Mae West: Don't Tell Will

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's enjoy it together. This is Part 21.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • Suggested in Actions • •  
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:   Sidney Kent added, "I cannot understand how your people on the coast let this get by. There is very little any of us can do now. I think the place to have anything done was at the source."
• • Lest there be any doubts, Variety trumpeted: "Nothing much changed except the title, but don't tell that to Will Hays."
• • Note: To say "nothing much changed" is entirely absurd. For one, the entire sex trafficking plot was bleached away. "Rio Rita," who becomes Russian Rita (though played by the same actress) leads a group of counterfeiters instead of tricking run-away girls into white slavery and hiding them in Charlie Fong's basement before their one-way trip to South America. For another, Diamond Lil's prostitute friends do not appear in the movie. And the scenes where Diamond Lil seduces Juarez in the Elizabeth Street apartment of her pal Frances are reduced to high-toned flirting, hand-kissing, and innuendo.  Go read the novel to see what else is missing.
• • Paramount was quick to cash in • •   ...
• • This was Part 21.  Part 22 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5 November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Monday, 31 January 1927 in Bridgeport • •
• • Despite the public's curiosity about the controversial vaudevillian Mae West, and her latest play "The Drag," Jim Timony could only manage to secure half a week at Poli's Park, which was then in use as a burlesque house in Bridgeport.
• • It was a dreary and wintery Monday on 31 January 1927 when the Morals Production Company hoisted a banner over the trolley cars criss-crossing Main Street. Pedestrians were intrigued by this saucy announcement: "'The Drag' by the author of "Sex" — — more sensational than Rain or The Captive!" It was Mae West’s intention to give gay characters a voice and a spotlight. The police were lying in wait for her.
• • These true events are dramatized in Act I, Scene 2 of the stage play "Courting Mae West" by LindaAnn Loschiavo. Why not bring this astonishing 95-minute play to your theatre?
• • On Tuesday, 31 January 1933 • •
• • Vaudeville star Elsie Janis dated her synopsis for a "Mae West Talking Picture" for Tuesday, 31 January 1933 — — but the project was deemed unsuitable for Mae.
• • On Tuesday, 31 January 1933 • •
• • Variety ran this article "No Good Women in History, Mae West Says, During Hot Sex Selling Talk."  It was published on Tuesday, 31 January 1933.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West in "Goin' to Town" starts a third week at the New York Paramount tomorrow.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:   "And the police said to me, 'These guys is fairies'."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • A British theatre troupe mentioned Mae West.
• • From 9 – 13 January 2017 Arcola Queer Collective presents
• • THE X — A radical reimagining of "La Prisonnière" by Edouard Bourdet; Directed by Rubyyy Jones — — and — —
• • THE DRAG By Mae West; Adapted and directed by Peter Darney
• • Arcola Creative Engagement presents new productions of two of the most controversial plays from 1920s America; THE DRAG, written by Mae West and directed by Peter Darney . . .  and THE X, a radical reimagining of "La Prisonnière" by Edouard Bourdet, directed by international cabaret and queerlesque star Rubyyy Jones.
• • Both productions were infamously shut down during their inaugural runs in the USA. They confront historic discrimination with sensual, vibrant, and tender depictions of the people directly facing oppression.  . . .
• • Source: Announcement from 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London; posted January 2017
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th 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 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3629th 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 • • "The Drag" police raid • •
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Mae West: Lusty Entertainment

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's enjoy it together. This is Part 20.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • Lusty Entertainment • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:  One of the advertisements called it "Hitting the High Spots in Lusty Entertainment." Nevertheless the film was banned in Australia and faced censorship problems in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland. At the time each state had its own censorship board, putting more pressure on the Hays office.
• • A priest who helped craft the Code, Father Daniel Lord, steamed, "She Done Him Wrong is the filthy Diamond Lil slipping by under a new name."
• • And Sidney Kent, President of Fox Films (soon to merge with a company called 20th Century), perhaps feeling that Paramount was getting away with openly flaunting rules other studios obeyed, wrote Hays that, "It was the real story of Diamond Lil and they got away with it. I believe it is worse than Red Headed Woman. It is far more suggestive in word, and what is not said is suggested in actions."
• • Suggested in Actions • •   . . .
• • This was Part 20.  Part 21 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5 November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Sunday, 30 January 1938 • •
• • "Mae West Is Banned Over Radio" • •
• • ("The Sunday Times" Special Message) • •
• • NEW YORK, Saturday — — The National Broadcasting Company from its headquarters here has issued definite instructions that the name of Mae West must not be mentioned over any station in the network which it controls.
• • It is believed that this is the result of violent objection that followed Miss West's recent appearance, after a four-year absence from the air, in a sketch entitled "Adam and Eve."
• • Source: Sunday Times (Perth); published on Sunday, 30 January 1938.
• • On Wednesday, 30 January 1935 in Singapore • •
• • "Lord Byng at a Mae West Tea-Party — Star Will Be in London for Jubilee Celebration"
• • Lord Byng and Lady Byng joined Mae West for tea and tried to butter her up with some friendly persuasion. The Straits Times in Singapore ran an article with all the particulars on page 6 on Wednesday, 30 January 1935.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "She Done Him Wrong"  had not played more than two or three days before the studio executives realized they had stumbled upon on a gold mine.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'm Mae West, I can't wear the same clothes twice."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • Burt Reynolds mentioned Mae West.
• • Reporter: Who would be your dream dinner date?
• • Burt Reynolds:  I got to know Mae West in the late Seventies. I’d go to her art deco house in Los Angeles, sit on her bed and listen to her talk all day. She died in 1980 at the grand old age of 87. I’d love to have one more night with her, listening to her tales about Hollywood’s golden age.  ...
• • Source: Interview for The Daily Mail (U.K.); published on Friday, 29 January 2016
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th 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 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3628th 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/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml   
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West