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 75.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • The supreme irony: the skit had been used before! • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote: The supreme irony is that the skit was penned by radio writer Arch Obler and had been used on the show before, with no outcry. Yet it was Mae West who now took most of the flak. Years later Edgar Bergen said, "The net result was that our rating went up to the highest we ever had. Our only mistake was that we were 25 years ahead of our time."
• • To further compound the irony, Emanuel Cohen had adhered to the recommendations from the Hays office regarding "Every Day's a Holiday" without putting up a fight. He had sent Breen a letter stating, "I think you will find we have complied with all of your changes suggested . . . If there are any other changes you desire, I assure you we will be only to happy to comply."
• • Paramount Was Not Waiting for a Cool-Off Period • • . . .
• • This was Part 75. Part 76 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 Wednesday, 28 April 1926 • •
• • On Wednesday, 28 April 1926, Variety (usually hostile to Mae West and nasty) took an early stand against the play "Sex," which had just opened on Broadway.
• • Variety wrote: “Mae West … has broken the fetters and does as she pleases here. After three hours of this play’s nasty, infantile, amateurish, and vicious dialog, after watching its various actors do their stuff badly, one really has a feeling of gratefulness for any repression that may have toned down her vaudeville songs in the past. If this show could do one week of good business, it would depart with a handsome profit, it’s that cheaply put on.”
• • Phooey on you, Variety. Unstoppable "Sex" not only sold out its premiere but it also offered 385 performances with general admission tickets sold for $3.50. According to Mae West, orchestra seats were $10.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Alexander Schupack, who has been personal photographer for Mae West, returns to the coast next month under a three-month contract to do additional work for Paramount. He recently came back from Hollywood after making more than 100 new stills of Miss West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Keep cool and collect."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Film Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • "The motion picture is a social power and, as such, a responsibility," said Mrs. Thomas G. Winter. "Reports furnished by club women in Hollywood are published in 200 newspapers and posted in libraries and schools. The greater mass of people have better judgement than
that young so-called intelligentsia who have influenced some pictures."
• • Speaking of divergences of opinion, Mrs. Winter said that she liked "Reunion in Vienna" but that her husband preferred Mae West. ...
• • Source: Item in The Film Daily; published on Thursday, 12 April 1934
• • 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 3692nd 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 • • "Sex" in 1926 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
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 74.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • a campaign to clean up radio • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote: The Legion of Decency debated whether to start a campaign to clean up radio. Congressman William Connery of Massachusetts demanded an investigation into radio. Chase and Sanborn apologized for the program, as did the president of advertising giant J. Walter Thomson, saying in part, "we can assure the public at large that this same mistake will not be made again."
• • The New York Sun intoned "on Sunday such a broadcast represents an all-time low in radio." Mae's name itself was banned for a time from all NBC radio programs. The Hearst press was quick to praise the ban, hailing it as "proper protection for the homes of decent Americans." To sum up, Variety said, "Radio is badly scared and will lock the barn door."
• • The supreme irony: the skit had been used before! • • . . .
• • This was Part 74. Part 75 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source: Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine; issue dated 5 November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Thursday, 27 April 1911 • •
• • Ah, the Folies Bergere. Vaudeville mogul Jesse L. Lasky had built his Parisian-style cafe and cabaret on a Louis XIII scale. Located at 206-214 West 46th Street [opened on 27 April 1911], it was in a prime position within kissing distance of two well-known Broadway theatres: the Globe and the Gaiety.
• • Eighteen-year-old brunette Mae West got her first big break when she was cast in the legitimate show "A la Broadway" at New York's Folies Bergere Theatre. Ned Wayburn (Mae's former dancing teacher), who was staging this, pulled her in. The lavish revue premiered on 22 September 1911 — — and lasted for eight performances.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • As Mae West told us to pass the word along today, "Boys, you're the only men [i.e., Laemmle, junior and senior] in my life I have never tried to wrong. Have a good time in Hollywood. It ain't no sin."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the courtroom as any other stage."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Film Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • C. Paul Baker of Loyola University here, disagreed with most of the resolutions by the Catholic crusade. He said films had no evil effect on him and that he would go to Mae West pictures whenever possible. ...
• • Source: Item in The Film Daily; published on Thursday, 12 April 1934
• • 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 3691st 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 1911 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
