Mae West: Lil Clambake

John Chapman, drama critic for The New York Daily News, was nicknamed “Old Frost Face,” however, his pen warmed up to MAE WEST. Let’s enjoy his review of “Diamond Lil,” published in that newspaper in 1949. This is Part 1.
• • Same Old Mae in Same Old Play — — “Diamond Lil” Is Funnier Now • •
• • John Chapman wrote: Mae West, the most gifted female impersonator since Julian Eltinge, returned Saturday evening in her 21-year-old shocker, "Diamond Lil," and had me and the rest of the Coronet Theatre audience laughing fit to bust, if you'll pardon the expression bust, and chanting "Frankie and Johnny" and other ballads.
• • ”Diamond Lil” is a clambake  with beer • •

• • John Chapman wrote: It's a clambake with plenty of beer, and among those amiably helping to serve the tasty mess are Steve Cochran, Richard Coogan, Miriam Goldina, Charles G. Martin, Sheila Trent and Jeff Morrow.
• • John Chapman wrote: Two members of the original company, Jack Howard and Louis Nusbaum, are back in their roles.
• • Mae West exhibits elastic convolutions • • ...
• • Source: The New York Daily News; published on Monday, 7 February 1949.
• • On Saturday, 24 April 1965 • • 
• • Owney Madden [18 December 1891 — 24 April 1965] • •
• • "So sweet and so vicious," was Mae's character rating for Owney "The Killer" Madden, who died during the month of April on the twenty-fourth day.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Sex that makes all other sex pictures seem puny and pale! Mae West's unabashed performance of a mistress of the Nineties is one of the most startling characterizations seen on the screen this year.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm for peace. I have yet to wake up in the morning and hear a man say, I've just had a good war."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • CNN mentioned Mae West.
• • Dita Von Teese wrote: These [working] ladies of Reading, Pennsylvania, might not have had the wealth of Madame du Barry, celebrated mistress of Louis XV of France, or the fame and freedom of a silver-screen sex goddess such as Mae West. But they sought to elevate their circumstances, to feel lovelier and more fashionable, with a daring pair of knickers.  …
Source: CNN Style; published on Thursday, 29 November 2018
• • 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 4198th 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 • • autographed to Jack LaRue in 1947 • •
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