Mae West: Best Film?

MAE WEST came to the attention of Tinseltown ninety years ago in 1932. Step into the Time Machine with me for a long, leisurely ride. This is Part 15.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Which is her best film? • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: But is “She Done Him Wrong” West’s best film?

• • Andy Goulding wrote: To my mind, definitely not.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: There is much to admire here, from director Lowell Sherman’s evocative opening scenes of the Bowery of the 1890s to the handsome barroom setting.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: But it is, of course, Mae West who provides the bulk of the entertainment value.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Icy cool but with a greater sense of human vulnerability layered in, West’s diamond-encrusted saloon singer Lou is a more well-rounded character than in “Night After Night” (1932) where Mae West played an entertaining but one-note Maudie Triplett, the bawdy ex-girlfriend of bootlegger Joe Anton (George Raft).
• • Mae West: Sex positivity and immortal one-liners • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Sunday, 30 September 1934 • •
• • Noted film critic Andre Sennwald wrote an article "Lines for a Mae West Scrapbook." It was published in The New York Times on Sunday, 30 September 1934.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Born in Philadelphia in September 1943, singer, dancer, and actress Toni Basil was part of the uncredited cast in "Myra Breckinridge" [1970]. Toni had a bit part as a cigarette girl wearing bright red ribbons. Did you spot her?
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm just as busy when I'm not making my latest motion picture in Hollywood."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Nation, a magazine, defended Mae West on Wednesday, 30 September 1931.
• • "In Defense of Mae West" • •
• • Their erudite columnist Joseph Wood Krutch appreciated Mae's "personality" and, though he felt her current Broadway play was "simple-minded, lurid, and crude," Krutch emphasized that it was better than many other plays "because it is at least not dull with that discouraging, anemic dullness characteristic of half the respectable plays produced on Broadway.  It is dramatically as sound and intellectually as respectable as a play like Belasco's 'Lulu Belle' which ran for a year in one of our temples of art."  
• • Joseph Wood Krutch concluded "if someone will arise to proclaim in appropriate style that 'they ain't done right by our Mae,' I, for one, will whistle and stamp my feet."
• • Joseph Wood Krutch applauded Mae West as an antidote to Mrs. Grundy and Anthony Comstock. …
• • Source: The Nation; published on Wednesday, 30 September 1931
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,093rd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Mae onscreen in 1933; Toni Basil in 1970 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: A Hot Time

MAE WEST came to the attention of Tinseltown ninety years ago in 1932. Step into the Time Machine with me for a long, leisurely ride. This is Part 14.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: “Diamond” was banned from the suggested titles • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Titles that included the word ‘Diamond’ were also banned in order to play down the film’s links with the 1928 play written by Mae West.
• • “Mae West gives a ‘Hot Time’ to the Nation” • •

• • Andy Goulding wrote: Still, the film’s poster promised “Mae West gives a ‘Hot Time’ to the Nation” and West’s reputation in the entertainment industry was already sufficient that audiences knew exactly what to expect.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Ultimately, the enormous success of “She Done Him Wrong” saved Paramount Pictures from bankruptcy [sic] and the 66-minute film found itself nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, securing its place as Mae West’s most famous film to this day.
• • Mae West: Which is her best film? • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Tuesday, 29 September 1914 • •
• • The newspaper the Philadelphia North American reviewed the more prominent variety artists who were performing onstage in the City of Brotherly Love on Tuesday, 29 September 1914. The arts critic thought well of Mae, who was then calling herself "The Original Brinkley Girl." When he referred to her stage act, he called her a "nut comedienne."
• • On Friday, 29 September 1933 • •
• • It was on Friday, 29 September 1933 that Mae West signed the Release Dialogue Script form for her very successful motion picture project "I'm No Angel" for Paramount Pictures. Mae West was paid for the film's treatment, story, and screenplay.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is negotiating for a comedy cartoon series, "Pretty Mae," which would feature her voice behind a cartoon caricature of herself. Her only previous TV appearances have been the 1958 Oscar telecast in Hollywood and a "Red Skelton Hour" three years ago.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I have to go to the safe deposit box and get the stuff out, and that's a lot of trouble."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Mail in London mentioned Mae West.
• • Roger Lewis wrote: Mae West did her best to get around the bans with innuendo: ‘Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired.’  ...
• • Source: The Daily Mail [U.K.]; published on Wednesday, 26 September 2013
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,092nd 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • poster in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Censors Objected

MAE WEST came to the attention of Tinseltown ninety years ago in 1932. Step into the Time Machine with me for a long, leisurely ride. This is Part 13.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Censors objected • •
• • “SHE DONE HIM WRONG” (66 mins., 1933) • •
• • Mae West’s role was Lady Lou • •
• • Note: Mae West’s 3-hour melodrama “Diamond Lil” gets about 15 minutes of screen time here.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: Mae West’s triumphant debut in “Night After Night” practically guaranteed her a starring role in her next film and it was fitting that this role be one of her own creation.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: “She Done Him Wrong” is based on West’s successful, controversial Broadway hit "Diamond Lil" and while it is very much a pre-Code film, censors still demanded many changes to reduce elements of West’s liberated take on female sexuality.
• • Mae West: “Diamond” was banned from the suggested titles • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Saturday, 28 September 1974 • •
• • The colorful Mae West room in Dalí Theatre and Museum opened on Saturday, 28 September 1974.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • It was in early September 1933 that Paramount’s film crew had called it a wrap for "I'm No Angel" starring Mae West and co-starring Cary Grant.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Charlie Chaplin, by the way, has sex appeal. That may seem far-fetched but think it over. He has it, which is one of the secrets of how he remains in favor.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A reviewer in Time covered a play by Mae West.
• • "The Theatre: New Plays in Manhattan" • •
• • "The Constant Sinner" • •
• • Time's critic wrote: Three seasons ago Mae West's lusty singing of "Frankie and Johnnie" and the nostalgic flavor of bar and brothel scenes made "Diamond Lil" a Broadway hit. In "The Constant Sinner," which Mae West wrote from her own novel, the bars and brothels are Harlem in 1931, and Mae West does not sing. But "The Constant Sinner" is no tame play, nor is it a dull play.  ...
• • Source: Time Magazine; published on Monday, 28 September 1931
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,091st 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onscreen in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Dares the Camera

MAE WEST came to the attention of Tinseltown ninety years ago in 1932. Step into the Time Machine with me for a long, leisurely ride. This is Part 12.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Dares the camera to lust after her • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: While this remark has passed into legend, I’d say it is wholly inaccurate since the cameras are the first and most important thing that West claims as her own.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: She doesn’t so much make love to the camera as dare it to lust after her from afar. It’s a gambit that pays off in spades.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: From the first moment Mae West emerges from a throng of clamouring men, the lens practically fogs up.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: A star was born and condensation would soon line the sleeves of every cameraman who worked with her.
• • Mae West: Censors objected • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Thursday, 27 September 1934 • •
• • A review of "Belle of the Nineties" appeared in the Boston Herald on this date.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The much heralded "Belle of the Nineties," starring the screen's most famous siren, Mae West, is dated as per its title and the piece is appropriately attired and staged, representative of the gallant southland of the gay and naughty nineties. Duke Ellington's orchestra also appears in the picture.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I am opposed to nudity, crudity and vulgarity in all forms. I provide healthy entertainment to the movies because I have never taken sex seriously. I 'kidded' it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on football mentioned Mae West.
• • "SEC football success punted Mae West Week festivities 09/27/98" • •
• • The Times-Union wrote: Who in Fairfield Stadium that long-ago October afternoon could have imagined the social, economic, cultural and, yea, spiritual, force that the SEC would become? Remember, this was a town whose next big deal was Mae West Week. ...
• • Source: The Times-Union; published on Sunday, 27 September 1998
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,090th 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 • • onscreen in 1932 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest