Mae West: A Quippy Line

How the powerful spell of a MAE WEST classic from 1940 united the young and the old at a screening in L.A. was beautifully analyzed by Nina Young. Let’s hear more. This is Part 8, the very last segment.
• • After Dark: Old-school film ‘My Little Chickadee’ unites generations under classic cinema • •
• • a pipe organ was originally employed alongside silent films • •
• • Nina Young wrote:  Listening to Torres expertly play the pipe organ — — which has more than 2,600 pipes and was originally employed alongside silent films — — drew the audience into the past through songs such as “Honeysuckle Rose” and even adapted modern ditties like “It’s a Small World.”
• • Nina Young wrote: I, for one, was unaware that comedy shorts preceded feature films in early Hollywood playhouses; at the Old Time Music Hall, the audience enjoyed a “Popeye the Sailor” cartoon called “King of the Mardi Gras” before “My Little Chickadee.” What’s more, I never expected all the audience members to enthusiastically sing along with the lyrics projected on the venue’s screen, belting out songs such as “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
• • Nina Young wrote: During the singalong, I heartily joined in the wholesome experience, and upon hearing my own unfortunate singing voice in the darkness, I tried to remember Mae West’s quippy line from the film for comfort: “Honey, I’ve never been embarrassed in my whole life.”
• • Source: The Daily Bruin (a student newspaper at UCLA, Los Angeles); published on Tuesday, 20 November 2018.
• • On Monday, 11 December 1939 in Hollywood • •
• • W.C. Fields sent Mae notes and script suggestions. Often these musings did not make it into the "My Little Chickadee" script.
• • In a note dated Monday, 11 December 1939 — — Dressing Room, Fields wrote:
• • Dear Mae, Eddie [Sutherland] told me that you asked him if I had any suggestions for the finish. This is it. The finish leaves us just the two of us at the end of the picture with no attempts at comedy or wise cracks from either of us. I think it will leave a nice human, homey feeling in the audience's mind. . . .
• • However, this vague, unfunny conclusion Fields sketched out was rather toothless and too wispy to be used. Wiser heads prevailed.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The role of Norma Desmond was initially offered to actress Mae West, who rejected the part.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My advice to those who think they have to take off their clothes to be a star is, once you're boned, what's left to create the illusion?”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Guardian mentioned Mae West.
• • Sex: the play that put Mae West in prison returns to New York • •

• • Charlotte Burns wrote: A key feature of the “Sex” readings will be the special events taking place after each performance. Jacobson and Sarkady have invited guests to take part in talk-backs, such as the artist Juniper Fleming – who has previously directed, produced and performed in an all-sex worker revival of Sex. “We wanted to walk about the history of the play and the issues around it, so the talk-backs are a huge part of what we want to do,” Jacobson says. Other guests include the historian LindaAnn LoSchiavo, an expert in Mae West; the feminist poet Maya Osborne; and the burlesque dancer Veronica Varlow. “We’re really trying to honor Mae West’s trail-blazing legacy by putting this stage play in context,” Jacobson says. . . .
• • Source: The Guardian; published on Thursday, 29 September 2016
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/

• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4102nd 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 • • "Sex" in 1926 • •
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