Thursday, November 30, 2017

Mae West: Most Sensational

It was on Thursday, 30 November 1933 that a California film critic praised a new movie and its star, MAE WEST.
• • At the Fox Theatre • •
• • Mae West in “I’m No Angel” opens at the Fox theatre on Thanksgiving day.
• • Coming as it does directly from an advanced price run at Grauman’s Chinese in Hollywood, “I’m No Angel” will be shown at the Fox at no advance in prices. It is being brought to San Diego one day early in order that theatre-goers of the city may not only have a real holiday treat, but also that they may be given eight days in which to see the most sensational star of the past fifteen years.
• • Mae West gives a splendid performance — she portrays a colorful character, Tira, a hard-boiled carnival dancer who becomes a New York sensation. On her rise to fame and fortune, she vamps any number of men, finally ending up besieged by her “tall, dark and handsome,” a society millionaire. 
• • She dances the "midway" • •
• • She sings five sensational songs, dances the “midway”— a spectacular variation of that “shimmy” which, we are told, she herself originated; wears lovely clothes, and she scintillates with wit in a hilarious courtroom scene.
• • Source: Coronado Eagle and Journal (California); published on Thursday, 30 November 1933.
• • On Tuesday, 30 November 1948 • •
• • Brooks Atkinson reviewed the New Jersey revival of "Diamond Lil" and his comments were printed in The New York Times on Tuesday, 30 November 1948 (on page 2). The title was "Mae West Hits Montclair" and Brooks Atkinson called Mae West "the goddess of sex."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Go West, Young Man" is from the stage comedy hit, "Personal Appearance" [by Lawrence Riley]. Mae West, in her own way, is excellent in the role Gladys George created on the stage.
• • Gladys George was not hindered by the limitations of screen censorship, hence the play’s sock tag isn’t half as punchy in the film version, nor are other lines or situations up to the same potency.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Nearly all my work is based on true facts."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Australian daily paper critiqued Mae West.
• • Film Review: "Belle of the Nineties" • •
• • It is obvious that the American "purity campaign" or the local censor, or possibly both, have caused the latest Mae West film to be considerably cut down and reshaped.
• • In her last vehicle, "I'm No Angel," it was precisely the audacities of Miss West — — the impertinent way In which she burlesqued the bygone "vampire" of the screen — — that made her amusing. When the moral crusade suddenly reared its head In America, she had already been even more daring in the present picture, as it then stood in the studios. The film went to New York for release. The State censor refused to admit it unless it was modified and retitled. Back it went to Hollywood. The directors of Paramount thought of calling it "Belle of New Orleans" — — an apparently Innocuous name. But the leading citizens of the southern city showed such horror at the thought of Mae West being identified with New Orleans that Hollywood had to think again. It finally emerged with "Belle of the Nineties." …
• • Source: Film Review in The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW); published on Monday, 28 January 1935
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 13th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past thirteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,800 blog posts. Wow!   
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3843rd 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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• • Mae West • in 1934

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