Mae West: Lester Dorr

MAE WEST starred in "Go West Young Man" [1936] and Lester Dorr was seen as one of the reporters who are interviewing screen queen Mavis Arden. One odd coincidence is his lifespan was 1893 — 1980, just like Mae's.
• • Born in Boston on 8 May 1893, Harry Lester Dorr was one of the original members of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933.
• • An endlessly busy bit parts player, Lester Dorr launched his Hollywood voyage in 1930. Over time, he was seen in 451 roles on the silver screen and on established TV series. His last two film appearances were as a doorman in "At Long Last Love" [1975] and as Cy, the elevator operator in "Hotel" [1967]. Dorr was regularly seen in sit-coms such as "Green Acres" (as Mr. Collins) and also on dramatic series: "Dr. Kildare," "Burke's Law," "Perry Mason," etc.
• • Lester Dorr died in Los Angeles in the month of August — — on 25 August 1980. He was age 87.
• • On 25 August 1912 • •
• • Mae West was seen on the stage of the New Brighton Theatre in Brooklyn's Coney Island area on this date. The New Brighton always showed top tier vaudeville acts.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West wrote this for her character Mavis Arden: "Don't be modest. Modesty never gets you anything. I know."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A film series at the Castro Theatre will feature Cary Grant but, alas, not his two stellar roles with Mae West.
• • Writing about Cary Grant, Tavo Amador offers this opinion: Either by accident or design, however, hints of his sexual ambiguity are evident in many movies. His leading ladies sensed this and wanted to prove that all he needed was the right woman. In She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel (1933), Mae West, with her drag queen persona, seduced him, making him a star. Women loved watching the heroine get her man. ...
• • Source: Article: "Hollywood's chased romantic hero — — Cary Grant film series plays the Castro" written by Tavo Amador for Bay Area Reporter; posted on 25 August 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2033rd 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with co-star Warren William, 1936 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Mabel Stark

Mabel Stark was the beautiful blonde wild animal tamer who doubled for MAE WEST during some of the big top scenes in "I'm No Angel" [1933].
• • When Jack West took his young daughter to Bostock's Lions in Coney Island, Mae first became aware of beautiful female trainers such as the fearless trailblazer Marie-Louise Morelli, billed as Queen of the Jaguars. Awed by Madame Morelli's smooth command in the cage of her "treacherous pets," the curly-haired little Brooklynite (born in August under the sign of Leo) decided one day she, too, would come face to face with the King of Beasts.
• • Mabel Stark, whose real name was Mary Haynie, was born in Kentucky on 9 December 1889. In 1922, she joined the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus and performed in Madison Square Garden with snarling tigers and a black panther. By the end of that season, of the six wild animal acts featured with the circus, Mabel Stark's was the most popular and she was featured on a poster with her favorite big cat Rajah. At one point in her career, she would face eighteen snarling beasts in the ring.
• • This colorful circus poster from the 1920s shows Mabel Stark with her beloved Rajah, whom she adopted as a mistreated, sickly cub, and shared her home with.
• • During a photo shoot with Mabel Stark, Mae West was asked if she could see herself trading places with anyone and she said: "Yes, it would be this Mabel Stark, the Tiger Girl!" To which Mabel responded, "Fine with me. I'd love to be Mae West!"
• • Unfortunately, in 1968 her employer Jungleland was sold to a new owner who disliked Mabel Stark and fired her. Soon after she left, one of her tigers escaped and was shot. Stark was angry and hurt about the animal's destruction and felt that she could have safely secured the tiger if the owners had asked for her assistance. Three months later, she killed herself by an overdose of barbiturates.
• • In the last pages of her autobiography, Hold That Tiger, Mabel Stark writes: "The chute door opens as I crack my whip and shout, 'Let them come,' Out slink the striped cats, snarling and roaring, leaping at each other or at me. It's a matchless thrill, and life without it is not worth while to me."
• • At the age of 78, in her home in Thousand Oaks, California, Mabel Stark drew her last breath and left the world in April — — on 20 April 1968.
• • Thursday 20 April 1933 is the birthdate of Monte Landis, an American character actor who had worked with Mae West when he played the role of Vince in "Myra Breckinridge" [1970]. We wish the funnyman a Happy Birthday!
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Dr. Birute Regine writes: Some women use the negative gender schemas against them to their advantage. These women play along as if they don’t know what’s going on, when in reality they are five steps ahead of the guys. As Mae West put it, “Brains are an asset, if you hide them.” ...
• • Source: Article: "Why Is It That Women Are Seen As Less Competent?" written by Birute Regine, Ed.D. for Forbes Magazine; posted on 14 April 2011.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 1905th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Mabel Stark in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Rudolph G. Kopp

Original music was written specially for "I'm No Angel" [1933] starring MAE WEST.
• • One of several uncredited collaborators was Rudolph G. Kopp, who worked on more than five dozen projects in Hollywood from 1931 — 1955.
• • Born in Vienna on 22 March 1887, Rudolph G. Kopp composed the score for many cinema stand-outs. His work amplified big screen documentaries, family entertainment, dramas, comedies, mysteries, and more.
• • Rudolph G. Kopp died at age 84 in Woodland Hills, California during the month of February — — on 20 February 1972.
• • Walter Winchell died 20 February 1972 • •
• • Mae West received copious amounts of snarky press coverage for her 1926 show "Sex." For instance, Walter Winchell called it "a vulgar affair ... amateurish in script and cast."
• • Four years later, in 1930, when Texas Guinan was covering the "Pleasure Man" trial, she invited Mae to perform at a fundraiser she was co-hosting at the Imperial Theatre [249 West 45th Street], a spacious playhouse with 1443 seats. Jobless herself, Mae agreed to sing a few numbers to raise money at the "Give a Job Benefit" taking place on 12 April 1930.
• • Rudy Vallee and his orchestra backed Mae as she sang "Frankie and Johnny" and a few other favorites on the wide proscenium stage of the Imperial. Walter Winchell was one of several co-hosts in a group of luminaries such as Texas Guinan, Mark Hellinger, Jack Donahue, and the event's organizer Heywood Broun.
• • A native New Yorker, Walter Winchell [7 April 1897 — 20 February 1972] was a newspaper as well as a prominent radio commentator.
• • While Winchell was at The New York Evening Graphic (whose staff included reporter Ed Sullivan), he invented the gossip column.
• • While still in his teens, natural show-off Winchell was drawn to performing in vaudeville. His career as a journalist began with his fondness for posting gossipy notes about his acting troupe on backstage bulletin boards.
• • During the Prohibition Era, he became a journalist. Walter Winchell, who was a regular at Barney Gallant's Greenwich Village speakeasies and Texas Guinan's midtown clubs, credited his buddies with opening the insider Broadway scene and cafe society to him when he was starting out as a columnist. The gatekeeper of gossip, Texas Guinan claimed that scandals did not officially break unless they broke at her establishments.
• • By the 1930s, he was an intimate friend of ganster Owney Madden, owner of the Cotton Club and a backer of Texas Guinan's nightspots and Mae West's Broadway productions. backers.
• • Always ambitious, Winchell disregarded the media's taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity. He was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could make or break a celebrity. He became influential for decades in shaping public opinion, notoriously aiding and ruining the careers of many entertainers.
• • In his heyday, Winchell's gossip column ran in more than 2,000 daily papers, written with the same frantic pace as his radio show. Fifty-five million radio listeners tuned in to hear his distinctive rapid-fire delivery of his column during the 1940s — 1950s.
• • In the 1950s, Winchell veered away from his leftist sympathies and supported the right-wing Senator Joseph McCarthy. As Joe McCarthy's Red Scare tactics became more extreme and unbelievable, Winchell lost credibility along with McCarthy. He had a weekly radio broadcast which was simulcast on ABC television until he left in a dispute with ABC executives in 1955. An attempt to revive his commentary program five years later proved to be a disaster and Winchell was canceled after half a dozen broadcasts.
• • He did, however, receive $25,000 an episode to narrate "The Untouchables" on the ABC-TV network for five seasons beginning in 1959.
• • His readership gradually dropped. When his home paper, the New York Daily Mirror, for which he worked for 34 years, closed in 1963, he faded from the public eye. He still holds a fascination and several actors have portrayed him on the big screen and on TV.
• • In 1972, Walter Winchell died of prostate cancer at the age of 74 in the month of February — — on 20 February 1972.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • as Tira in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Middlesex

MAE WEST has fans over in Middlesex — — i.e., Middlesex County, New Jersey. And when the Highland Park Public Library kicks off another round of its popular 1930s film series, "Treasures From Hollywood's Golden Age," they will feature a Mae West screen gem first.
• • Dr. Robert Knoll, a film educator, selects and discusses the motion pictures and The Friends of the Library will be sponsoring these events.
• • "I'm No Angel" — — this enduring favorite reunites Mae West and Cary Grant. The durable screen queen portrays a sideshow dancer and a lady lion tamer. Directed by Wesley Ruggles and released by Paramount Pictures.
• • WHERE: The Highland Park Public Library, 31 North 5th Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904; Tel (732) 572-2750.
• • WHAT: "I'm No Angel" (1933)
• • WHEN: Tuesday evening, 1 February 2011 at 6:30 PM. This series continues the first Tuesday of every month (always at 6:30 PM) through the month of June.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: James C. Morton

It was 25 August 1912 when MAE WEST was dazzling the audience who had come to see their hometown vaudevillian at the New Brighton Theatre in Brooklyn, New York. The stage was right off the boardwalk. Years before, the comedienne's father had patrolled that esplanade, a fact that local journalists often mentioned, having encountered Battling Jack walking the beat in Coney Island.
• • Short-tempered policemen, court officers, and judges were not some of the Brooklyn bombshell's favorite folks. But James C. Morton had been cast as all of them during his long silver screen career. In his modest role as an 1890s bartender, James C. Morton had appeared with Mae in "Every Day's a Holiday" [released in the USA on 18 December 1937].
• • Born in Helena, Montana in the month of August — — on 25 August 1884 — — the balding character actor often worked for Hal Roach and, typically, he was the the butt of shenanigans by such comics as The Little Rascals, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, The Three Stooges. As Mae did, he had worked with W.C. Fields.
• • James C. Morton died on 24 October 1942 in Reseda, California.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1937 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: August at The Corner

It was 1912 when MAE WEST got her first major vaudeville break: a spot on the bill at Hammerstein's Victoria in mid-May. At last the scintillating singing comedienne could demonstrate that she was in a league with top-tiered headliners such as Eva Tanguay, Sophie Tucker, Fanny Brice, and Nora Bayes.
• • Later that year, close to her 19th birthday, Mae had been invited back to "The Corner" for a weeklong booking that began on 6 August 1912. She shared the stagebill with several acts — — including Fields and Carroll.
• • Half of the team was Arthur Fields [1888 — 1953] who was born as Abe Finkelstein in Philadelphia in the month of August — — on 6 August 1888 — — and who toured for years with Harry Carroll. Fields was just 11 years old when he turned pro, accepting singing engagements in Utica, New York and then branching out to Coney Island. Around 1908 the ambitious baritone toured with Guy Brother's Minstrel Show, and helped assemble a vaudeville novelty "Weston, Fields, and Carroll." Four years later, the partnership had been paired down to Fields and Carroll. Arthur Fields had his first hit as a songwriter with "On the Mississippi" (1912); he had composed this ragtime music with Harry Carroll, but Ballard MacDonald supplied the lyrics.
• • Mae West heard Fields and Carroll perform their jaunty rag "On the Mississippi" — — 98 years ago today on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. Then "Mae West and Her Boys" sang a few rags and played the bones, minstrel style. Variety slammed their routine, suggesting she return to burlesque since she lacked the refinement necessary for top-drawer vaudeville. Instead Mae once again became a solo act, purchased new material, and kept on trouping.
• • "It's better to be looked over than overlooked," Mae would often say, refusing to hear the nay-saying, and steeling herself to press ever onward. Bravo.
• • Proust said that truth is only a point of view about things. Romain, who is a fairly new toastmaster at the Mae West banquet table, shares his personal tastes with our readers.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • In commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of Mae's burial, French follower Romain Tutak shares his journey into the heartland of Mae West country.
• • Part 2 • •
• • Romain writes: Since the Internet helped me acquire Mae West books and keepsakes, I was often trolling online for more Westiana.
• • The Mae West Color Site • •
• • Since I enjoyed the Color Site so much, I left a guestbook comment back in April 2007. Not long after, a response arrived from the webmaster Martin. He explained that he had developed the web site in collaboration with Ian, another fan, and he'd be happy to answer any questions.
• • Well, the conversation has not yet ended. I am often asking Martin's advice about items to buy. Martin told me about his experiences — — his meeting at Ian’s place filled with mountains of Mae-morablia. He clued me into other motion picture classics such as "Sunset Boulevard" and acquainted me with actresses like Bankhead, or Gloria Swanson. And, playfully, Martin called me a freak because I am so young but have old-fashioned tastes.
• • In 2007, I decided to leave Paris for Toulouse (Southern France) to study Fashion Design in a more affordable school.
• • SURPRISINGLY, this was where I stumbled across many fascinaing Mae West collectibles. No longer did I need to buy online when there were the most curious little shops — — unfortunately, some have since closed — — where I found her LPs and posters. One proprietor, a very kind man in his forties, sold me records at a discount. He'd say, "Because you seem to really like her, and that’s my only chance to sell it…!"
• • It seems to me that my modest collection is not impressive at all. I do not own anything that was hers, for instance. It's quite funny that, even when I was in Toulouse, burdened with tuition and living expenses, I always managed to have some euros to spend on Miss West, for a book, or another LP or a DVD.
• • • • The Lack of a Mae West Fan Club • • • •
• • I think it’s too bad there is no one who cares to maintain an official Mae West Fan Club or even an on-going forum on the Internet dedicated to her. A newcomer such as myself always needs a guide to check things out about Mae West. Despite the Internet, it is still difficult to get RELIABLE information. Internet information isn’t really trustworthy nor are some of the books.
• • Recently, I bought a new Mae West biography, only to discover it was filled with stupid errors; the writer made many careless mistakes, saying she died in 1978 and was buried in California, for example, and he furnished mostly the wrong dates for her films, songs, and shows. With disappointing biographies like this floating around, it becomes even more valuable to be able to check details with longtime fans, people who can answer my questions or verify details — — such as which perfume did Mae wear. Without an official fan club, where reliable information might come from, Mae's fan base is the only source. And I really want to thank these Mae experts. They know who they are and I feel blessed to "know" them.
• • Lack of Legacy Management • •
• • But it is a shame that there is no formal fan club for other reasons, too. These days my main concern is what her legal claimants are doing to keep her legacy, her memory, and her work alive. It does seem like she’s still very vivid as a character in people’s mind in the USA. With the right legacy management, Mae West could be like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean or Audrey Hepburn … though, of course, this was not half of what Miss West was!!! A fan club could help attract new FANS!!! I just don’t understand why they don’t try harder to make that happen.
• • There are plenty of things to do, to spread the word about Mae West, which would bring them loads of money. Let me ask these questions! Where are the unpublished plays?! Where is the Complete Collection of Miss West Movies? LPs? Writtings? Where is the tour operator who could design the ultimate Miss West Hollywood/ New York trip? The Mae West Official Youtube Channel, Facebook page, website (which is not a joke), forum, myspace…?!
• • Despite my being a tyro who still does not know much about her, Miss West has become part of my life. And she will stay a part of it for a long time, and I hope more people of my generation will be attracted to her… so that we’ll keep her work, her image, and her message of tolerance, acceptance, and humor still alive!! Though she is dead, this is not over. Her fascination and her impact will continue. I know this.
Written by: Romain Tutak, Paris, France
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Dreamlands Exhibit

Espace Dali in Paris — — France’s only museum dedicated to Dali — — has lent the iconic MAE WEST Divano [Sofa], created by the Catalan genius during the 1940s, to be part of the "Dreamlands" exhibition organized by the Pompidou Centre, in Paris, which runs from May to August 2010.
• • This French news bulletin also stated: Based on the famous American actress's sensual lips, Dali pays homage to Mae West with this inspired and original artwork. The "Dreamlands" exhibition will be held this summer in the Grand Galerie of the Pompidou Centre.
• • Though it's unclear who named the Parisian exhibit "Dreamlands" or why an American term was selected, this word would have resonated with the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • In May 1904, Dreamland opened in Coney Island. To the right of the Surf Avenue entrance stood a building that Mae West entered, holding the hand of her father "Battling Jack" West. Almost 11 years old, but looking younger because of her petite frame, little Mae was nearly as transformed by the experience as Alice was when plunging into Wonderland.
• • Though Mae's favorite place in Coney Island came to an unfortunate end in May 1911, we wish nothing but the best for the "Dreamlands" extravaganza in The City of Light this summer.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Queen of the Jaguars

An intimate showing of a MAE WEST classic is always a welcome event.
• • And this brings to mind the oddity that not much has been written about the women Mae West admired, for instance, trailblazers such as Amelia Earhart, Texas Guinan, Marie-Louise Morelli, and Mabel Stark.
• • Mabel Stark was the beautiful blonde wild animal tamer who doubled for Mae during some of the big top scenes in "I'm No Angel" [1933].
• • As a child visiting Dreamland with her Dad in 1904, Mae West was dazzled by the fearlessness of Madame Marie-Louise Morelli, who trained leopards, jaguars, and tigers. In advertisements that billed the petite Frenchwoman as "Queen of the Jaguars," the jungle prowlers were referred to as Morelli's "treacherous pets." Awed by Madame Morelli's smooth command in the cage, the curly-haired little Brooklynite (born in August under the sign of Leo) decided one day she, too, would come face to face with the King of Beasts.
• • Born in Kentucky, Mabel Stark [9 December 1889 — 20 April 1968] was America's premier tiger trainer during the 1920s.
• • During a photo shoot with Mabel Stark, Mae West was asked if she could see herself trading places with anyone and she said: "Yes, it would be this Mabel Stark, the Tiger Girl!"
• • See if your eyes are sharp enough to spot Mabel Stark next week in the vintage footage when the Canadian cinema historian Reg Hartt will be screening Mae West's circus film "I'm No Angel" (written by Mae and based on her fond memories of Bostock's lions in Coney Island). Film archivist and celluloid connoisseur Reg Hartt, who will be introducing this screen classic, had also offered Mae West's first starring film "She Done Him Wrong" (based on her stage play "Diamond Lil" with its Bowery setting) until 2 July 2009.
• • About "I'm No Angel," Reg Hartt had this to say: Mae West was a star of such enormous clout that she was able to dictate her desires. She changed forever not only the role of women in the movies but also the way women in real life saw themselves. “When I am caught between two evils,” she said, “I generally take the one I have not yet tried.” This feature film was made in 1933. It was written by her.
• • The Cineforum is the unique movie emporium that Mr. Hartt operates out of his Bathurst Street living room in Canada.
• • Though the Cineforum has existed for the past four decades, it was not until 1992 that it was moved to his parlor. British painter Peter Moore described the intimate, old-fashioned Cineforum as “the most perfect place in the world to watch a motion picture.”
• • WHERE: Cineforum — — 463 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario.
• • WHEN: 7:00 PM on 20 July 2009 [Note: Monday evening only]. Program personally introduced by Reg Hartt.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with Mabel Stark in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Woodhaven

Each time there is a MAE WEST walking tour in The Big Apple, astonished callers (who phone to RSVP) tell the tour organizer(s): "I didn't know Mae West lived in New York!" This summer an upcoming tour in Manhattan mid-August will wind down Chez Mae on the WESTside (and surely you knew this was coming).
• • An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is where baby Mae was born in August 1893. She also hung her hat in Manhattan as well as in an area now called Queens — — but then known as Long Island.
• • Woodhaven, Queens, NY • •
• • The West family moved around a lot. For a few years, they called Woodhaven home; during this period Mae began writing plays and registering her copyright with the Library of Congress from her mother and father's Boyd Avenue address.
• • Leonora Lavan knows all there is to know about Woodhaven, where she was born and bred. She is the president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society [WCHS], which meets regularly, plans events, hires speakers, reprints important historical research and monographs, maintains an archive, and does its share for civic pride.
• • To learn more about the group, and discover the history of one of Mae West's old stomping grounds, read this article: "Marking History A Site At A Time — — Woodhaven Society Continues To Celebrate Area's Past" by Bill Mitchell.
• • Published by The Times News Weekly — — www.timesnewsweekly.com — — Mr. Mitchell's article was a feature story earlier in May 2009.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Warm Up

MAE WEST and Pre-Code cinema go together like a hand and a shake, like a fine French champagne and a crystal flute.
• • Intriguingly written is Erich Kuersten's essay ["Dizzy from the Altitude, Happy to Plummet: Pre-Code Cinema and the Post-Code-Shock Syndrome"] in the current issue of Bright Lights Film Journal — — with its wind-up featuring the wickedly wonderful Miss West herself.
• • Sizing up the modern shorthand of social conventions in motion pictures, Kuersten writes:
• • With the Forbidden Hollywood DVDs and Turner Classic Movies on cable, Hollywood films from 1929 through to part of 1934 — collectively known as "the pre-Code era" — have become more accessible than ever before; since, in fact, the era itself. For film lovers and scholars it's a windfall, but for social critics and anti-social rebels, it's perhaps the most valuable of opportunities to study the way hegemonically-instilled mores were once shrugged aside and how thirty-odd years of "Code" conditioning still leaves its mark today, no matter how permissive cinema appears to get.
• • After the ratings system finally and forever toppled the Code in 1968, mainstream cinema could say whatever it wanted, but even with open-eyed mavericks like Peckinpah and Hopper pushing boundaries, the Code's ghost lingered like an invisible schoolmarm. Bloody westerns might challenge the idea of "good guys and bad guys," but romantic drama and comedy — the bedrock of pre-Code sauciness — still suffered, and more than ever still suffers today, from something we might call Post-Code Stress Syndrome (PCSS). No matter how transgressive many of these films may be, it's in direct relation to a perceived normality and "rightness" of conceptual social mores like the sanctity of marriage and childbirth, etc. A film like Juno, for example, portends to be rebellious and cutting-edge while all the time subverting its message through lauding the conventional wisdom of heterosexual marriage and the "infant uber alles" mentality of the post-Spielberg generations.
• • The thing that strikes me as most genuinely subversive in the pre-Code era is the universally recognized commodification of premarital sex; namely, the expensive diamond bracelet as the symbol of mistresshood, much more lucrative in the short run than marriage and the saddling down with debts and childbirth. . . .
• • Censors will be on us like a Joseph Breen on a Mae West.
• • With so much underhanded conventionalizing, it's easy to forget that once upon a time these social mores were being challenged and disputed, not by our parents but by our grandparents, the ones we think of as the most conventional of all. Perhaps with the help of these great pre-Code films we can once again soar above the clouds of petty morality and remember what true subversion is all about. We'll know when we do, because censors will be on us like a Joseph Breen on a Mae West.
• • What we need to remember is to not give a damn. We need to recognize that the weird submission we feel to a stern patriarchal command is just social conditioning. We shouldn't blame the patriarch; blame the mechanism and learn to laugh off his stern puffery. Mae West never went down, no matter how many mediums they banned her from. Mae West is still subversive today, and thanks to the digital media, she's still out there, tellin' it like it is. It's to our own demerit if we fail to listen closely.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Dizzy from the Altitude, Happy to Plummet: Pre-Code Cinema and the Post-Code-Shock Syndrome"
• • Byline: Erich Kuersten
• • Published in: Bright Lights Film Journal — — www.brightlightsfilm.com/
• • Published in Issue 63 | February 2009 |
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • It was on 5 February 1949 that Mae West's "Diamond Lil" revival debuted at the Coronet Theatre, warming up Broadway audiences.
• • It will be 6 February 2009 when Mae West returns to enchant the Film Forum's ticket-holders for an entirely glorious day of Mae in "I'm No Angel." Film Forum is featuring cheapskate prices. Come up for the laugh fest this Friday. Look for us there.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: 35 Cents

MAE WEST leads the parade of screen gems when Film Forum rolls out the red carpet this coming Friday in Manhattan.
• • This new series — — "Breadlines and Champagne" — — is focused on Depression movies, pre-Code classics, screwball comedies, and the socially conscious plots that worked their way to the silver screen. There will be Prohibition Era treats such as the Tuesday special which is being billed as "Bank Nites."
• • Programmed by Bruce Goldstein, and featuring all 35mm prints, this is the best news since bathtub gin was perfected.
• • The opening night stars Mae West and Cary Grant, in a screenplay written by the Brooklyn bombshell and inspired by her awe of Bostock's lions in Coney Island, which she enjoyed as a child. Those trips to Dreamland with her father created Mae's desire to be a lion tamer — — and in "I'm No Angel" Tira will get her chance to enter the big cage and eyeball the king of beasts.
• • Here is what some critics have said about "I'm No Angel."
• • • • "Mae West was the sensation of 1933. A total delight to watch." — Andrew Bergman
• • • • "Going to help redistribute a nice chunk of the nation's coin. Mae West is today the biggest conversation-provoker, free space grabber and all-around box office bet in the country." — Variety (1933)
• • • • "Arguably West's best film, certainly one of her funniest." — Pauline Kael
• • "There weren't that many films that dealt directly with the Depression," says Bruce Goldstein, repertory director at Manhattan's Film Forum. "But you got a feeling of the desperation — — the lower-class rooms, the spartan look of things. There's an almost palpable atmosphere."
• • "Breadlines and Champagne," Goldstein's upcoming retrospective at the Forum, offers New Yorkers the thrill of enjoying 50 Depression-era movies in new prints. Friday's opening night showcases Mae West's "I'm No Angel," and a 1933 admission price of 35 cents.
• • Why weren't there more of these classics? "Cycles come and go," says Goldstein. "I think people were tired of those Depression-era movies, and the studios wanted to make more escapist entertainment. And after the Production Code came in (in 1934) everything got sanitized — — there were certain kinds of characters and certain kinds of stories you just couldn't do anymore."
• • For the complete schedule, stop by Film Forum.
• • Every Tuesday movie-goers will enjoy the revival of an old-time tradition of giveaways so prepare for some good old-fashion fun.
• • "Breadlines and Champagne" runs from Friday February 6th through March 5 at the Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, New York, NY. Info is available by phoning 212-727-8110 — — or by visiting www.filmforum.org online.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Mrs. Astor's Horse

Stanley Walker's book Mrs. Astor's Horse has an amusing section on MAE WEST — — a personal glimpse that also touches on the criminal acts of Edward Friedman, that brazen thief who stole diamonds from our own Diamond Lil herself.
• • Stanley Walker writes: Before the rise of the lush Mae West, sex in the United States was treated either with extreme seriousness, even to the point of dolor, or it was laughed at and razzed. Mae West — — by adding a slightly burlesque overtone to the by-play between the sexes — — made everybody feel more comfortable except the censors, who felt rather vaguely that there was something wrong in her technique, though for the life of them they never made it clear whether it was because they took her acting seriously or as something amusing. Miss West can invest the simple phrase, "How do you do?" with a sexy quality which is the distilled essence of all the bordellos of all time.
• • One of her best tricks is the way she eyes a man, beginning by staring at his shoes and gradually allowing her gaze to wander up to his neck and face. With her small-waisted figure, her undulating hippy strut, her nasal whine, and her meaty lips, she has made sex a thing gorgeously panoplied — — as it was in the brave and bawdy days of that old minstrel of the boudoir, King Solomon.
• • There are more stories about her, most of them off-color, than ever were told about Pat and Mike. She has taken what is known as woman's priceless possession, added a few circus touches, and put a laugh in the libido.
• • Notwithstanding the impression one gets from her pictures and stage get-up, Miss West is a rather small woman. She is about 5 feet tall and weighs about120 pounds. The most she ever weighed was 136 when she went on a cream and pastry diet to build up for the part of Diamond Lil.
• • She eats almost anything: chopped raw steak, kippered herring, and home-made pie. She is full of vitality and practically immune to fatigue. She does exercises and rides a stationary bicycle in her Hollywood apartment, but doesn't go in for sports. Broadway knew her hair as a brassy gold, but now it is platinum white and very fluffy.
• • Her Hollywood apartment is typical of her character. Her specially constructed front door is of the speakeasy type; visitors are carefully squinted at through a grilled slit by a butler. The color scheme of the apartment is white and gold. All the furniture, including a large grand piano, is white. The drawing-room contains several white sofas upholstered in cloth of gold. Thick bearskin rugs cover the floors. Numerous ash trays in the form of golden swans are scattered about on little tables. Dozens of mirrors are used as wall decorations. She has a gold dinner set from which she and her brother Jack, who lives with her, dine often, served by a Negro butler and maid. The other occupants of the apartment are a monkey named Junior and a small Chihuahua dog.
• • An oversized bed dominates the bedroom. It is white and frilly, with a regal canopy, and stands on a dais carpeted with another white bearskin. A huge mirror is embedded inside the canopy so she can survey her famous figure as she lies outstretched in one of her favorite black lace nightgowns.
• • During her "Sex" and "Diamond Lil" days in New York, her bed was of carved wood with a velveteen canopy of green and gold attached to a six-pointed coronet. A tall pier glass stood opposite the foot of the bed and was adorned with a crest designed by Mae, which bore the legend, "Mae West, Sex, Diamond Lil."
• • She passes most of her spare time in bed and composes most of her dramatic masterpieces there. She used to write scenarios in longhand. But now she calls in a stenographer and dictates. She is said to have a keen appreciation of her body, and likes to stretch out full length in a warm, rose-scented tub and soak.
• • She is particular about her clothes; the skirts must be instep length to bring out the curve of her hips. Her dresses must be tight in the right places, and low-necked. Because of an eccentricity in dressing (she combs her hair and puts on her hat before her dress), her street clothes are made with slits and buttons on the shoulders and down the back. She likes heavy-scented Oriental perfumes, high-heeled satin pumps, and wide-brimmed hats.
• • Miss West is known as an exceptionally shrewd business woman. Her contract calls for two pictures a year, and contains a provision that she must approve all her scenarios. Thus she approves the scenarios written by herself, which she sells for high prices. She never takes a vacation; as soon as one picture is finished, she starts on another.
• • Like the character "Diamond Lil," Miss West is fond of jewelry. For years she delighted In displaying her glittering collection. Her pet piece was a large pendant in the form of a champagne bottle covered with blue-white diamonds.
• • One night in September 1934, three men with guns stopped her automobile and robbed her of her diamonds, worth $17,000 — — including the champagne bottle, and $4,400 in cash.
• • Criminal Edward Friedman
• • One of the robbers, Edward Friedman, was caught, convicted, and sentenced to twelve years in San Quentin prison. Edward Friedman's uncaught pals have threatened to throw acid in her face, so she is guarded wherever she goes. The guards even follow her to the Catholic church near her home — — where she goes almost every morning. The religious touch in her nature is illustrated also by a vigil light in her apartment which is never extinguished.
• • Miss West likes to go to prize-fights, and follows the work of the pugilists with the eye of an expert. Her father was Battling Jack West, a Brooklyn middle-weight. Between fights in the summer, he worked as a bouncer in a Coney Island dance hall, and in the winter he threw out the rowdy ones at Fox's Folly in Brooklyn.
• • Miss West's mother was Matilda Dilker West, a French actress reputedly of Jewish blood, who died in 1930. Battling Jack, who became a chiropractor, died in Hollywood in 1934. Miss West is fond of fighters, and tries to give as many of them as possible parts in her productions. At the prize-fights Miss West is usually accompanied by James Timony, a large red-faced man who has been associated with her since 1926. From time to time somebody starts the rumor that Timony and Miss West are married, but there has never been any proof of a wedding.
• • Timony, a Broadway lawyer with theatrical interests, organized the Morals Production Company, which produced the play "Sex." It was pretty well known at the time that the principal financial backer was Owen Madden, New York's veteran racketeer, but he naturally remained in the background. Owney was a great admirer of Miss West's playwriting ability, and with his friends regarded her as an authentic artist. In 1927 Miss West, Timony, and Charles W. Morganstern, associated with the production, were indicted for staging an indecent performance, "Sex." At the trial, Jim Timony took a rosary from his pocket and fingered the beads in prayer. It was no use. With Miss West and Charles W. Morganstern, Timony was fined $500 and sentenced to ten days in jail.
• • The private life of Miss West has been the subject of many legends and conflicting rumors.
• • In the spring of 1935 a boondoggler in the Middle West, going through some old records, found that she had been married in 1911 to a fellow actor, Frank Wallace. Now, there was a Frank Wallace who played with Miss West as a singing waiter in "Diamond Lil," but he died in 1933. Another Frank Wallace, who said he was the original bridegroom, turned up on Broadway. He was a vaudeville actor and broke. For a few weeks he tried to cash in on the glamorous fact that he had once been the husband of Mae West, and then he dropped back into obscurity. Miss West, although confronted with the evidence, steadfastly denied that she had ever been married to Wallace.
• • When pressed about her private life, she takes one of Jimmy Walker's phrases and says, "I will match my private life with any woman's."
• • She is known for flip remarks. It is said that once, when refusing an Invitation to attend a luncheon given by the Los Angeles Minute Men, she said . . . .
— — Source: — —
• • Chapter: SEX COMES TO AMERICA
• • MRS. ASTOR'S HORSE
• • By STANLEY WALKER
• • With a Foreword by NUNNALLY JOHNSON
• • With fifteen reproductions of photographs and an Index
• • [New York: FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY, MCMXXXV]
• • COPYRIGHT, 1935, BY STANLEY WALKER
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Bostock's Fan

The Pre-Code MAE WEST is the best.
• • if you still have not seen the classic “I’m No Angel” on the big screen, this Sunday is your chance.
• • In this screen gem — — inspired by Bostock's lion exhibit in Coney Island that she adored as a little Brooklyn girl — — Mae West is a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. And she wants Cary Grant. Again. The bold Tira works as a hootchie-cootchie dancing beauty and a lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent need of money, she agrees to a risky new number — — she'll put her head into a lion's mouth.
• • The intrepid Mae West did all her own stunts in the lion's cage, too.
• • When: At 2:00 pm on Sunday, 21 September 2008.
• • Where: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art [4420 Warwick Blvd. Kansas City, Missouri 64111 — — T: 816-753-5784.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1933 • •
NYC
Mae West.

Mae West: Jack Bonavita

MAE WEST could never forget the summer of 1904.
• • In May 1904, Dreamland opened in Coney Island. To the right of the Surf Avenue entrance stood a building that Mae West entered, holding the hand of her father "Battling Jack" West. Almost 11 years old, but looking younger because of her petite frame, little Mae was nearly as transformed by the experience as Alice was when plunging into Wonderland.
• • For years, Mae talked about, and thought about, the impression Bostock's lions left on her. The lead lion tamer was Captain Jack Bonavita. Born in Philadelphia in 1866, his muscular frame and courage - - not to mention his sleek military garb, knee-high boots, and sinister moustache - - made him popular with the ladies. Actress Marie Dressler, then working a concession at Coney Island, caught Bonavita's act as often as she could. And it was an unparalleled performance that the 38-year-old trainer gave with his 26 trained lions.

• • Mae's fixation on Jack Bonavita and Bostock's lions inspired her to do "I'm No Angel," in which she fulfilled a lifelong dream of being inside the cage with the king of beasts. Born under the sun sign Leo, Mae felt destined for this - - and she insisted on performing her own stunts. The film begins with Mae riding an elephant. How many other 41-year-old actresses are eager to take risks like that?
• • Dreamland burned to the ground on May 1911.
• • Frank Bostock died, after a bout with influenza, in October 1912.
• • From 1913 -1917 Jack Bonavita focused on filmmaking, working as a stunt man, a director, and an actor. His silent films always co-starred wild animals and some of the lion or jaguar tamers he had worked with at Bostock's Circus. A few flickers he starred in were: "Avenged by Lions" [1916] and "The Woman, the Lion, and the Man" [1915].
• • Mae's hero Jack Bonavita died in the month of March from a polar bear attack at age 51 on 19 March 1917 in Los Angeles, California.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • lion lady • • 1934
NYC
Mae West.