Mae West: Output Compromised

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 46 of 68.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Excessively compromised • •
• • “GO WEST, YOUNG MAN” (82 mins, 1936) • •
• • Mae West’s role was Mavis Arden • •

• • Andy Goulding wrote: While the iron grip of the Hays Code had certainly affected Mae West’s output more visibly since 1934, she had managed to continue making films that still had enough of her persona and ideas behind them to be unique and entertaining.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: With “Go West, Young Man,” Mae West seems excessively compromised for the first time.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Based on a play by a male playwright rather than one of her own works, West’s adaptation struggles to combine the material with her own strengths.
• • Mae West: The main attraction • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Wednesday, 24 November 1976 in Australia • •
• • An article "The Two Hidden Faces of Mae West" appeared in The Australian Women's Weekly on Wednesday, 24 November 1976.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Will Hays wrote to Adolph Zukor about "She Done Him Wrong" on 23 November 1932.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Gold goes up and down and so does everything else. But there'll always be dames wanting diamonds, and guys to buy them for them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Stanford Daily mentioned Mae West in a "midnight" show that actually started at 11 pm.
• • Coming on Saturday — — Mae West in "I'm No Angel" — — Midnight show — — Saturday at 11 pm — — Stanford Theatre ...
• • Source: The Stanford Daily; published on Thursday, 23 November 1933
• • 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 5,100 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,125th 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 • • in 1936 • •
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Mae West: Paramount’s Papers

It was the MAE WEST motion picture, “Belle of the Nineties” [1934] that helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator, according to the authors of “The Dame in the Kimono.” What a fascinating insider’s look. This is Part 3 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: Manny Cohen agreed to consider revisions to her script • •
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Manny Cohen probably waved the Paramount receivership papers in Breen’s face, argued that the company needed the box office bucks, and (since the sessions could turn thunderous) damned Breen and the Code to hell.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Breen could insist that “Belle” — not he — posed the problem.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: He could also wave papers in Cohen’s face, for one Rabbi Goldberg had recently “attacked Jewish movie producers who bring disgrace upon the Jewish people.”
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Finally, Manny Cohen agreed to consider some cuts, then asked Breen to withhold a formal letter of rejection.
• • Mae West: How to outsmart and outwit the Code • •  …  
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code” by Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons [University Press of Kentucky, Paperback; 6 July 2001].
• • On Friday, 13 April 1934 in Film Weekly • •
• • It was on the issue dated for Friday, 13 April 1934 that Mae West appeared on the cover of Film Weekly (Vol. 11) in the United Kingdom.
• • On Friday, 13 April 1934 in The Hollywood Reporter • •
• • Headlines in The Hollywood Reporter read: "Mae West Orders Bullet-Proof Car."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • An interview with Mae West appeared in the men's magazine Club. The issue was dated April 1978 and the byline was Ellis Nassourin.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "He's the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: Hollywood — Mae West is still saying, "Come up and see me sometime." But the traffic isn't as heavy as it once was. It has been a long time, you know. …
• • Source: Syndicated column rpt in Racine Journal Times Bulletin; published on Sunday, 12 April 1959
• • 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 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,971st 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 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Breen and “Belle”

It was the MAE WEST motion picture, “Belle of the Nineties” [1934] that helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator, according to the authors of “The Dame in the Kimono.” What a fascinating insider’s look.  This is Part 2 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: Her opinion of “Belle” • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: “Belle of the Nineties” would become the last Mae West picture to escape the full force of the Breen scissors.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: In June 1934, with even some industry supporters exasperated with Hollywood, Breen drove to the Melrose Avenue studios to meet with Emanuel Cohen, William LeBaron, and three other Paramount officials.
• • Mae West said “Belle” was “not a good story” • •

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Mae West said that "Belle's" script “not a good story because they [Breen and company] made me make it three times before I found out what they wanted.”
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Despite the purported script changes, the picture remained a warm broth of sex, crime, and Mae West that Breen told the producers he could not and would not approve.
• • Mae West: Manny Cohen agreed to consider revisions • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code” by Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons [University Press of Kentucky, Paperback; 6 July 2001].
• • On Friday, 12 April 1929 in The N.Y. Daily News • •
• • In her popular syndicated column "Texas Guinan Says" Texas had playfully mentioned her friend: "Mae's a good girl at heart — — but she's got a bad heart."
• • Source: The New York Daily News, on Friday, 12 April 1929.
• • On Saturday, 12 April 1930 • •
• • The Wall Street crash in 1929 destroyed the financial security of many families in the entertainment industry. Broadway star Mae West entertained in New York City at the Give-a-Job Benefit on Saturday, 12 April 1930 with many other well-known performers.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Record N.Y. Paramount Run" • •
• • By holding over for a fifth week, Mae West's "Goin' to Town" sets the long-run record at the New York Paramount, it was pointed out yesterday by Moris Morros, managing director. Previous record of four weeks also was held by a Mae West film: "I'm No Angel."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I have been a legend from the very beginning of my career."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Madera, California paper reviewed a film starring Mae West.
• • Madera Theatre: Mae West on Same Program • •
• • "Venez me voir, comme ci, comme ca, quelque fois.”
• • In English it’s just plain old, “Come up and see me some time.” But in her latest picture, “Every Day’s a Holiday," Mae West is Mademoiselle Fifi, an importation fresh from the music halls of Paris who sweeps New York off its feet.
• • Mae this time is a dark-haired belle of La Belle France, speaking the language of the Boulevardiers, doing a scene from "Camille” after the manner of the divine Sarah Bernhardt, representing the land of the Arc de Triomphe, Lafayette, the Champs Elysees, and the Popular Front!
• • But Fifi is only a disguise for Mae, the toast of the Bowery, whose habit of selling the Brooklyn Bridge brings her into conflict with the New York police. …
• • Source: The Madera Daily Tribune; published on Thursday, 7 April 1938
• • 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 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,970th 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 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Prime Target

It was the MAE WEST motion picture, “Belle of the Nineties” [1934] that helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator, according to the authors of “The Dame in the Kimono.” What a fascinating insider’s look. This is Part 1 of 9 parts, a brief excerpt from their 416-page book.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Roman Catholics referred to Breen as “our man.”
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Father Lord wanted Hays to unleash the Production Code watchdogs, to add “those teeth about which he so loudly talked in times past” and have a “reliable man” make them bite.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Joe Breen, whom Father Lord recommended, was ready.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: On May 12, Breen announced that the superintendent of Catholic schools in southern California had suggested that local club women “boycott unwholesome and immoral motion pictures.”

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: He would not allow “Belle of the Nineties” to become the prime target.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: An indifferent Paramount had produced “Belle” to snare audiences that had flocked to “She Done Him Wrong” and “I’m No Angel.”
• • Mae West: Her opinion of “Belle” • •  ...  
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code” by Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons [University Press of Kentucky, Paperback; 6 July 2001].
• • On Tuesday, 11 April 1911 in Milwaukee • •
• • Mae West’s Marriage Certificate Found • •
• • According to Time Magazine: Myrtle Lorraine Sands, a young woman who used to work in Los Angeles, where she had fun spotting film folk in public places, is now in charge of re-indexing the records of births, marriages and deaths in the office of the County Register of Deeds, Milwaukee. One day last fortnight, when she happened upon Marriage Certificate No. 40553, Myrtle Sands's eyes bulged, her heart jumped. The certificate proclaimed the union of Frank Wallace and Mae West, of Brooklyn, N. Y., April 11, 1911... [Time, 6 May 1935].

• • Mae West and Frank Wallace (Frank Szatkus) tied the knot on Tuesday, 11 April 1911. However, when confronted by the newsmen, Mae had claimed they did not live together.
• • Mae described herself as a kiss-less bride.
• • Shortly after, Wallace wed another woman and Mae married the Italian accordionist Guido Deiro.
• • After a lot of legal wrangling, bids for alimony and $1,000 a month "maintenance" (by penniless Frank), and heaps of bad publicity, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace divorced officially on Thursday, 23 July 1942.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West hails from Brooklyn and she is neither old nor young. Frankly, Mae's ageless.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "All my motion pictures have made big money."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Newspaper coast to coast covered Mae West’s indignation over acid threats on film stars.
• • Note: Mae West had shown her agitation and anger in numerous news interviews she gave following the threats about acid being thrown in her face.
• • As one example, Mae West told the news media: "It's time someone in Hollywood — — speaking very frankly — — showed what is known as intestinal fortitude. They threaten us in the picture colony under penalty of having acid thrown in our face. And they don't stop at acid threats either. They threaten to kill. It's time someone called their hand. And if it has to be me, I'll do it."
• • Mae West announced that she would acquire an armored limo to protect Jim Timony and herself. …
• • Source: Associated Press rpt by The Leader-Post [Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada]; published on Saturday, 24 February 1934
• • 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 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,969th 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 • • costumed in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: 10 Suggestions

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's enjoy it together. This is Part 29.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • What was the new code? • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:   Though meant to be the equivalent of The Ten Commandments, the studios still thought of them more as The Ten Suggestions, and were generally seen by Hollywood as a way of placating the pressure groups while still controlling their own destinies (and bend or break the rules where and when they could). A Catholic Cardinal later stated it bluntly, "We believed we were dealing with moral gentlemen" meaning the studio heads. "We were mistaken. To them it was just another scrap of paper." However 1933 saw a new voice joining the chorus for more censorship, and it came from the feds. The newly elected Roosevelt administration launched the New Deal, which not only declared war on the Depression, but also, through The National Recovery Act (NRA), contained a code for movie makers. Published in Variety, this code proposed a clause maintaining "the right moral standards in the production of motion pictures."
• • stricter direction • •     . . .  
• • This was Part 29.  Part 30 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5  November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Wednesday, 13 February 1924 • •
• • On 13 February 1924, The Varsity Eight recorded their version of "Hula Lou."
• • In January 1924 Sophie Tucker had discovered this gem and she recorded it with Miff Mole on Okeh Records.
• • Though Mae West didn't get a chance to record it, she made "Hula Lou" part of her act and was featured on song sheets in 1924. The lyrics are very well-suited for her stage persona.
• • On Saturday, 13 February 1971 • •
• • Mae West was the cover girl on Nieuwe Revu (in the Netherlands), a magazine dated for Saturday, 13 February 1971, Issue # 8.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was found guilty and given a short prison sentence and a stiff fine. These events are dramatized in the stage play "Courting Mae West."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:   "I don't like myself — — I'm crazy about myself."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An article on the literature of love nodded at Mae West.
• • Maureen Dowd wrote:  In "My Little Chickadee," Mae West rolls her hips and eyes and goes with arithmetic. "A man has $100 and you leave him with $2," she lectures a class of schoolchildren. "That's subtraction." ...
• • Source: Column: "Love Lit 101" written by Maureen Dowd for The N.Y. Times; published on Sunday,  13 February 2005
• • Note: The image is from the hilarious wedding scene and Mae's expression says it all.
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3638th 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 • • in 1940 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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