Mae West: Wet Wits

Did MAE WEST write this witty line?  Or was it Robert Benchley?
• • Cocktail maven Jeff Burkhart wrote: “You ought to get out of those wet clothes and into a dry martini,” is a classic trope uttered online, in print, in cinema and all the time in bars, especially when it is raining outside. And if you haven’t noticed, it’s raining outside. Who said it and when is often a topic of debate — — but the bigger debate might be: what exactly was meant by a “dry” martini?

• • Jeff Burkhart wrote: Many people think of the quip as uttered by actor — humorist Robert Benchley (grandfather of Peter Benchley, who authored both “Jaws” and “The Deep”) to Ginger Rodgers in the 1942 movie “The Major and the Minor.”
• • Jeff Burkhart wrote: But that line is actually, “Why don’t you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?” which has a different connotation. The original line was said by a man, Charles Butterworth, to another man, Charles Winninger, in the 1937 film “Every Day’s a Holiday,” written by and starring Mae West.
• • Jeff Burkhart wrote: Let that thought digest for a second. Mae West certainly had a wicked sense of humor.   . . .
• • Source: Marin Independent Journal; published on Tuesday, 5 March 2019.
• • On Wednesday, 28 March 1927 • •
• • In March 1927, in reaction to the Broadway aspirations of Mae West's play "The Drag," the New York State Legislature passed a law banning all depictions of homosexuality on the stage.
• • "Sex" (written by Mae West) had already run for 339 performances • •
• • The full-length stage play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes the trial and other matters leading up to it — — and, of course, the colorful aftermath.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Menger was San Antonio's most popular hotel in the 19th Century. Mae West along with O. Henry, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Babe Ruth, Oscar Wilde, and others were known to frequent the bar and hotel.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Tell the truth if it hurts, gentlemen, but don't bruise yourself badly."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Broadway World mentioned Mae West.
• • “Women Vaudeville Stars” by Armond Fields • •
• • Mae West, Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore and Helen Keller are perhaps among the best known women to appear on vaudeville stages. Each came to vaudeville by a different path and with a different offering: Mae West entered vaudeville with a song and dance routine when she was 13 years old.
• • Source: Broadway World; published on Wednesday, 20 March 2019
• • 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 4179th 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 • • "Every Day's a Holiday," 1937 • •
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