Mae West: Took the Bait

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 82.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • needed Mae's name for marquee value • • 
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:  Her role was that of a famous Broadway star, Fay Lawrence. The first scenes that were filmed featured two musical stage numbers. Backed by the Xavier Cugat orchestra, Mae sings "I'm Just a Stranger in Town" and "Hello, Mi Amigo" ("If you want things in order, come and see me south of the border"). But it was only after the performances were filmed that she learned she was not the main character, and would only get a little over 20 of the 89-minute running time.
• • "I took the bait!" • •
• • "Gregory Ratoff was the fisherman . . . and I took the bait," she later admitted.
• • Its plot was sketchy and confusing, dealing with a manipulative Broadway producer out to sabotage his competitor.
• • Cleaning up The Great White Way • •   . . .
• • This was Part 82.  Part 83 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, 9 May 1937 in The L.A. Times • •
• • Usually supportive of Mae, Sidney Skolsky vented his frustrations in The L.A. Times on Sunday, 9 May 1937.  Skolsky wrote about the perfidiousness of Mae's denials when "she insisted that she was leveling with the press when she told them she had never been married to Frank Wallace."  He said he did not trust her any longer. Ah, those pesky retractions about husbands and trips to the altar.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Phillip Reed, Mae West's tall, dark and handsome, is the son of a former Prussian cavalry officer.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "It takes two to get one in trouble."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen mentioned Mae West.
• • "Dorothy Kilgallen Reports on Broadway" • •
• • "Mae West Muscle Men Troubled by Amour" • •

• • Dorothy Kilgallen wrote: Members of Mae West's night-club entourage are bracing them selves for an explosion — — over love, naturally. Jealousy has flamed between two of the muscle men in her act — — Chuck ("Mr. California") Krauser, who was her favorite of last year, and Mickey ("Mr. Universe") Hargitay, in whom she has displayed recent interest. ...
• • Source: "Mae West Muscle Men Troubled by Amour" by Dorothy Kilgallen, syndicated columnist, printed in Lakeland Ledger; published on Tuesday, 8 May 1956
• • 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 3699th 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 • • at a NYC airport with Paul Novak in 1956 • •
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