Mae West: Sordid Realism

MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 48 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: To avoid “sordid realism” • •  

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: This Gay Nineties setting, however, worked not only as a camouflage for “sordid realism” that the Hays Office and the SRC worried about, but also as a perfect backdrop to present West’s voluptuous body as a standard.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: The intertitle after the opening credits reads: “A lusty, brawling, florid decade when there were handlebar on lip and wheel — and legs were confidential!”
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Only a few minutes into the film, this statement makes it clear that we are about to see plenty of feminine curves in this film, which is quite easy to tell for those with knowledge of women’s fashion in the 1890s.
• • Mae West: A woman’s legs were confidential • • ...    
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Friday, 24 December 1937 • •
• • "NBC Bans the Name of Mae West from the Airwaves" • •
• • "Joking References to Adam-Eve Skit are Barred" • •
• • New York, Dec. 23. [AP] Word went out from the National Broadcasting Company today to keep the name of Mae West out of all programs over which it has control.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Roustabout" would surely be "a Mae West picture with Elvis as her stooge,” Col. Parker shouted at Hal Wallis.
• • Elvis was bitterly disappointed to learn that Mae West was out, with the role going to Barbara Stanwyck instead.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Santa Baby, come and trim my Christmas tree."
• • Mae West said: "I never think about age. I'm health-minded. If you take care of your health and you're interested in positive thinkin' you'll be okay."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Cheat Sheet featured an article on Mae West.
• • Why Did Mae West Turn Down a Role in a Movie with Elvis Presley? • •
• • Laura Dorwart wrote: But when called upon to act in the 1964 film Roustabout alongside Elvis Presley, West turned the role down. According to Elvis Presley’s former bodyguard, Sonny West, here’s why she was so opposed to acting with the King. …
• • Source: Showbiz Cheat Sheet; published on Sunday, 24 January 2021
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,894th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • at home • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest