Mae West: Not Insured

Most fans know MAE WEST was the victim of a robbery in 1932 — — but now there are new details.
• • This magazine interview carried the byline of reporter Dorothy Donnell. 
• • "Mae West Is Robbed of Famous Diamonds In Daring Hold-up" • •
• • Dorothy Donnell wrote:  These jewels, together with a huge brooch of the same dazzling stones, a wrist-watch and another ring, were familiar to studio employees, as Mae had often worn them to work and had used them as part of her costume in "Night After Night." 
• • Valued at sixteen thousand dollars, the sparklers that were stolen carried no insurance. For several years Mae kept them in a safe deposit vault in Chicago; but on her way to the Coast, she stopped off and took out her jewels, thinking she was going to a safe small town. She was negotiating for insurance on them when the robbery occurred, but had none yet.
• • Someone familiar with Mae's habits robbed her.  Besides the jewels, she lost $3,400 she had just withdrawn.

• • Oddly enough, though Mae West is the author of many plays about Broadway night-life, she is seldom a part of the social scene, herself. She works almost every evening on some play, novel or scenario (she has written the script of her next picture. "HonkyTonk," herself), and appears in public places very little. And though jewel robberies are an old actress' gag, and are regarded suspiciously by reporters, there seems no doubt that this one was not a press-agent's inspiration, but a real and painful fact.
• • Exactly one week after Mae West was robbed, the home of Helene Costello was ransacked by three men wearing dark goggles as a disguise.   ...
• • "Mae West Is Robbed of Famous Diamonds" concludes here. This was Part 2.
• • Source: Article written by Dorothy Donnell for Movie Classic; printed in the issue dated for January 1933.   
• • Image: Mae West is smiling and wearing her own earrings and her expensive diamond necklace. Her favorite jewelry would soon be gone for good, unfortunately.
• • On Tuesday, 19 April 1927 • •
• • The sentencing of Mae West, Jim Timony, and the cast of "Sex" took place on Tuesday, 19 April 1927 in Jefferson Market Court, New York, NY. That trial and the dramatic verdict end Act I of the stage play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets."
 • • On Tuesday, 19 April 1927 • •
 • • "Mae West is sentenced to workhouse" • •
 • • "Mae West, co-author and star of the play 'Sex,' was sentenced to the workhouse for ten days and fined $500 by Judge Donnellan in general sessions court today. Miss West and the producers will appeal. They were found guilty a fortnight ago of producing a play which tended to corrupt public morals," wrote Daily Herald Middletown Times Press on 19 April 1927.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, now on a trip east, returns in April to make another picture for Paramount.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Wall to wall men. I like those odds."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A fan magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • That was a quaint quirk of Fate in making Mae West's "I'm No Angel" and RKO's "Little Women" the super-hits of the year. Strange bedfellows, my hearties. What DOES the public want?
• • The way that stars from other studios dodged the premiere of Mae West's "I'm No Angel." Hollywood never proved itself so much a small town, with all a small town's petty jealousies, as it did that night.   It's foolishly funny how "catty" Hollywood has been about all three of the big sensations of the year — Mae West, Katharine Hepburn, . . .
• • Source:  Item in  Motion Picture; published in February 1934 
• • 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 3423rd 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 • • wearing her necklace in 1932 • •
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