Mae West: Miscegenation

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's pick this up again and enjoy it together. This is Part 50.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • "Frisco Kate" as a motion picture • •  
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:   In the film, Mae is a singer, "The Frisco Doll," in an exotic nightclub in Chinatown, "The House of Chan Lo." It's no secret that she is also Chan Lo's kept woman. As we hear from a customer:   "I hear he is madly jealous of her and he makes every white man keep a respectable distance."
• • the film flirted with the ban on miscegenation • •
• • Right off the bat, the film flirted with the ban on miscegenation — — even though Chan Lo was, in fact, played by Bronx-born character actor Harold Huber.
• • We first see Mae in a wonderful vignette dressed in exotic Chinese garb, playing a long stringed Asian instrument, and singing "I'm An Occidental Woman in an Oriental Mood for Love." Later when she and Chan Lo are alone she tells him she's tired of his domination and the fact that she can't have men friends "of my own race." She decides to escape from him, and with help from her servant she books passage on a ship for Nome, Alaska.
• • can't have men friends "of my own race"  • •   . . .
• • This was Part 50.  Part 51 will appear on Monday.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5  November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Saturday, 24 March 1951 in NYC • •
• • Billboard Magazine ran this item: NEW YORK, March 24 — Monte Proser is negotiating with Mae West to star in a tab version of "Diamond Lil" for his Cafe Theater. If the deal jells, "Lil" will come in to replace the current "Billion Dollar Baby," which is on a week-to-week notice.
• • On Tuesday, 24 March 1970 in Look Magazine • •
• • "Raquel Welch, Mae West Talk about Men, Morals and Myra Breckinridge," on page 45 in Look Magazine's weekly issue dated for Tuesday, 24 March 1970.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • On Saturday, 24 March 1934, the recording of "My Old Flame" performed by Mae West, backed by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, took place.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Nearly all my work is based on true facts."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The United Press mentioned Mae West.

• • "Mae West and Betty Grable — — Choice for Jap Pin-ups" • •
• • The United Press wrote:  Movie actresses Betty Grable and Mae West rank high on the enemy's preferred list of western beauty.   . . .
• • On another Pacific island, a reporter spotted a prominent photograph of sultry Mae West, wrapped up in a fur and lying on a silky throw and signed "come up and see me if you are ever in beautiful California." ...
• •  Source:  Article rpt in The Neosho Daily News (Neosho, Missouri): published on Saturday, 24 March 1945
• • 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 3667th 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 1935 • •
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