Mae West: Gay Sympathy

At the end of last year, British scholar Dr. Will Visconti was writing about MAE WEST. This is Part 3.
• • Public indecency and the making of Mae West • •
• • for tighter restrictions on material • •
• • Dr. Will Visconti wrote: Similarly, “The Drag” portrayed gay men and drag queens sympathetically, and treated the female impersonator Paradise, as one of the heroines of “Pleasure Man.” At the same time, however, groups like the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice were agitating for tighter restrictions on material shown in performances that they deemed to be indecent or immoral.
• • the story of same-sex desire between women • •
• • Dr. Will Visconti wrote: Édouard Bourdet’s melodrama “The Captive,” which tells the story of same-sex desire between women while never actually using the word ‘lesbian,’ was also raided at the same time as "The Drag." This formed part of the backdrop against which Mae West’s play’s publicity was set, and something on which she capitalised, when her later play “The Drag” was dubbed ‘a male Captive’ by the press.
• • Eva Tanguay — — an ‘eccentric comedienne’ • • …
• • His article will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Talking Humanities, S.A.S., University of London; published on Thursday, 7 December 2017.
• • On Friday, 18 October 1918 • •

• • In Billboard's review of "Sometime" printed on 18 October 1918, they reserved several sentences filled with praise for Mae West.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West goes back to her favorite period, the nineties of last century, for her latest film, "Every Day's a Holiday," a Paramount picture.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Sex is an emotion in motion."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A travel site mentioned Mae West.
• • Dearly Departed Museum • •
• • A macabre tour of Hollywood’s deadly history. • •
• • If you’d like to see Mae West’s false teeth, Karen Carpenter’s sink, or the parts of the bed that Rock Hudson died in, the hotel room door where drag icon Divine died, and a tile from the Ambassador Hotel where Robert F. Kennedy was shot, then this morbid museum is a must-visit.  …
• • Source: Atlas Obscura; published on (undated)
• • 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 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,000 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4065th 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 • • onstage in 1918 • •
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Mae West: Sexy Sha-Wabble

MAE WEST was given credit for instigating the Shimmy dance trend — — in a book written by Will Rogers.  The musical "Sometime" opened on Friday evening, 4 October 1918 — — and Mae got permission to add a sultry Shimmy to her act while her character Mayme Dean sang the song "What Do I Have to Do to Get It."
• • A.K.A. "Shimmy Sha-Wabble" • •
• • Will Rogers wrote:  Mae West's "Shimmy Schwabble" in the musical comedy "Sometime," which opened on Broadway in October 1918, contributed to a shimmy craze that swept the country at the time.  ...
• • Source:  "The Papers of Will Rogers: From the Broadway stage to the national stage, September 1915 — July 1928" written by Will Rogers [1879 — 1935]; published by the University of Oklahoma Press, 2005.
• • On Thursday, 5 June 1952 • •
• • "Mae West to Open Summer Theatre" was the headline on Thursday, 5 June 1952 in a New Jersey newspaper, Raritan Township and Fords Beacon.
• • On Thursday, 5 June 1975 • •
• • Stanley Musgrove's Log dated for Thursday, 5 June 1975 recalled Mae West explaining that her own method of birth control was a silk sponge tied to a string.  Mae also claimed she taught this barrier method to Fanny Brice who, until then, had several abortions. An odd conversation topic perhaps during June 1975, when Mae was 81, but there you have it.
• • On Saturday, 5 June 2010 in New Zealand • •
• • Mae West is still on the music charts.  Mae's rendition of "Mister Deep Blue Sea" charted on Saturday, 5 June 2010 on New Zealand's Jazz Music Chart at position 104.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, the well-known film actress, is a fairy godmother to Catholic churches and charities, to which she regularly devotes large portions of her earnings.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'm a big girl from a big town coming to a little town."
• • Mae West said:  "I don’t like myself — — I’m crazy about myself."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • The Desert Sun mentioned Mae West.
• • Friday at 10:30 pm on Channel 5  — — "She Done Him Wrong" (drama) 1933 — Cary Grant, Mae West.  [OK, but why was his name printed first??] 
• • Raise your hand if you remember the scene when Captain Cummings is revealed to be the law enforcement agent who has been monitoring Gus Jordan's saloon, while pretending to be the leader of a rescue mission next door? 
• • Mae West never had her work taken very seriously by literary critics but she wrote a masterful O. Henry type finale. If a male author had written this ending, he would have been praised to the skies. Mae avoided the typical love—engagement—march to the altar conclusion. In this case, the man the heroine has fallen for is the same fellow who will strip her of her diamonds. Was this going to be a lasting relationship??
• • Source: TV listings in The Desert Sun; published on Friday, 4 June 1971
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3194th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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