Mae West: That Mae Ingredient

MAE WEST owned the part of "Diamond Lil" and toured with her Bowery melodrama, off and on, until November 1951.
• • The first (and last) revival without the Mae ingredient was staged in northern California, eight years after the icon's death with another Broadway mainstay, Gretchen Wyler [1932 — 2007], in the title role. Mae's script was adapted by Dennis Powers and Paul Blake and staged at The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
• • The premiere was on Wednesday, 27 January 1988 and there were twenty-seven performances in all.
• • Actress Gretchen Wyler told the news media: "We haven't spoofed it. We haven't made it silly. And I dare say Mae might have liked it."
• • It seems the critics enjoyed it, too.
• • Dan Sullivan and Rebecca Crandall Reviewed the Revival • •
• • In March 1988 L.A. Times Times Theater Critic Dan Sullivan had explained to his readers: No one has tried to revive "Diamond Lil" in 100 years. Or at least since 1951, which was the last time Mae West did it. One reason is that Mae can't be imitated, although everybody tries. Another reason is that her script is pure cardboard. ...
• • Dan Sullivan wrote: Gretchen Wyler may not be Mae West, but she is still Gretchen Wyler, a lady who knows how to take stage. Rather than making Diamond Lil voluptuous, even kiddingly so, she makes her a cash-on-the-barrelhead dame who knows where all the bodies are buried, having disposed of half of them herself. ... [N.B.: Sullivan's comments are continued below.]
• • In her review for Synapse in March 1988, Rebecca Crandall was enthusiastic: Mae West's wisecracking sense of humor pervades the script, smoothly switching between the objective and subjective to enlighten her audience. In several asides to the audience, which Gretchen Wyler pulls off with skill, Diamond Lil drops delicious lines such as: "When women go wrong, men go right after them." These zingers add a spirited tone to West's view of women and the subtle sexual warfare taking place in the early 1920s. . . .
• • Rebecca Crandall continued: All the songs are performed with personality and pleasing choreography, integrating color and life into the show instead of dating or trivializing it. And after seeing Gretchen Wyler float across the stage in her voluptuous affairs, it is no surprise that her several songs in the second act match her former vivacious skill.
• • According to Rebecca Crandall: "Diamond Lil" presents melodrama at its best, and where it belongs, in a turn of the century burlesque comedy brimming with dance, song, slapstick, seduction, and plot tricks. Gretchen Wyler's interaction with the audience enchants in the true style of Mae West, who surprises us with her ability to create a crisp, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining script. For an evening of pure fun, go see Mae West's "Diamond Lil" and become seduced by a truly glamorous woman who was ahead of her time.
• • Source: Theatre Review: "Come up and see her sometime — — 'Diamond Lil' at The American Conservatory Theater, 450 Geary, Through March 19" written by Rebecca Crandall for UCLA's Synapse Magazine, Volume 32, Number 21; 10 March 1988.
• • Gerald Marks [1900 — 1997] • •
• • Mae West recorded a popular old standard in her album "The Fabulous Mae West" [for MCA Records, Inc., 100 Universal Plaza, Universal City, California] — — "All of Me" by composer Gerald Marks.
• • Born in Saginaw, Michigan in the month of October — — on 13 October 1900 — — Gerald Marks began writing songs as a boy. He was best known for the song "All of Me," which he co-wrote in 1931 with bandleader Seymour Simons, and which has been recorded more than 1,000 times (including four versions by Frank Sinatra). Al Jolson was the first to make it a hit. Marks also wrote the songs "That's What I Want for Christmas" for a Shirley Temple film, and "Is It True What They Say About Dixie?" recorded by Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee.
• • After a long, exciting career, Gerald Marks died on 27 January 1997. He was 96 years old.
• • Screenland's January 1934 cover • •
• • Directly under a striking color portrait of Mae West on the cover of the January 1934 issue of Screenland, the Smart Screen Magazine, the editors promised that you would find "Mae West's Personal Message to You!" on page 24.
• • On Monday, 27 January 1930 in The Brooklyn Eagle • •
• • The death of Matilda Delker West was reported in The Brooklyn Eagle on Monday, 27 January 1930. A heartbreaking loss for her daughter Mae, who was born and bred in Brooklyn, where her mother introduced her to the vaudeville circuit.
• • On Friday, 27 January 1933 in the USA • •
• • The red carpet premiere of "She Done Him Wrong" took place in Hollywood on Friday, 27 January 1933. What a great day for Mae West.
• • On Thursday, 27 January 1938 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • Frank S. Nugent, The Times man on the aisle, gave his review of "Every Day's a Holiday" on page 17 [N.Y. Times on 27 January 1938]. Nugent didn't care for the motion picture per se but seemed to appreciate the live music played by Benny Goodman and his orchestra that was part of the New York Paramount Theatre's stage show.
• • In contrast, Variety's headline was "Benny Goodman — West Boffo B'way for $57,000" [Variety on 2 February 1938]. Considering this tally was done during the Great Depression, ticket receipts totaling $57,000 at the box office in NYC would indicate that Mae West definitely attracted a full house in her hometown.
• • On Sunday, 27 January 1985 in The Sun Sentinel • •
• • Florida Staff Writer Shari Roan wrote: Fred Astaire, Mae West, and Wrigley Field have it. Warren Beatty, Kim Novak and the Superdome do not. Astaire, West and Wrigley Field have staying power, say writers Betty Cornfeld and Owen Edwards. They will never go out of style. They are quintessential. Quintessence: The Quality of Having It (Crown, $12.95) is the title of Cornfeld and Edwards` book about things forever trendy. ...
• • The Sun Sentinel published her feature in the weekend edition on Sunday, 27 January 1985.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Diamonds is my career."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on the revival of "Diamond Lil" in San Francisco mentioned Mae West.
• • Ed Hastings of the American Conservatory Theatre (450 Geary) sat down with with a visitor from Los Angeles, L.A. Times Staff Writer Dan Sullivan.
• • Dan Sullivan wrote: This year Ed Hastings's giving 'em "Diamond Lil" with Broadway musical-comedy star Gretchen Wyler in the Mae West role. This is San Francisco, after all. ...
• • Dan Sullivan wrote: No one has tried to revive "Diamond Lil" in 100 years. Or at least since 1951, which was the last time Mae West did it. One reason is that Mae can't be imitated, although everybody tries. Another reason is that her script is pure cardboard. ...
• • Dan Sullivan wrote: Gretchen Wyler may not be Mae West, but she is still Gretchen Wyler, a lady who knows how to take stage. Rather than making Diamond Lil voluptuous, even kiddingly so, she makes her a cash-on-the-barrelhead dame who knows where all the bodies are buried, having disposed of half of them herself. You think of that great San Francisco madam, Sally Stanford. True, it's hard to believe Wyler when she tells us that she thought Donat was sending all those girls to Havana to become reading teachers. But we wouldn't have believed Mae either. Wyler looks terrific and uncorks Mae's great old wisecracks as if she wrote 'em herself. That's about all you can expect from "Diamond Lil." We are not talking heavy drama here. . . .
• • Source: Article: "STAGE: ACT Is Back on Course as S.F.'s Leading Theater" written by Dan Sullivan for The L.A. Times; published on 6 March 1988
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2190th 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: Lasky's Folies

More than anything, vaudevillian MAE WEST wanted to be "in the legit" — — on The Gay White Way — — and Jesse Lasky gave her an opportunity.
• • In 1911, Jesse Lasky opened the "Folies-Bergere," a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street and he cast a pretty 18-year-old Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The extravaganza was produced by Ned Wayburn, Mae's dancing teacher and was called "A La Broadway." The venue was all wrong for this production, which lasted only eight nights. Nevertheless, the show won Mae some positive attention.
• • Shining Lights in the Cast . . . • •
• • The New York Herald reported: "There were some shining lights in the cast — — notably Mae West." The New York Times critic wrote: "A girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and a snappy way of singing and dancing."
• • Born in San Francisco, California in the month of September — — on 13 September 1880 — — Jesse Lasky went on to be the founder of the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company, which later merged with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players to form the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, one of the major studios of the silent era.
• • Quite versatile, Jesse Lasky started out as a reporter and then made failed plans to join the Alaska Gold Rush. Also a talented musician, Lasky then tried his hand at being a bandleader in Hawaii. Upon his return to the United States, he and his sister Blanche teamed up to play the coronet in vaudeville; this led to his becoming a vaudeville promoter.
• • In 1913 he and his brother-in-law Samuel Goldfish (who later became Sam Goldwyn) formed the first studio with Goldfish functioning as president and Lasky as the vice-president. In 1914, their first film, The Squaw Man, became a great hit and an industry milestone in that it was the first epic western; its success also helped make Hollywood a center for filmmaking. Eventually his Famous Players-Lasky company merged and merged again until it became Paramount, another major studio in American cinema history.
• • Perhaps thirteen was his lucky number. Born on the 13th of September, Jesse Lasky died on 13 January 1958 at age 77.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: San Francisco Metreon

Items that once belonged to MAE WEST will be displayed on the West Coast as part of a large-scale exhibition: "Hollywood Legends: The Barry Barsamian Collection."
• • Ninety-five icons of stage, screen, and even TV series are represented in this show which has brought together an astonishing number of daytime garments, gowns, loungewear, ties, accessories, character costumes, fur coats, hats, jewelry, posters, photos, and props for this colorful array at the Metreon — — such as the ruby slippers and costumes worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz."
• • A resident of Oakland, California, Barsamian got interested in collecting when, as a youngster, he would save his allowance to purchase TV Guides and also Shirley Temple dolls. Having a cousin in the entertainment industry [actor Mike Connors] sparked his interest in meeting other celebrities. Many of the items he acquired were purchased directly from personalities such as Mae West. Over the years, he hoarded and preserved paraphernalia belonging to Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Eden, Lucille Ball, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Agnes Moorhead, Bob Hope, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, and others.
• • The show can be seen at the San Francisco Metreon (corner of 4th and Mission Streets).
• • The exhibition is scheduled to run from noon to 8:00 PM from Wednesdays — Sundays on the theater's ground floor.
• • The Barry Barsamian Collection exhibit will be on display until the end of May.
• • Several California publications have written about this passionate collector but the most interesting article appears in The San Francisco Chronicle.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Bay Area Exhibit

Did you ever wish to peep into MAE WEST's bedroom? One painter did and his work is on view in San Francisco starting today until 27 March 2010.
• • Baer Ridgeway Exhibition’s "Paper! Awesome!" is an unusual array of over 300 works by 100 artists — — unlimited by creativity and yet confined to a very portable canvas: an 8 inch by 11 inch sheet of paper.
• • In this mini-museum setting, attendees will see D.L. Alvarez’s “Mae West,” an intriguing glimpse into a beautifully rendered bedroom enhanced by an enigmatic perspective. Alvarez has filling one third of his paper with solid black, cutting off the bed and leaving the audience's view incomplete — — as the onlooker's view of Mae West herself would have been incomplete. This sense of voyeurism is enhanced by the two holes cut into the paper, like two eyeholes through which you might secretly spy on the movie queen's nocturnal rituals and intimate actions within.
• • Born in 1965, American artist D.L. Alvarez, who has shown across Europe and the USA, and whose works are displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, moved to Berlin from New York in 1999.
• • The works on display during the next two weeks are not limited to pen or pencil. Attempting to experiment with media and confronting small-scale challenges, some of these artists have used acrylic, collage, watercolor, enamel, gouache, and even strong coffee in these 8 X 11 pieces.
• • WHERE: On view through 27 March 2010 and FREE at Baer Ridgeway Exhibitions: 172 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; Tel: 415-777-1366.
• • Tell them you heard about it on the MAE WEST BLOG.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Gretchen Wyler

During her lifetime, MAE WEST ruled the Diamond Lil monarchy and no small timers could steal even an eighth of a carat's sparkle from her tiara. Anytime the Brooklyn bombshell heard about a cabaret revue based on "Diamond Lil" or — — heaven forfend — — an actress treading too close to the franchise by name or by game, the legal papers would land. As Mae would argue in court, she had invested too much of herself in that role to allow unrestricted access.
• • In 1988, perhaps with the blessing of Mae's estate, Ed Hastings of the American Conservatory Theatre mounted a new production in San Francisco of this "drama of the underworld" starring the Broadway musical-comedy star Gretchen Wyler in the Mae West role.
• • The show opened in the month of February — — on 4 February 1988 — — with its 56-year-old Bowery queen winning wonderful reviews.
• • Born in Oklahoma as Gretchen Patricia Wienecke on 16 February 1932, Gretchen Wyler had run a dance school in The Sooner State before heading to New York City's bright lights.
• • Miss Wyler enjoyed a varied, fruitful career both onstage and onscreen, and died on 27 May 2007.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Usherette

A 91-year-old usherette still remembers the time she seated ticket-holders for a live performance by MAE WEST on the West Coast.
• • Born during 1917 in San Francisco, Agnes Chan offered this recollection to a San Francisco Gate reporter: I started ushering when I was a student at San Francisco State. One of the courses had as a requirement that we do volunteer work at the Geary Theater. So I went and ushered for Mae West — — she was doing her one-woman show. I took a fellow to his seat and he tipped me a dollar. I thought, "Wow, that's great." ...
• • Constructed in 1909, and opened to the public on 10 January 1910, the 1,024-seat Beaux Arts auditorium has been a venue for performers of the likes of Mae West, Sarah Bernhardt, Helen Hayes, Isadora Duncan, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, Boris Karloff, and others.
• • The building is located here: 415 Geary Street [at Mason Street], San Francisco, CA 94108.
• • And speaking of live entertainment and tiered seating, on Thursday evening, 20 August 2009, you can enjoy a FREE showing of "She Done Him Wrong" [1933], a motion picture classic starring Mae West and Cary Grant.
• • WHERE: Minneapolis Institute of Arts — — Pillsbury Auditorium [2400 3rd Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN; T. 612-870-3131].
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Mel Bellicose

Another person who worked with MAE WEST was a colorful attorney who was born and died during the month of July.
• • Born in Sonora, California, Melvin Belli [29 July 1907 — 9 July 1996] represented Mae before the bench along with clients such as Jack Ruby, mobster Mickey Cohen, Errol Flynn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Muhammad Ali, and a long list of the notable, the naughty, the nefarious, and the notorious.
• • Dramatically attired in scarlet-lined Saville Row suits and $750 cowboy boots, Mel the Bellicose whizzed around the hilly Bay Area in his customized marigold-yellow Rolls-Royce.
• • If the screen queen came up to see him in person, then she would have put in an appearance at Frisco's historic structures situated at 722 and 728 Montgomery Street. Known as the Belli buildings, these charming earthquake survivors had been the San Francisco offices of the renowned lawyer who had been known as "The King of Torts." Constructed in 1851 and 1853, these had originally housed the Langerman's tobacco warehouse and the original meeting house of the Masonic Lodge
• • The much-married expert on personal-injury law was in the news today because his former estate in San Francisco has gone on the market for $39.5 million. That’s about six times its sale price in 1992.
• • Melvin Belli's courtroom successes afforded him an opulent lifestyle. From 1978 — 1992, he resided in a 1922 brick Tudor Revival of about 11,000 square feet with six bedrooms, five baths, and two powder rooms. Set on an unusually wide 80-foot lot in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, the four-story home includes a heated outdoor pool, spa and four-car garage and bay views, on 0.3 acres.
• • Not shy with a comeback, Belli once told a reporter: There is never a deed so foul that something couldn't be said for the guy; that's why there are lawyers.
• • In 1996, fourteen weeks after his sixth wedding, Belli died at age 88.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: James Donlan

James Donlan appeared in one cinema classic with MAE WEST.
• • Born in San Francisco on 23 July 1888, James Donlan dove into the motion picture whirl during 1929 when he was 41 years old.
• • Though he sang in two motion pictures, his forte was his versatility as a character actor.
• • Between 1929 and 1938, he appeared in over 100 movies including "Belle of the Nineties" [1934], portraying Kirby, the manager of boxer Tiger Kid. He also was cast in a few comedies with the Three Stooges.
• • He is the father of actress Yolande Donlan, who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on 2 June 1920. Her mother (and Donlan's wife) Therese was a singer. In 1976 Yolande published her autobiography, "Shake the Stars Down," which explores her childhood, her father's hectic schedule doing bit parts in a dozen pictures a year, and growing up in Tinseltown during the 1930s.
• • James Donlan died in Hollywood of a heart attack during the month of June — — on 7 June 1938 — — a month shy of his 50th birthday.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Read All Over

Books about MAE WEST, revivals of her plays, reverberations of her witticisms, impersonations — — the public dialogue about the Brooklyn bombshell still wends its way through the traffic of noisy reviews, bell-ringing blogs, clamorous articles, toots and tweets. Though other twinkles have gone out, her light shines on.
• • Within the vague infinitude that is the West Coast, many admirers are still buttoned to Mae's glory days. And some Californians will boldly let you know they have read the books, seen the movies, cherished the souvenirs, kept one votive candle lit.
• • In the Castro, they are a bit more careful with their cadences — — weighing the texts, deciding which are too reverent, or too lax, or merely too content to wrap the comedienne in a mythic haze.
• • The Bay Area Reporter's critic Robert Julian has much to say, and now it's his voice you will hear.
• • Robert Julian writes: It remains to be seen if the world will seek out yet another Mae West biography, especially after Emily Wortis Leider's definitive Becoming Mae West [NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1997 hardcover; Da Capo Press, 2000 paperback]. Emily Leider's work favored social anthropology and intellectual analysis over anecdotal recollection. But author Charlotte Chandler's She Always Knew How relies almost exclusively on anecdotes, supplemented by material from an interview Chandler had with West in 1980.
• • The blessing of Chandler's work is the opportunity to hear the gospel according to Mae, exactly as it was articulated by the star shortly before her death at the age of 87. Some of the Westian gems include statements like, "In my whole life, I've never envied anyone. I was too busy thinking about myself." When confronted with the fact that she was not a good student, West acknowledges, "I'm not very grammatical, because I'm only a third-grade graduate. And I didn't exactly graduate. I sort of retired from it."
• • Mae West opted for a childhood spent on vaudeville stages. After puberty forced a hiatus, West crafted her bawdy adult stage persona and forged a career in the theater via self-penned theatricals that placed her at the center of various sexual shenanigans. Success in Hollywood films began in 1932, when West was almost 40. And there is no disagreement on one point: West's films single-handedly saved Paramount Studios from bankruptcy.
• • Chandler's book contains nothing critical about Mae West. But Leider's biography surfaced the "ungrammatical" star's practice of appropriating words written by others and working them into her plays and screenplays without credit. Chandler gets high marks for readability, propelled by West's own Brooklynese delivery. The most interesting parts of Chandler's biography may be the last decade of West's life, when she returned to the screen in the films Myra Breckinridge (1970) and Sextette (1978).
• • The material relating to West's final foray into motion-picture history benefits greatly by quotations from those who participated in the films or witnessed their creation. At the age of 85, West cast herself in Sextette opposite leading man Timothy Dalton, who was 34 at the time. West believed that at 85, she looked just as she looked at 35, and therefore she was — — at least in her eyes — — the perfect object of desire for any man in his 30s.
• • Obsessed with physical perfection, West's last great love was bodybuilder/ chauffeur/ lover/ companion Paul Novak, who spent the last 25 years of the star's life living in her Hollywood apartment. It was originally a lust match — — one that eventually became a quiet love story. Chandler treats her subject with respect, and offers a believable presentation of a movie star whose carefully crafted image made her a proponent for female sexual liberation. The only question that remains unanswered is why Chandler waited almost 30 years from the time of her interview with West to turn the material into a biography. It may be a moot point, but this reviewer would love to know the answer.
— — Source: — —
• • Book Review: "Way of the West"
• • Title: She Always Knew How: Mae West, a Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler; NY: Simon and Schuster, 2009
• • Byline: Robert Julian | Critic
• • Published in: The Bay Area Reporter Bay [395 Ninth Street, San Francisco CA 94103] — — www.ebar.com
• • Published in: Issue: Vol. 39 / No. 23 / 4 June 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Castro's Chickadee

MAE WEST is featured in an archival photo with W.C. Fields in the San Francisco Calendar today.
• • Hiya Swanhuyser's brief text — — so bracing and vivacious — — anounces the second coming of Mae. Hear ye, hear ye!
• • Here's what Hiya Swanhuyser wrote: Young people! It is understandable that you assume black and white movies are boring. Youth equals stupidity, after all. No, seriously: If you have not seen My Little Chickadee, you're stupid. It's like if you thought cake was boring, or sexual intercourse.
• • If you have not seen several Mae West movies, you are holding yourself apart from one of the really genuinely nice things that can happen to a live human adult, unless you don't like dialogue such as: He: "Aren't you forgetting that you're married?" She: "I'm doin' my best." Plus, it's time to scrap the whole idea that black and white movies are boring, because that is for children.
• • At Five Buck Tuesdays, well, you can probably figure out what happens with that, no matter how young you are.
• • WHERE: Castro Theatre — — 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114; T. (415) 621-6120
• • WHEN: this coming Tuesday, on 14 April 2009 — — at 6:15pm and 8:30 pm.
— — Source: — —
• • Article: “Grow the Hell Up"
• • Byline: By Hiya Swanhuyser
• • Published in: San Francisco Weekly — — www.sfweekly.com
• • Published on: 8 April 2009
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Tell the gang at the Castro that the Mae West blog told you to come up!
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: 100 Years

Formerly known as the Columbia Theatre and the Geary Theatre when MAE WEST trod the boards, this magnificent San Francisco showplace will soon celebrate its 100th birthday.
• • Constructed in 1909, and opened to the public on 10 January 1910, the 1.024-seat Beaux Arts auditorium has been the headquarters of the A.C.T. acting company since former director Bill Ball relocated the group to the West Coast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1965.
• • The Geary Theater was nearly destroyed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake; the extensive damage caused to the structure shuttered it for seven years.
• • American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced the lineup of the company's 43rd subscription season today. The season will welcome some of the best American and international artists to the Bay Area and also celebrate the 100th anniversary of this national landmark, a celebrated architectural icon in a city renowned for its urban beauty.
• • During its storied past, this has been a venue for performers of the likes of Mae West, Sarah Bernhardt, Helen Hayes, Isadora Duncan, Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, and others.
• • The building is located here: 415 Geary Street [at Mason Street], San Francisco, CA 94108.
• • Its near neighbor is the Curran Theatre — — where Mae West performed her blockbuster success "Diamond Lil" in 1929 — — located at 445 Geary Street (San Francisco, CA 94102).
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall directed "Goin' to Town" [1935], starring MAE WEST. We are thinking of him on his January birthday.
• • Born in Boston on 11 January 1894, Alexander Hall made his stage debut at 4 years old in 1898. By 1914, Hall was working in silent films as an actor.
• • Leaving the motion picture sector to serve in the American Army in World War I, Hall returned from military service in 1917 and re-entered the business — — except he had then decided to become an editor and assistant director.
• • He made his directorial debut in 1932, specializing in comedies. In Hollywood, Hall turned out a number of sophisticated, light-hearted movies.
• • The director lived to be 74. On 30 July 1968, Alexander Hall died in San Francisco, having suffered a stroke.
• • "Goin' to Town" re-cap — —
• • After an exclusive engagement at their own theatres, Paramount released this title to hundreds of American movie houses on 17 May 1935. However, no amount of fanfare could have persuaded the critics of its merits.
• • According to the 1935 review published in Variety, this motion picture was "Mae West's poorest." Film critic Abel predicted: Exhibs and exploiteers will have to go to town to sell "Goin' to Town." Uh-oh.
• • Paramount production and release. Stars Mae West. Directed by Alexander Hall. Produced by William LeBaron. Original by Marion Morgan and George B. Dowell; screenplay and dialog. Miss West. Songs, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal; camera, Karl Struss. At the Paramount N.Y. — — week of 10 May 1935. Running time, 75 mins.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Lowell Sherman

Lowell Sherman directed one of the hottest motion pictures that starred MAE WEST.
• • Born in San Francisco, Lowell Sherman [11 October 1885 — 28 December 1934] was an actor and a director. Lowell Sherman's acting career began by being cast largely as a playboy or a villain. Perhaps it's no wonder that he was eager to become a director.
• • His best known motion pictures were She Done Him Wrong [1933] starring Mae West — — and also Morning Glory [1933] with Katharine Hepburn, which helped her snag an Academy Award.
• • His third marriage was to actress Helene Costello younger sister of Dolores Costello.
• • At the age of 49, Lowell Sherman died in Hollywood three days after Christmas 1934 from pneumonia.
• • 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: Box-Office Uplift

In the winter of 1929, MAE WEST was interviewed by Edgar Waite of the San Francisco Examiner. Here is a portion of their conversation.
• • Edgar Waite: Is it your purpose to reflect life as it is lived — — or are you trying to elevate the stage?
• • Mae West: Don't kid me. I've had one dominating purpose in writing such plays as "Diamond Lil," "The Drag," "Sex," "The Wicked Age," and "Pleasure Man."
• • Edgar: Moral uplift?
• • Mae: Box-office uplift.
• • Edgar: What luck?
• • Mae: Assorted. Last Monday at the Curran, we took in $300 more than Ethel Barrymore on her opening night last summer. On the other hand, if the district attorney of New York hadn't closed "Sex" because the curbstone bidding for tickets took too many cops off their regular beats, I'd have owned my own theatre by now.
• • Edgar: Do you consider your plays quite moral?
• • Mae: I consider them a theatrical representation of those phases of life which interest the public more than anything else, and have since the days of Sappho, Aspasia, and Delilah.
• • Edgar: And when was that?
• • Mae: Forever. . . .
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• • The Curran Theatre, where Mae West performed her play in 1929, is located at 445 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1928 illustration • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: In the Castro

Octogenarian Tony Curtis has the fondest memories of his many legendary co-stars including his favorite fellow New Yorker MAE WEST.
• • According to the Bay Area Reporter, the aged matinee idol shared an amusing memory of the iconic Mae West, with whom he worked in the notorious Sextette (1978). The sex goddess was then 87 years old, and still strutting her stuff!
• • "I played a Russian ambassador," he recalled. "We shot in her very opulent 'boudoir,' but she made her environment work. My call was for 8 a.m. Miss West came in, looked at her clothes, had breakfast, and was dressed by 11 a.m. But before she could shoot, she had to have her enema! I lived 20 minutes from the studio, and would have them call me when the enema was beginning, so I wouldn't have to sit around all morning!"
• • When Tony Curtis [born as Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx, New York on 3 June 1925] takes to the stage of the Castro Theatre on 18 November 2008, he will share these memories and many others.
• • "A Tribute to Tony Curtis" — — live on stage, plus film screening & book signing: Tuesday, 18 November 2008 at 7 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.
• • Tickets will be available at A Different Light Books (489 Castro Street), San Francisco.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Byline: David Alex Nahmod
• • Published in: Bay Area Reporter [Issue: Vol. 38 / No. 46 / 13 November 2008]
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
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Mae West.

Mae West: Lloyd Nolan

In 1937, Paramount Pictures spent a record one million dollars on its MAE WEST vehicle "Every Day's a Holiday" [released in the USA as holiday fare on 18 December 1937].
• • Mae West portrays Peaches O'Day, a turn-of-century con artist who poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest. In this guise, she manages to expose crooked police chief Lloyd Nolan and smooths the path for reform mayoral candidate Edmund Lowe. A strong cast of supporting comedians — — including Charles Winninger, Charles Butterworth, and Walter Catlett — — match Mae quip for quip. Set in the Naughty Nineties, the motion picture features the gayest New Year's Eve party ever held at Rector's on 31 December 1899.
• • Born in San Francisco, Lloyd Nolan [11 August 1902 — 27 September 1985] was a film, stage, and television actor.
• • Even though critics often hailed his acting ability, Nolan was relegated to B movies for the most part and spent his career in Hollywood portraying police officers, detectives, and physicians.
• • On 27 September 1985, Lloyd Nolan died at age 83 in Los Angeles of lung cancer.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1937 • •
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Mae West.

Mae West: September 1935

In September 1935 — — when MAE WEST was working on "Klondike Annie" — — there were constant headaches.
• • Ramona Curry maps out the negotiation process between MPPDA and the producers of "Klondike Annie" in her article "Mae West as Censored Commodity: The case of "Klondike Annie" [Cinema Journal 31, No. 1, Fall 1991].
• • Ramona Curry writes: " ...The initial screening of "Klondike Annie" elicited rigorous monitoring from the PCA (Production Code Administration) for its implications of interracial sex, representations of torture and unpunished murder (which undermined the codes principle of 'compensating moral values'), and for casting Mae West as a prostitute...
• • Ramona Curry writes: " ...In memos written between September and October 1935 (the film's production went from June to December 1935), Joseph Breen required a number of changes in the script and in song lyrics and repeatedly cautioned the studio about maintaining decency in costuming and camera framing and especially in West's style delivery in "Klondike Annie"... For example, West was prohibited from saying, 'I'm sorry I can't see you in private,' while looking the young detective (Phillip Reed) up and down; other West lines that Breen marked for deletion included 'Men are at their best when women are at their worst'...
• • "Klondike Annie" was finally released on 21 February 1936.
• • In his "All Movie Guide," Paul Brenner observed: Mae West butts heads with Victor McLaglen [10 December 1886 — 7 November 1959] in Raoul Walsh's "Klondike Annie." But the real victor was the Legion of Decency, whose censorship strictures transformed a saucy and spicy gumbo into something closer to chicken noodle soup. West plays Rose Carlton, the kept woman of Chan Lo (Harold Huber), who takes her from walking the streets to pacing the floors of her high rent apartment. Rose ends up killing Chan and beats it from San Francisco to the frozen north. She boards a ship where burly sea captain Bull Brackett (Victor McLaglen) takes a shine to her. When he finds out she killed Chan, he blackmails her into coming up and seeing him sometime. Boarding the ship in Seattle is missionary Annie Alden (Helen Jerome Eddy), who dies on the way to Alaska. Rose assumes Annie's identity and, upon arrival in Alaska proceeds to preach the Good Book, saving sinners by unorthodox methods. Mountie Jack Forrest (Philip Reed) arrives in town searching for Chan's murderer and he falls in love with Rose, unaware that the woman he loves is the killer he seeks.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1935 • •
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Mae West.