Mae West: Strong Little Mind

MAE WEST dictated a fanciful retelling of her life to her secretary Larry Lee. The material was reshaped by ghostwriter Stephen Longstreet and published as "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" in 1959. For Mae mavens interested in a factual, insightful account, The Mae West Blog recommends the riveting biographies written by Jill Watts and Emily Wortis Leider. Meanwhile, enjoy these (uncorrected) excerpts below from the pen of Mae West.
• • "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" by Mae West • •
• • Chapter 1: Take the Spotlight — — Part L • •
• • I embarrassed my mother • •
• • Mae West wrote:  Mama got the saleslady to summon a couple of male employees with a huge ladder. While one held the ladder, the other climbed to the extreme top shelf to fetch that particular doll. During all this time many of the store's customers had curiously gathered around to watch what was happening — all this embarrassment to my mother caused by a four-year-old with a strong little mind of her own.

• • Mae West wrote:  Much later my mother learned that the reason for my choice was that that color lilac was my favorite. It still is to this day.
• • To tea with elderly spinsters • •  . . . 
• • To be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The Autobiography of Mae West [N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1959].
• • On Saturday, 12 February 2011 • •
• • Graham Greene's novel “Brighton Rock,” published in 1938 and made into a film nine years later, has now been remade under the direction of Rowan Joffe.
• • Writing in The Australian on Saturday, 12 February 2011, film critic Ben Macintyre offered this background: In 1920s Brighton, gang violence was on the rise, as was the popularity of Britain's southern coastal resorts. Brighton Rock brilliantly captured the seediness of British seaside life between the wars, the tea-shops, the spiv culture and a peculiarly English sort of melancholy. The character of the crook Colleoni in the novel is probably based on Darby Sabini, the "king of the race-course gangs" who ran Clerkenwell's Italian mob and retired to Brighton. The prototype for the barmaid Rose in “Brighton Rock” is thought to be the actress Mae West. . . .
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mr. Cohen, the producer, was elated yesterday over returns being relayed to him from the Paramount box-office. The Mae West picture, he was told at 3:00 P. M., was $4 ahead of "The Big Broadcast of 1936" for the same opening day time.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Personality is the most important thing to an actress’s success."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Motion Picture Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Insiders' Outlook • •
• • Red Kann wrote: These resolutions for the New Year are from the film community: Mae West — To have all censors outlawed. . . .
• • Source: Motion Picture Daily; published on Thursday, 31 December 1936

• • 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 4147th 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
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with her mother in 1927 • •
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