 March 2010 • •
• • On Monday, 29 March 2010, Raquel Welch's autobiography, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage, was released. Thanks to this book being published, the plastic surgery poster child found the need to include disparaging remarks about her (now deceased) co-star Mae West. Though there is no reference to the sales figures, this pastiche of random thoughts on aging, hairstyles, and make-up has never been called "a bestseller" by anyone of significance.
• • Silicone can make little things look bigger, Raquel, but a small mean-spirited mind keeps its shape, isn't that correct?
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The crowds at the Brooklyn Fox reflected not only their fascination with La West but also how she says it and the way she does it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars. That's subtraction."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Hollywood Reporter mentioned Mae West.
• • Ray Arnett, Choreographer and Stage Director, Dies at 97 • •
• • Choreographer Ray Arnett performed stage shows with actress Mae West earlier in his career and served as the stage director and producer for Liberace's many sold-out performances beginning in the 1950s. He is known for introducing Liberace to former partner Scott Thorson. . . .
• • Source: Obit in Hollywood Reporter; published on Thursday, 26 March 2015
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,400 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3408th 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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