Mae West: Another Conquest

MAE WEST is back onscreen. This assessment of her first starrer, by Dennis Seuling, is Part 3 of 13 segments.
• • Mae West:  Role reversal scenes with Cary Grant • •
• • Dennis Seuling wrote: She is driven in an open horse-drawn carriage, flaunting a fancy period gown, a gigantic hat, a parasol, and glittering diamonds dripping from her hands, wrists, and neck.
• • Dennis Seuling wrote: The scenes between Grant and West are especially effective, with typical male-female roles reversed. He’s the innocent, she’s the predator attracted by his youthful good looks. Lady Lou is convinced she can add the missionary to her long list of conquests.
• • Dennis Seuling wrote: The plot is thin and serves primarily to showcase West and give her plenty of opportunities to drop her signature one-liners, which are highlights. She sings three songs — I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Gone, A Guy What Takes His Time, and Frankie and Johnny — sashaying onto the saloon stage between nonchalantly figuring out how to deal with problems that would overwhelm less powerful women.
• • Mae West: Created characters who were in charge • • . . .  
• • Dennis Seuling's review continues on the next post.
• • Source: The Digital Bits; published on Friday, 28 May 2021.  
• • On Thursday, 15 July 1937 • •
• • "Husband Frank Awed to Silence by Mae's Words" • •
• • On Thursday, 15 July 1937, the Daily Illini reprinted this item: Frank Wallace, the original Mae West fan, came to town tonight, seemingly awed to super-silence by the pie curve queen's acknowledgement that he was her husband, and vague about what he was going to do about it .    . . .
• • "Mae West," sighed Frank Wallace. "There's only been one love in my life — — that's her."
• • July 2004: Mae West Blog launches • •

• • What are we up to, writing about the Brooklyn-born bombshell for 17 years now?
• • We’re here to keep Mae mavens up to date, correct errors, celebrate each revival of a play she wrote, post the latest Westian stage and book reviews. And answer our fan mail!
• • The light’s still on. Come up and see Mae every day.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • As Mae West might say, “He who hesitates is a damned fool.ˮ
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm not married. I'm still a bachelor girl — and that's all there is to it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Criswell Predicts mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West ― "Criswell Predicts" (2:49) • •
• • Spenser Thompson wrote: "Bob Thompson went on a tour with Mae West as her bandleader. Bob was not a fan of her music or persona, but was in need of a job. Mae believed in the spiritual world, and would not shake hands with people because she was afraid of 'spirit transmission.' (As my mother put it, "She shook everything else!"). She was the Madonna of her time. In fact, my mother was on the tour, too, and could not come within 100 feet of Mae because the latter wanted to be the center of attention."
• • Spenser Thompson wrote: "If you have seen the film Ed Wood, you may remember the character Criswell, a TV psychic operating out of KTLA in LA in the late 40s-50s. This was the same man Mae saw for her spiritual needs. She wrote lyrics on a napkin and Bob wrote the music, holding his nose." ...
• • Note: Robert  “Bob” Thompson [24 August 1924 ― 21 May 2013]
• • Note: Jeron Criswell Konig [7 August 1907 ― 4 October 1982] was known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell
• • Source: WFMU's Beware of the Blog; posted on Thursday, 2 August 2007
• • 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 4,700 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,778th 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 • • in 1934 • •
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Mae West: Kooky Criswell

MAE WEST appeared in a successful long-running engagement on Broadway in "Sometime," a musical comedy.
• • It was on Saturday, 4 October 1918 that "Sometime," the "musical comedy of commerce" designed to showcase the talents of laughmeister Ed Wynn, had opened at the Shubert Theatre (establishing a nice healthy wartime run that continued for eight months at the Shubert brothers' flagship: 225 West 44th Street, New York, NY).
• • At 25 years old, Mae West was still much more accustomed to appearing in vaudeville than in the legit. In "Sometime," it was Mae's character Mayme Dean who appeared onstage first. At that point in her career, Mae had often been cast as an Irish maid — — although Mayme Dean is a frisky flapper who cannot land a man.
• • In October, Let's Remember Criswell • •
• • Born in Princeton, Indiana on 18 August 1907, Jeron Criswell King wrote several books of (erroneous) predictions, including 1968's "Criswell Predicts: From Now to the Year 2000." In it, he offered very strange predictions about Mae West. For instance, he foretold her rise to President of the United States, whereupon she, Criswell, and George Liberace (the brother of showman Liberace) would take a rocket to the moon. According to Criswell, he and Mae West were "great friends" and he claimed that she would lavish him with home-cooked food she had delivered to the studio that he shared with Maila Nurmi ("Vampira").
• • Mae, who used Criswell as her personal psychic, sang a song called "Criswell Predicts" on the album "The Fabulous Mae West" [1955].
• • Criswell died of cardiac arrest in Burbank, California in the month of October — — on 4 October 1982. He was 75 years old..
• • On Monday, 4 October 2010 • •
• • In Granada, Spain on Monday, 4 October 2010, it was the fifth anniversary of the Mae West nightclub there, a popular hotspot. The venue planned for a lavish celebration "at a truly gigantic level," according to their announcement last year.
• • The Mae West Blog featured the Mae West nightclub when it first opened its doors. Happy Sixth Anniversary to Spain's Mae West Club.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I’ve been things and seen places.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An essay about women's sexuality mentioned Mae West.
• • Linda Jaivin writes: The two concepts, the alleged virtue of women and their lack thereof are intimately related. Ever since Eve copped the rap for getting her and Addie thrown out of Paradise, women have been forced to protest 'I'm not Eve! I'm not Eve! I'm a good girl.' The ladies doth protest too much, methinks. Give me Mae West any day. She's no lady, and I much prefer her attitude: 'A hard man is good to find.' 'I was Snow White ... but I drifted.' . . .
• • Source: Essay: "Women Love Sex” written by Linda Jaivin for Random House; posted in 1997
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2073rd 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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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Shubert Theatre in 1913 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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Mae West.

Mae West: Criswell

During her live stage show (featuring a dozen bodybuilders), MAE WEST would sing "Criswell Predicts [and It's Gonna Come True]." Well, who goes to Las Vegas seeking the truth?
• • Now and then a prediction by Charles Jared Criswell (a.k.a. Jeron Criswell King) — — known by the single name Criswell — — would be accurate. For instance, he stated in 1963 that something would happen to President John F. Kennedy in November of that year that would prevent him from running for re-election.
• • More often his forecasts sounded outrageous such as his announcement that his friend Mae West would win a presidential election in the United States and land on the moon with Criswell and George Liberace (the pianist's brother).
• • A syndicated columnist, radio, and TV personality, Criswell was born in August — — 18 August 1907 in Princeton, Indiana and became intrigued by the media while working for a local newspaper as a teen.
• • By 1965, Criswell was a regular guest on The Tonight Show (with both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson) making his silly predictions.
• • He died at age 75 on 4 October 1982.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: Psychic

During the 1950s, MAE WEST developed a professional relationship with two men who were born (like Mae) in the month of August — — but who didn't take tea together.
• • In 1955, while working on her new album The Fabulous Mae West, Mae West recorded a rather lame song — — "Criswell Predicts" — — about a rather lame psychic.
• • Who's this Criswell character?
• • All but forgotten, Jeron Criswell King [18 August 1907 — 4 October 1982], who was born Jeron Criswell Konig, was known by his stage-name The Amazing Criswell. Criswell was Mae's personal psychic for awhile. Curiously, Criswell was most famous for his inaccurate, bizarre, and hilariously improbable predictions. One prediction was that Mae West would be president — — another forecast was that Mae West would fly to the moon with Liberace.
• • "Criswell Predicts" was written — — at Mae's request — — by Bob Thompson [a native Californian who was born on 22 August 1924 in San Jose].
• • In the mid 1950s, Bob Thompson toured with Mae West and her entourage of musclemen. Impressed by Bob, Mae West demanded that he be her piano teacher.
• • After building a musical reputation playing with a big name like Mae West, Bob Thompson got his big break in 1958 with a record deal from RCA. Thompson was signed alongside Esquivel, Billy May, Nelson Riddle, and a crop of other musicians destined to be Hollywood stars.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
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Mae West.