Mae West: Simple, Unaffected

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 64.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • President of Superfine Productions • • 
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:    We're treated to more over-the-top melodramatics as she tells her fans she's really just like them, "I often say to my producer, Mr. A.K. Greenfield, President of Superfine Productions Incorporated, please, oh please, let me play a part that expresses the real me, a simple, unaffected country girl. If you, my dear public, could only come up and see me in my little Eye-talian Villa in Hollywood I'm sure you'd be disappointed in the dullness and simplicity of my life there."
• • Talk about acting!
• • The juxtaposition between the two speeches cleverly shows the often thin line between actors and roles, and the self delusions of some stars. At this point, the film seems to be setting us up for a smart and comical look at Hollywood vanity, with Mae poking fun at her own image.
• • This strong start falters • •  . . .
• • This was Part 64.  Part 65 will appear  tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5  November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Friday, 13 April 1934 • •
• • It was on the issue dated for Friday, 13 April 1934 that Mae West appeared on the cover of Film Weekly (Vol. 11) in the United Kingdom.
• • On Friday, 13 April 1934 in The Hollywood Reporter • •

• • Headlines in The Hollywood Reporter read: "Mae West Orders Bullet-Proof Car."
• • Here's the article: When a gangster threatens Mae West, she believes him. So, in addition to having a couple of bodyguards since she testified against the man who stole her jewels, she has now ordered an armored car to protect the precious lives of herself and Manager Timony. The armor-plated limousine will cost $13,500, of which $7000 goes for the safety element. Non-breakable glass and shields to protect the tires will be used, and not even machine gun bullets will be able to crash their way in.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was so upset today at further threats, following her recent prosecution of jewel thieves, that she was obliged to call off work on her new picture.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A British newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • David Barnett wrote: It might have been subtitled "Fifty Shades of White." Or perhaps it could bear Mae West's classic line as a cover quote: "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." It's a slim, undemanding read, but loads of fun and very saucy with it.   . . .
• • Source: Review by David Barnett for The Independent [U.K.]; published on Saturday, 13 April 2013
• • 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 3681st 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 • • with Gary Cooper in 1934 • •
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