Mae West: A Frank Answer

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 8 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: I hope you'll keep knocking them cold • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I hope, Mae, that you will keep on knocking 'em cold. No matter what ever happens now, you have etched your name on the fame roll of screen history. Women may come and women may go, but there will never be another Mae West.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I hope you will give me a frank answer to print on this, Mae. Let's have some of the famous West wit to liven it up! When your fans and friends read the answer they'll shout! More power to you and long may you wave.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Always your friend, J. Eugene Chrisman
• • Note: Born in Denver in 1891, it seems Chrisman did his military duty during World War I.
• • Years later, annoyed by McCrae's poem set in Flanders Fields, where poppies blew between the crosses, he wrote a bitter poem set in Flanders, “Poppies,” published in a Fawcett publication: Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang, Vol. II. No. 20, May 1921.
• • This 1935 essay has been concluded with the 8th segment. We hope you enjoyed it.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Saturday, 14 April 1973 in Hollywood • •

• • It was an SRO celebration on Saturday night, 14 April 1973 when the Masquers Club honored the Empress of Sex with a "Mae Day" tribute. Unlike previous honorees, Mae had insisted on performing a shimmy and singing "Frankie and Johnny." The ceremony was attended by Sidney Skolsky and many other notables.
• • For instance, Mae's "Myra Breckinridge" cast mate Jim Backus attended the Masquers Club's salute as one of her "Gentlemen in Waiting" (along with George Raft, Jack LaRue, Steve Allen, Lloyd Nolan, etc.).
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • When a gangster threatens Mae West, she believes him. So, in addition to having a couple of bodyguards since she testified against the man who stole her jewels, she has now ordered an armored car to protect the precious lives of herself and her manager James "Big Jim" Timony.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Keep a diary and one day it'll keep you."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on bombshells mentioned Mae West.
• • "The Evolution of Sex Symbols" • •
• • David Bauer and Laura Capitano wrote: Little did the advertising people behind Jean Harlow's 1933 film Bombshell know their words would be ageless when they called her the "blond bombshell of filmdom." Harlow ushered in a new category of sexy starlet: Usually buxom, often blond, and frequently full-figured. Others — — like Mae West — — and, to a degree, Harlow, established a genre of sexual, defiant characters.
• • Bauer and Capitano wrote: Examples: Mae West, Jean Harlow, Fay Wray, Joan Blondell, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo. . . .
• • Source: The Florida Times-Union; published on Sunday, 13 April 2008
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,712th 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 • • art by Michael Leonard • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Go to Mars

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 7 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: Would Mae like to travel to Mars? • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: But you really should have a long vacation, a quiet rest in a mountain resort, where they never heard of Mae West, or would you be forced to wait until you can go to Mars?

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: You must be tired, Mae, for flesh and blood — even yours — can stand only so much. So why not take a vacation?
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Ed Churchill recently got a story from your old friend, William (Bill) Le Baron. It appeared in the July issue of Motion Picture [1935]. If that story hasn't done more to reveal the REAL Mae West, than anything else ever printed, I'll eat your new costumes. Bill Le Baron adores you and lets the world know it — and I'm proud of him.
• • Mae West: I hope you'll keep knocking them cold • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • 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 • •
• • In April 1959, Mae West told a Hollywood columnist that her autobiography would be published in the autumn — — and its title was going to be Empress of Sex.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm for clean pictures and clean everything."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • New York Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • The staff wrote: Marilyn Michaels is a female impressionist.  She impersonates Diana Ross, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Barbra Streisand, and other famous persons. At Les Mouches. April 8-11, 1981. ...
• • Source: New York Magazine listing; published on Monday, 13 April 1981
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,711th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1936 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Wide and Flouncy

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 6 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: How you get to people, Mae • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: We recently sent a typical Mae West hat, one of those wide, flouncy babies, back for an exhibition at Macy's in New York and word comes that it was the greatest attraction of the display. How you get to people, Mae, is nobody's business! It makes me marvel.

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Hollywood would like to lionize you, Mae, but you won't let them.
• • Did Mae West ever get over the hurt? • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I don't think you ever quite got over the hurt at the premiere of She Done Him Wrong and I can't blame you. You know all the answers and that's enough for me.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: What have you in mind for your next picture? I know you are already working on it.
• • Mae West: Would Mae like to travel to Mars? • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • 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.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Despite numerous protests against the "Advertising bally-hoo of Movie Trailers," I say a big bouquet to them! I should never have gone to see Mae West, Otto Kruger, Katharine Hepburn, George Arliss, and — believe it or not — Greta Garbo, were it not for one of these "coming events."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A gold rush is what happens when a line of chorus girls spot a man with a bankroll."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in a Hollywood  column discussed Mae West.
• • "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.
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: The indestructible Mae has lived for 26 years now in the same six-room apartment on the sixth floor of a fashionable apartment house not far from Hollywood and Vine . . .
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: At times, Mae is moving to a beach house she recently purchased to escape the smog. . . .
• • Source: Erskine Johnson's syndicated column, printed in Racine Journal Times Bulletin; published on 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,710th 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 December 1932 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Queen of Sex

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 5 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: Helped her down-and-out pals  • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I'd like to know how many hungry families you've fed and how many down-and-out pals of other days you have given a new start, but I'm not asking you. That's your affair and no one else's. I do know of many of them, but I'm not telling about them here.

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: SOMEONE once wrote that you are just a parody of Sex, but I know that not a leading man, from Cary Grant to Cavanaugh, have come away from even almost making love to you without being affected. I know that you are the very Queen of Sex, no doubt even greater than Cleopatra who was just a girl who took boat rides on the Nile, thousands of years ago.
• • Mae West: How you get to people, Mae • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Monday, 9 April 1928 on Broadway • •
• • "Diamond Lil" written by and starring Mae West opened at the Royale Theatre in NYC on Monday, 9 April 1928. It would be her defining role.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The resemblance of Peggy Livesey's Courtesan to Mae West, for example, did not pass unnoticed.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It's all a lot of strudel."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in Australia mentioned Mae West.
• • "I'm No Angel"  — — So Says Mae West • •
• • See Her at the Tivoli • •
• • The West Wyalong Advocate wrote:  She shuffles in hearts and deals in diamonds. The Gold standard doesn't mean a thing to this "Come Up and See Me Sometime" girl, who loves her men 'til their diamonds run out.
• • Hear her sing, "That Dallas Man"; "I Want You, I Need You"; "I'm No Angel"; and "I've Found a New Way To Go to Town."
• • When she is "Bad" Oh Boy, is she Good!  Misbehaving Mae does 'em wrong again in the right way.
• • You'll gasp when she sings "That Dallas Man," and several other song bits. Just a rough Diamond in a platinum setting!  Mae West in "I'm No Angel" — — see it at the Tivoli Theatre (West Wyalong) this Tuesday,  Wednesday, and Thursday. The supporting attraction is ...
• • Source: The West Wyalong Advocate;  published on Tuesday, 9 April 1935
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,709th 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 Photoplay in June 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Impassive at Bouts

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 4 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: I wish you'd tell me , Mae • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Only a Mae West could put a line like that over!
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: But one thing, as well as I know you, I wish you would tell me. Why is it when you go to the prize fights, you never make the slightest demonstration? You never show a moment of excitement, even when one boy almost knocks another into your lap? Why is it?

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I would like to have some of the Brain Trust get out statistics showing how much you and your screen characterizations have done to keep the Depression as little disastrous as it has been.
• • Mae West: Helped her down-and-out pals • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Saturday, 8 April 1933 • •
• • Mae West says she swaggers because she just had to attract attention to herself some way. That was all part of a fascinating interview that appeared in The Scranton Republican on Saturday, 8 April 1933.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Confidential Magazine trial involved Mae West, Robert Mitchum, Maureen O'Hara, June Allyson, Walter Pidgeon, Liberace, and others.
• • California attorney Jerry Giesler, speaking for many Hollywood insiders, declared war on Confidential Magazine: "My clients have decided to fight... We'll hound them through every court in the country.  We'll file civil libel suits and criminal libel complaints...The smut is going to stop."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I was always famous for what I wore, not for what I didn't wear."  
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Dorothy Manners column mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West, in a white satin evening gown and a pompadour, stole the big scene at Doris and Jules Stein's huge dinner at Misty Mountain, their Beverly Hills place. There were many guests who were younger and more up to the minute, but it was still Mae all the way.
• • She was escorted by her longtime friend, director George Cukor, and every time she opened her rosebud mouth, you would have sworn she was going to say "Beulah, peel me a grape." There's only one Miss West, but the way she plays it, there's enough there for everyone.  ...
• • Source: Dorothy Manners' syndicated Hollywood column rpt in The Arizona Republic; published on Sunday, 7 April 1968
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,708th 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 • • "Belle of the Nineties" in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Pooh-Poohed

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 3 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: We are both Kentucky Colonels • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Then we are both Kentucky Colonels, too, and you were kind enough to let me share a small tidbit of your own fame, by posing with me holding my colonel's commission. You never touch likker or I'd make you a real, Kentucky mint julep.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Over the years, though I have heard numerous people in Hollywood knock you in many ways, Mae, personally I've always stood up for a pal.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I've pooh-poohed this marriage thing, for your real friends believe you. Anyway, who cares really? Whether you have a husband or not, this is your own private business.

• • Mae West and John Miljan • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: But of all the snappy lines you have put on the screen in your motion pictures, Mae, my favorite is the one in "Belle of the Nineties" — — the scene when John Miljan showed you the "old master" painting and your witty comeback was: "It looks like an old mistress to me!"
• • Mae West: Well, I wish you'd tell me, Mae • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Wednesday, 7 April 1954 in Variety • •
• • The death of James Timony [on Monday, 5 April 1954] was announced in The L.A. Times on April 6th and in Variety on the 7th.
• • Mae West was prostrated by grief at the death of her long-term companion. She was unable to receive callers and dealt with his funeral arrangements. Timony's body was sent back to Brooklyn and buried in a family plot at Holy Cross cemetery.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It is mid-afternoon but Mae West is in a negligee revealing that the years you politely try not to think about have been fantastically kind. Hair kept as blonde as ever; and a smooth face untouched, Mae swears, by plastic surgery; and smooth hands that tell no tales and the seemingly unchanged hour-glass figure.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The best way to hold a man is in your arms."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California college campus reviewer discussed Mae West.
• • Film critic Bull wrote: Despite the fact that there is practically a complete absence of coherent plot, "My Little Chickadee" is still funny. Mae West portrays a woman of you-know-what repute who handles a six-shooter as easily as a fingernail polisher.
• • Bull wrote: For a carpetbag full of liver-pill ads which look like century notes she marries Fields; only the marriage is a fake. Cuthbert Twillie (W.C. Fields) later senses a "Ubangi in the fuel supply."
• • Bull wrote:  Complications are furnished by a masked bandit, the town boss, a righteous editor, and Fields' becoming the sheriff.  . . .
• • Source: The Stanford Daily; published on Friday, 5 April 1940
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,707th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onscreen in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Wrote the First

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 2 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: I've been to the fights with you • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: You see I KNEW, even before your arrival, how you would WOW them out here.
• • Chrisman wrote the first Mae West story for a fan magazine • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I wrote the very first story about you to appear in a movie magazine and I'd hate to tell you, Mae, how many stories I've written about you since — you'd no doubt faint, if I did tell you.

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I've been to the fights with you. Do you recall the night we went to see The Drunkard and then had the chauffeur drive up and down the Boulevard while you and Mrs. Chrisman looked at the hats in the windows ?
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: You also had me up to your white apartment for the interview I did on "How Love Will End the Depression" and not many writers have been THERE!
• • Mae West: We are both Kentucky Colonels • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Wednesday, 6 April 1927 • •
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • Then on Wednesday, 6 April 1927, numerous articles about Mae were published in Variety, The New York Times, The N.Y. Herald Tribune, and elsewhere.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It was quite a coup on Ross Hunter's part getting Mae West to a private party. Mae usually graces only tributes — — preferably to herself. This time, the host had run into some luck.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My play 'Sex' was a work of art!"
• • Mae West said: "Anybody who needs a dirty play ought to call on Mr. Wallace for suggestions."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An editorial in April 1940 on work relief mentioned Mae West.
• • The Charlotte News wrote: You don't hear as many WPA jokes as you used to. For that matter, you don't hear as many Mae West stories, though we think it's for an exactly different reason. Mae's on the way out. And WPA, or some form of it, we're afraid, is here to stay. . . .
• • Source: The Charlotte News; published on Saturday, 6 April 1940
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,706th 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: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • watching the fights in 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Eugene Chrisman

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 1 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Dear friend Mae:
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Unlike Will Rogers, I know a lot of things that I didn't see in the papers. One of them is that Horace Greeley was quite right when he said, so many years ago: "Go West, young man, go West!"
• • J. Eugene Chrisman, Motion Picture's editor • •

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I've followed your career for a long time, Mae. I've had many a good laugh when they predicted that after She Done Him Wrong, you were through. I've been at the ringside on the previews of every picture you have made and I've thumbed my nose at the critics who said each would "under box-office" your first.
• • Mae West: I've been to the fights with you • •  ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 • •
• • April was the cruelest month for Mae West in 1927.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On Monday, 5 April 1954 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • A devout Roman Catholic, Jim Timony carried rosary beads and began each morning by going to Mass. Mae accompanied him during this daily ritual. For decades they went everywhere together — — on cross-country trains, on the Queen Mary, in Mae's "house car," and in limousines.
• • The New York Times obituary, alas, reported his age incorrectly when they announced his death on Monday, 5 April 1954 from a heart attack at his Hollywood home. According to his obit, Timony had been in retirement for five years due to poor health.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Stephen Battaglio introduced his TV Biz column with Mae: Mae West said, "All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else." Several TV networks couldn't agree more.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars. That's subtraction."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Maine's theatres mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West played Bangor’s Bijou • •
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Mae West’s act in Bangor consisted of five songs, including one called “Isn’t She the Brazen Thing.” The publicist said it gave her “an opportunity to travesty the remarks some people in some audiences make about some of the soubrettes they see on the stage” — namely her.
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Other songs in Mae West’s repertoire that week had suggestive titles as well including “It’s an Awful Easy Way To Make a Living,” and “I’ll Do That Little Thing for You.”
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Mae West toned down the innuendo, probably having been warned by the theater management that Bangor, Maine was a fairly conservative town. ...
• • Source: Bangor Daily News; published on Sunday, 23 December 2012
• • 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 16th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen 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 4,705th 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 • • Eugene Chrisman in 1935 • •
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Mae West: Coverage

Then as now, magazines use celebrities to sell copies, for example, Motion Picture [July 1933 issue] ran with this cover story about MAE WEST by Jay Brian Chapman: "Is Mae West Garbo's Greatest Rival?" (pages 28-29).
• • Did anybody believe that Mae West and Garbo, two very different types of actresses, were rivals? In 1933, Motion Picture did have an excuse for such silliness, though. During the Depression, publications had to try harder to get Americans to spend their nickels.
• • This drivel comes to mind today due to the "Internet sensation" caused by the TV footage of a female reporter setting fire to her producer's "news" story. Reason: because she refused to start the program with a "Paris Hilton leaves jail" tale. Yes! Drivel in, drivel out.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.