Mae West: In the Castro

Octogenarian Tony Curtis has the fondest memories of his many legendary co-stars including his favorite fellow New Yorker MAE WEST.
• • According to the Bay Area Reporter, the aged matinee idol shared an amusing memory of the iconic Mae West, with whom he worked in the notorious Sextette (1978). The sex goddess was then 87 years old, and still strutting her stuff!
• • "I played a Russian ambassador," he recalled. "We shot in her very opulent 'boudoir,' but she made her environment work. My call was for 8 a.m. Miss West came in, looked at her clothes, had breakfast, and was dressed by 11 a.m. But before she could shoot, she had to have her enema! I lived 20 minutes from the studio, and would have them call me when the enema was beginning, so I wouldn't have to sit around all morning!"
• • When Tony Curtis [born as Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York on 3 June 1925] takes to the stage of the Castro Theatre on 18 November 2008, he will share these memories and many others.
• • "A Tribute to Tony Curtis" — — live on stage, plus film screening & book signing: Tuesday, 18 November 2008 at 7 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.
• • Tickets will be available at A Different Light Books (489 Castro Street), San Francisco.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Byline: David Alex Nahmod
• • Published in: Bay Area Reporter [Issue: Vol. 38 / No. 46 / 13 November 2008]
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Tony Curtis

Octogenarian Tony Curtis is not dead yet — — and on Tuesday 18 November 2008 he will be dishing about MAE WEST and others.
• • In San Francisco, the Castro impresario Marc Huestis will be teaming up with the Mill Valley Film Festival to present a special tribute to the once handsome film legend at the venerable Castro Theatre — — featuring Tony Curtis live in person, being interviewed by Jan Wahl.
• • Here's the event forecast — — Tony Curtis [born as Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York on 3 June 1925] will be coaxed into sharing intimate details about working with such icons as Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, and Frank Sinatra. The event will offer the attendees film clips, surprise guests, a screening of "Some Like It Hot," and a presentation of the MVFF Award for Lifetime Achievement. Afterward, Tony Curtis will be in the Castro lobby signing copies of his new book: American Prince — A Memoir.
• • Event info: (415) 863-0611.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Playful

In March 1921, MAE WEST mailed her slim playscript "The Ruby Ring" to the Library of Congress. At 20 pages, this manuscript was more of an extended "sketch" than a play. Gloria, the female lead, is a man-trap who is able to pick the gents off with ease.
• • Her parents were living in Woodhaven, New York during 1921 [705 Boyd Avenue] and Mae used this Queens/ Long Island address when she registered the copyright.
• • In 1922, 29-year-old Mae added a full-length play — — "The Hussy" — — to these Washington, DC archives. Nona, the female lead, likes generous fellows who demonstrate their devotion to a gal by dropping jewelry on her.
• • Nona says: "Most men value you by what they spend on you."
• • Joking that she was never a gold-digger, Mae West liked to say: "I take diamonds. We may be off the gold standard someday."
• • But speaking of little gems, here's a true story from Mae West's neighbor Vinny, who was born in 1925 and who still lives in Woodhaven on 89th Street — — around the corner from where she lived. For years Vinny has been trying to take a picture inside Neer's, a saloon where Mae West used to perform, and also a photo of Mae's former residence which is a block away from his own 19th century dwelling.
• • "Mae always spoils my photo," he laughed. "Either she blanks the entire roll on me or she pulls another prank."
• • Like what?
• • "Well, last winter after a snowfall, Mae's house looked so picturesque with the trees covered in white. Around noon it was sunny and absolutely clear when I took my photo. But when the film was developed, there was interference in front of the house as if a storm were raging," explained Vinny. And on the left, there was a strange orb of light in every frame. It seems like she's watching and resisting me."
• • "I like two kinds of men," Mae used to say, "domestic and foreign." However, she said nothing about amateur photographers.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: "Dirt" Plays

During December 1925 and January 1926, MAE WEST and her collaborator Adeline Leitzbach were expanding a sketch "Following the Fleet" into a three act play under the working title of "The Albatross." The action followed Margy LaMont, a prostitute from Montreal’s red light district as she traveled to Trinidad and the well-helled mansions of Westchester County, New York. Energized by her bold waterfront vixen, West revealed that ideas flowed forth — — and covered paper bags, stationery, envelopes, and old scraps of paper that she forwarded to Timony’s secretaries for transcription. It was a sprawling band concert of a narrative, a might busy and messy story with the center act given over to a musical night club frolic.
• • Eventually, this 3-act drama was retitled.
• • In her play "Sex," Mae West broke with Broadway's middle-class moralities and the fey tradition of "off-shore sex" by making sin a domestic product. She set her brothel scenes not in the South Seas but squarely in North America (Canada); the final scenes were set in tony Connecticut.
• • During Prohibition, sin was in and the Gay White Way was no exception, noticed Mae.
• • The rialto was frequently overrun with crowd-pleasing "dirt plays," shows such as John Colton's "Shanghai Gesture" [Martin Beck Theatre, 1926], starring Florence Reed in the role of an Oriental madam Mother Goddam — — an occidental overlord who presided over an elaborate bordello with specialty suites such as the Gallery of Laughing Dolls. Other examples were "The Half Caste" [1926], "White Cargo" [1924], and "Lulu Belle" [1926].
• • Sin, however, had a black syntax. The subtle subtext of the "dirt play" was retribution. All of these theatre pieces obeyed an unwritten rule: fallen women had to suffer and repent. And these exotic tanned temptresses were always positioned in foreign lands — — Samoa and the South Pacific being popular as the pants seat of Satan's circus.
• • Theatre-goers were in for other surprises, though, when "Sex" by Jane Mast debuted at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on 26 April 1926.
• • According to Brooklyn College Professor Lillian Schlissel, "Sex" was an amateur effort with echoes of O'Neill's "Anna Christie." . . . But no playwright had ever attacked "respectable women" from the stage before. Margy accuses Clara, the "society lady," of being a whore in disguise. "She's one of those respectable dames who . . . is looking for the first chance to cheat without being found out." And later, "I'll bet without this beautiful home, without money, and without any restrictions, you'd be worse than I have ever been. . . . The only difference between us is that you could afford to give it away." Margy goes on, "I'll remember this night as long as I live. And if I ever get a chance, I'll get even with you, you dirty charity. I'll get even." Margy's anger is one of the startling apects of the play." [From Three Plays by Mae West edited by Lillian Schlissel, N.Y.: Routledge, 1997].
• • Before Mae West's play was closed down by the New York City cops, urged into compliance by the non-uniformed "purity police" (i.e., The Society for the Suppression of Vice), "Sex" had run for 339 performances — — and been seen by over 300,000 adults.
• • Get ready to come up and see Mae onstage during July 2008.
• • "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets" is based on true events during 1926-1932 when Mae West was arrested and jailed for trying to stage two gay plays on Broadway.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Illustration: Michael DiMotta • • Mae West star of SEX • • 1927 • •
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Mae West : 9 November 2007

Come up and see MAE on 9 November 2007 — — in California.
• • In 1925, the beautiful Stanford Theatre opened, serving for decades as Palo Alto's premier movie house. A roster of the best classic films can be found here. And on Friday 9 November 2007, they will be showing a double feature of two black and white films released in 1933.
• • In "I'm No Angel," Mae West plays a cooch dancer and a lion tamer named Tira, who tells Cary Grant "Come Up and see me sometime — any time."
• • It's billed with "Rafter Romance." Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster co-star as people who share a Greenwich Village apartment on different shifts who fall in love outside the place's walls. Robert Benchley guest stars.
• • The Stanford Theatre Foundation is dedicated to bringing back the authentic movie-going experience of Hollywood's Golden Age. Classic Hollywood directors never intended you to watch their pictures on a video screen in your living room (or while jogging). The magic of the movies depends on a larger-than-life image and the shared reactions of a large audience.
• • The Stanford Theatre: 221 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA — T: (650) 324-3700
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Among Woodchucks

A derelict Vermont vaudeville palace — that once hosted luminaries as MAE WEST, Harry Houdini, and Jimmy Durante — underwent a $3.7 million renovation and will reopen this weekend with a production of "The Phantom of the Opera" performed by a local group.
• • Chairman of the theater restoration committee William Lockwood said the theater was built in 1927, after the first 1870 Town Hall burned down in 1925. The Bellows Falls Opera House had been booking variety acts before its conversion to a movie house.
• • Despite its original name — Bellows Falls Opera House — local historians said it was doubtful that the Colonial Revival structure was known for such high-class fare. It is believed that many of the earliest ticket-buyers were travelers, since folks had to change trains in Bellows Falls.
• • Where are the WOODCHUCKS? Shucks. A Vermont native is known as a "woodchuck."
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West: Burt Reynolds

In the last years of her life, when MAE WEST had an accident and was admitted to a hospital, her companion told the press that the actress had such an exciting dream about sexy Burt Reynolds that she had tumbled out of bed. In reality, the sad situation was that Mae had had a small stroke that caused her fall.
• • Born in 1936, the one-time Cosmopolitan Magazine pin-up turns 71 on February 11th.
• • Since 1988 Burt has had a little museum to call his own in Jupiter, Florida.
• • The Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum calls itself the largest celebrity museum in the Sunshine State.
• • Burt's living mausoleum - - in a former bank off the Intracoastal Waterway in Jupiter, about an hour north of Fort Lauderdale - - may have been a side trip for any roadsters en route to Super Bowl XLI. Not only is Burt a film star, he was once a sports figure.
• • Burt played football for the Florida State Seminoles. He starred in the classic 1970s football films "The Longest Yard" and "Semi-Tough." He was also famously featured in "Deliverance," shot in the Okefenokee Swamp on the border between Georgia and Florida.
• • The museum contains pictures of MAE WEST, Bette Davis, and Dinah Shore.
• • In the "Striptease" section of the museum, his co-star Demi Moore writes, "Burt, whatever it takes I'm going to get you!"
• • A 1983 autographed picture from Frank Sinatra says, "Dear Burt, why don't you cheer up and have a good time?"
• • If you are getting away from the winter chill in New York or the New England area, you can visit Burt Reynolds and Mae West in Jupiter.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1925 • •
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Mae West.