Mae West: Sex Is Good for You

"Sex is good for you," says MAE WEST. And an interview published in The Australian Women's Weekly went with that provocative opening when they printed a profile of the controversial star. "I've never had anything to worry about," Mae assured the Aussie reporter. "It's always been success, success, success." This feature appeared on page 29 in the issue dated Wednesday, 31 July 1974.
• • In July 1997 • •
• • "Three Plays by Mae West: Sex, The Drag, The Pleasure Man" was published on 24 July 1997. It is a very interesting book assembled and edited by Lillian Schlissel, who also includes material from the original trial transcripts. Every Mae maven should get a copy.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "There are no good girls gone wrong — — just bad girls found out."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • On 1 July 1934, the censorship rule book (outlined in the Production Code) began to be seriously and meticulously put into effect. One person especially focused on was the comedienne Mae West.
• • Dear Mr Cohen, We have received the yellow script, dated July 29, 1937 ... for your production titled Mae West Musical, and I regret to be compelled to advise you that, in its present form, the material is not acceptable under the provisions of the Production Code. It is likewise enormously dangerous from the standpoint of political censorship . . . .
• • Source: Excerpt from a longer letter sent to Emanuel Cohen by Joseph Breen, who wrote to Paramount's studio head on 6 August 1937
• • 17 July 2004 — 17 July 2011 • •
• • In mid-July the Mae West Blog celebrates its seventh anniversary. Thank you to all those Mae-mavens who come up and see Mae every day.
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2008th 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 • • 1937 • •
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Mae West: December Men

Joe Breen ran MAE WEST through the ringer and robbed her scripts of vigor.
• • Once the Brooklyn bombshell was under contract to Paramount Pictures, Joseph Breen, "the Hitler of Hollywood," took a hatchet to all of Mae's scripts and ripped the fun out.
• • Joseph Breen died at age 75 during the month of December — — on 5 December 1965. It is doubtful that Mae West attended his funeral.
• • In December let's remember . . . • •
• • Versatile actor Paul Harvey hailed from Sandwich, Illinois where he was born on 10 September 1882. The dapper six-foot-two leading man enjoyed success on Broadway, creating several memorable roles from 1916 — 1933. When he went out to Hollywood, he was cast in nearly 180 motion pictures. Fans will remember him as Donovan in "Goin' to Town" [1935].
• • Paul Harvey died at age 73 due to a coronary thrombosis in the month of December — — on 5 December 1955 — — in Los Angeles, California.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: The Plot Sickens

It was seventy-five years ago and a humid summer in Tinseltown was heating up even more for MAE WEST, who was dealing with a serious attack of Hays fever.
• • A newspaper article published on Wednesday 11 July 1934 in the Midwest indicated that worrisome tom-toms from the West Coast chiefs were getting louder.
• • According to the national news desk in 1934: A selection of title for Mae West’s latest film has assumed headache proportions. The film first was called “It Ain’t No Sin” — — but the studio dropped it at the suggestion of the New York censors.
• • In other words, Hollywood's Hitler, Will Hays (a former Postmaster General) was harnessing up a less elastic film code more constricting than Diamond Lil's corset.
• • Will Hays to Mae West: "Honey, the plot sickens . . . • •
• • New York City based Time Magazine [issue dated 1 July 1934] ran a feature called "Movies' Moral Crackdown" by Richard Corliss — — alongside a splashy photo of a costumed Mae West.
• • Richard Corliss summed it up like this: "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!" a hatcheck girl says to Mae West, who purrs, "Goodness had nothin' to do with it, dearie." That line, from West's 1932 "Night After Night," embodied the saucy spirit of early talkies. Now that Hollywood could speak, it did so in the tart cadences of fast-talking men and faster women. This freedom created fresh stars (James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow) and a sexual impudence that riled the burghers of propriety.
• • In 1934 the potent Roman Catholic lobby formed the Legion of Decency to rate films. Soon after, Will Hays, the industry's political and moral arbiter, called on Joseph Breen, a prominent Catholic, to enforce a rigorous production code. Studios rushed to sanitize some projects (West got married at the end of Belle of the Nineties) and dump others (MGM had to wait 12 years to film The Postman Always Rings Twice). Moviegoers that summer Sunday may have been shocked by the sudden absence of shocking dialogue and situations.
• • But filmmakers evolved a new "code," one that traded starkness for subtlety, noted Time Magazine. Audiences quickly learned this covert language in which a woman's knowing smile was its own double entendre, and a kiss was never just a kiss. ...
• • "Goodness had nothing to do with it!" was a well-worn comeback Texas Guinan often used in her speakeasy when teasing her high-rollers, whom she always called "Suckers!" Her friend Mae West, who often visited Texas's midtown nightspots, borrowed the quip for the 1932 hatcheck scene which took place in a speak.
• • Here's another example of Mae tossing off a famous Texas Guinan echo: In the 1933 motion picture "I'm No Angel," Tira [Mae West] does her hootchy-cootchy act, and two ruffians exclaim, "ELEGANT! Now that's elegant!" Tira teases her hungry-eyed on-lookers: "Am I making myself clear, boys?" But as she exits, Tira mutters: "Suckers!"
• • • • Mae West and Texas Guinan Tour in mid-August • • • •
• • 2009 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 16 August 2009, the Annual Mae West Walk reunites the two film icons and Broadway roust-abouts. This August the entertaining, informative birthday celebration of the actress-writer, which will begin at Shubert Alley and proceed uptown to Mae's WESTside apartment, is called "Gaudy Girls on The Gay White Way: Mae West and Texas Guinan in the Theatre District." These tours are always accompanied by vintage illustrations, memorabilia, and rare photos that show how the buildings, vaudeville houses, billboards, Playbills, and blockfronts looked when Mae West was there. Surprises are in store.
• • • • Mae West Walking Tours You Might Have Enjoyed • • • •
• • 2006 TOUR: Our regular Mae-mavens will recall seeing the historical exhibition "Onstage Outlaws: Mae West and Texas Guinan in a Lawless Era,” which opened to the public after a Gala Roaring-20s theme Press Preview on Mae’s birthday 17 August 2006. And on Sunday afternoon 20 August 2006, more than two dozen beautiful people gathered on West Ninth Street to enjoy a special treat — — "Washington Square Women: Mae West and Texas Guinan in Greenwich Village" — — followed by a Jazz Era brunch served with champagne and the Cos-MAE-Politan cocktail, garnished with two strategically placed plump raspberries.
• • 2007 TOUR: On Friday evening 17 August 2007, a fascinating guided adventure — — "The Mae West Side Story" — — escorted numerous intrepid walk-abouts to three of Mae's former residences along with other sites linked to the Brooklyn bombshell.
• • 2008 TOUR: On Sunday afternoon 17 August 2008, the captivating Diamond Divas led a group of over two dozen Mae-mavens to several locations in Greenwich Village linked to her stage career, gay themes, courtroom woes, and the work of individuals she admired such as Lillian Russell, Tony Pastor, Texas Guinan, Eugene O'Neill, and Rae Bourbon. The 2008 walking tour — — "Mae West's Walk on the Wild Side" — — celebrated the 115th birthday of the Empress of Sex with an extravagant musical program, performed live by Met Opera soprano Marlena de la Mora and Sharon Weinman, which included these numbers: "Everything's Coming up Mae West"; "Mon Coeur S' Ouvre a Ta Voix"; "The Prisoner's Song"; "Frankie and Johnny"; "Come Down Ma Evening Star"; "I Could Have Danced All Night"; "Gentleman Jimmy"; and a grand finale taken from the score of "Diamond Lil."
• • Tour photos can be seen on the Mae West Blog.
• • For more details, do read this blog and/ or post your email. [Your info will not be posted nor available so that miscreants and rascals can access it.]
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Censorship

MAE WEST was always doing battle with the censors. Once the Brooklyn bombshell was under contract to Paramount Pictures, Joseph Breen, "the Hitler of Hollywood," took a hatchet to all of Mae's scripts. Since Joe Breen — — who died at age 75 during the month of December (on 5 December 1965) — — held the power, some folks might believe he wrote the Production Code. He did not.
• • Gregory D. Black outlines the history of The Hays Code thoroughly in his book, The Catholic Crusade Against the Movies, 1940 — 1975.
• • During the 1920s, celebrity scandals threatened to rock Hollywood. Celebrities were dying in freak sex accidents, lurid private lifestyles were being revealed in the media, and extramarital affairs among screen stars spiced up the tabloids. These shockers, as well as a declining morality portrayed in motion pictures, shook the movie-goer's faith and threatened government censorship in cinema. This new film industry, fearful of alienating ticket-buyers, felt it must boost its image from within — — and created the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in 1922.
• • The MPAA appointed William Hays, a stout Presbyterian politician, to be the front man for the organization and to ward off government censorship bills while creating a code calling for self-regulation by creators of films. The code Hays created prohibited nudity and profanity as well as other elements. However, the code allowed for each director’s interpretation, therefore, morality in film improved only a little.
• • The Catholic Church furnished a solution. The Church felt that if the Catholic hierarchy supported a moral code, its influence would be strong enough to eliminate the need for political censorship. Because of the enormous and centralized nature of the Roman Catholic Church, the industry would be forced to conform to their standards.
• • Martin Quigley, owner of the trade journals Motion Picture Daily and Motion Picture Herald, together with Father Daniel Lord, S.J., teamed to write a document presenting the Catholic position on the new medium.
• • A portion of the code follows:
• • • • Reasons Supporting Preamble of Code • • • •
• • • • Correct entertainment raises the whole standard of a nation. Wrong entertainment lowers the whole living conditions and moral ideas of a race.[…]
• • • • They [motion pictures] reproduce the morality of the men who use the pictures as a medium for the expression of their ideas and ideals. They affect the moral standards of those who through the screen take in these ideas and ideals. […]
• • • • Reasons Supporting the General Principles • • • •
• • • • No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it… This is done:
• • • • When evil is made to appear attractive or alluring and good is made to appear unattractive.
• • • • When the sympathy of the audience is thrown to the side of crime wrong-doing, evil, sin. The same thing is true of a film that would throw sympathy against goodness, honor, innocence, purity or honesty. […]
• • • • …throughout, the audience feels sure that evil is wrong and good is right. […]
• • • • Crimes against the Law • • • •
• • • • Revenge in modern times shall not be justified. […]
• • • • Sex • • • •
• • • • Impure love must not be presented as attractive or beautiful. […]
• • • • In general, it must not be detailed in methods and manner.
• • • • Costume • • • •
• • • • The effect of nudity or semi-nudity upon the normal man or woman and much more upon the young and immature person, has been honestly recognized by all lawmakers and moralists. […]
• • • • Nudity can never be permitted as being necessary for the plot. Semi-nudity must not result in indecent exposure. […]
• • • • Dances • • • •
• • • • …dances which suggest or represent sexual actions, whether performed solo or with two or more, dances intended to excite the emotional reaction of an audience, dances with movement of the breasts, excessive body movements while the feet are stationary, violate decency and are wrong.
• • • • Religion • • • •
• • • • The reason why ministers of religion may not be comic characters or villains is simply because the attitude taken toward them may easily become the attitude taken toward religion in general. […]
• • Martin J. Quigley and Daniel Lord presented their code to Hays, who felt it was just what he had been looking for. Despite the many restrictions put on their art, the industry accepted the “Hays Code” with little resistance.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Forbidden DVD

MAE WEST sashays through a recent article on Pre-code cinema which calls her "the standard bearer for excesses that led to code enforcement in 1934."
• • Come back, little she-wit. Mae, we need you more than ever in this celluloid era of stunted growth comedy. Though each weekend brings new releases to the local multi-plex, there are so few that appeal to any movie-goer older than 12 years old. New York City film reviewers are rating most comedies with one star or lower — — indicating that there is little reason to maintain a contrarian's faith in Hollywood's silver screen stewardship.
• • In contrast, a visit to the Greenbriar Picture Show site is always bracing. That's where this article appeared: "What's Your Pre-Code Threshold? — — Part One."
• • A nosegay of colorful vintage posters dots the screen. In between the slightly faded blossoms of Hollywood's golden age there are merely three sentences that point to the Empress of Sex flashing through the DVD Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin, and Censorship In Pre-Code Hollywood. Here they are:
• • TCM has a new documentary that came with their latest Forbidden Hollywood DVD collection. Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin, and Censorship In Pre-Code Hollywood was written and produced by Steven Smith and is the best summary of that era we’ve gotten so far. It has all the pace and energy of the pre-code films it covers and runs to about the same length as a typical Warner’s programmer. Made up primarily of highlights and footage from features owned by Warners, the only outside footage I noted was a brief glimpse of Mae West in I’m No Angel, surely a necessity as she remains the standard bearer for excesses that led to code enforcement in 1934. ...
• • Source: Greenbriar Picture Show
• • Read more — — http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • 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: Joe Breen

Joe Breen ran MAE WEST through the ringer and robbed her scripts of vigor.
• • According to Mark Vieira, in his 1999 book "Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood," the Code was even more important than the screen stars at one time.
• • Mark Vieira writes: "The Code forbade profanity, excessive violence, illegal drugs, ‘white slavery,’ miscegenation, ‘sex perversion,’ suggestive dancing, lustful kissing" — — all cinematic staples of the motion pictures made between the Code’s creation and its enforcement. During the Depression, when Americans had very little money to waste on leisurely pastimes [such as going to the movies], the studios felt they had no choice but to give the people what they wanted — — which meant everything that the Code would come to ban. To modern-day film fans, this extraordinary list of no-nos is what keeps pre-Code relevant.
• • Pre-Code Hollywood is the marquee name for a brief period in motion picture history, a privileged zone of relative screen freedom, dating from (approximately) 1930 to (precisely) July 15, 1934. The phrase Pre-Code evokes a time when sinful seductresses, gun-happy gangsters, wisecracking dames, and subversive rebels — — male and female — — ran wild through the lawless badlands of American cinema.
• • Mark Vieira’s picture of censor Joe Breen — — "a militantly devout public relations man" — — is both comic and chilling. Not for nothing was Joe Breen nicknamed "the Hitler of Hollywood" in the words of one British trade magazine, and his steady rise to power on a mountain of butchered movies would have made a fascinating pre-Code film all by itself. Single-handedly, this Roman Catholic activist transformed whores into housewives, made extramarital affairs platonic, and rewrote entire passages and endings to restore, or invent, or superimpose a moral.
• • Joe Breen’s irrational demands on Mae West’s "Belle of the Nineties" — — she complained that she had to remake it three times to satisfy him — — were typical of his hubris. At least he didn't punch out the Brooklyn bombshell the way he decked director Woody Van Dyke for questioning proposed cuts in the Joan Crawford vehicle "Forsaking All Others."
• • Ramona Curry added to this dialogue in an excellent essay [published in 1991 in Cinema Journal]: Mae West as Censored Commodity: The Case of "Klondike Annie" (available in most libraries).
• • From 1934 to 1954, except for a brief eight-month stint as head of RKO studios in 1941, the Victorian Irishman held Hollywood to a strict catechism of thou-shalt-nots. When Breen died in 1965, Variety aptly summed up his legacy: “More than any single individual, he shaped the moral stature of the American motion picture.
• • Joseph Breen died in December — — on 5 December 1965. It's doubtful that Mae West attended his funeral.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1934 • •
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