Mae West: Lusty, Rowdy

Malcolm H. Oettinger profiled MAE WEST for Screenland. Since this interview has rarely been seen, let us enjoy it together. This is part 11 of 13.
• • “Going West” • •   
• • Mae West: Her films promise to be lusty, forthright, rowdy • •
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: While there will unquestionably be those who will look askance upon Mae West's advent into pictures as a minor blight, it is my belief that she will have a salutary effect upon films overdosed with the eternal sweetness and light dispensed by the Gaynors, the Novarros, and the Hardings.

• • Mae West wrecked box office records • •
• • Malcolm H. Oettinger wrote: The Mae West cycle of films promise to be lusty, forthright, rowdy productions aimed at the risibilities, and if "She Done Him Wrong" is any criterion, destined to wreck box-office records as they have rarely been wrecked heretofore.
• • Mae West: RKO's princely bid of $100,000 for a script • • … 
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; published in the issue dated for June 1933.
• • On Sunday, 9 May 1937 in The L.A. Times • •
• • Usually supportive of Mae, Sidney Skolsky vented his frustrations in The L.A. Times on Sunday, 9 May 1937. Skolsky wrote about the perfidiousness of Mae's denials when "she insisted that she was leveling with the press when she told them she had never been married to Frank Wallace." He said he did not trust her any longer. Ah, those pesky retractions.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Hollywood studio executives figured that, because of those ultra-sexy things she did on the stage, Will Hays would frown upon Mae West on the silver screen.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It takes two to get one in trouble."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Variety mentioned Mae West.
• • Berlin’s Mae West, Rosalind Russell, and Carole Lombard Retrospective Delivers Sparkling Pics for Unsparkling Times • •
• • Jessica Kiang wrote: To lose ourselves in a world of winks and wisecracks from quick-witted showgirls, ditzy heiresses, and fast-talking career women may seem like a borderline irresponsible choice in These Troubled Times. …
• • Source: Variety; posted on Thursday, 10 February 2022
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,900 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,989th 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 • • onscreen in 1933 • •
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Mae West: Extortion

MAE WEST was on the front cover of the Cornell Daily Sun on Wednesday, 9 October 1935.
• • In the autumn of 1935, Mae began to receive frightening extortion letters. Shortly after Labor Day, a stranger mailed her a demand for $1,000; he threatened to throw acid in her face if she did not comply. Naturally, Mae sent these letters to her local police precinct, and an investigation began.  Detective work helped finger the culprit: a Greek immigrant George Janios, who had been employed as a busboy in the studio cafeteria.
• • One portion of an anonymous threat from George Janios read (verbatim): "On the set, or flights, or home, 570 Rossmore, or riding or parties or studio. We see you every day.  Acid burns."
• • "G-Men Get a 'Come Up' Glance When Investigating Threats to Mae" • •
• • Los Angeles, October 8, AP — G-men made a vain effort today to inquire into the latest real-life drama starring Mae West, nonchalant despite the assertedly harrowing experiences of receiving dire threats from extortionists and helping capture a suspect. ...
• • Source: Article: Cornell Daily Sun, issue 15, cover price 3 cents; published on Wednesday, 9 October 1935.
• • Aimee Semple McPherson [9 October 1890 — 27 September 1944] • •
• • Mae West and Texas Guinan first met Sister Aimee in 1927 at an illegal but posh speakeasy in midtown Manhattan. All three women had Irish heritage and each one loved to commandeer the spotlight. Between the two world wars, Aimee Semple McPherson made herself into the most controversial and flamboyant minister in the United States.
• • Born in Ontario, Canada on Thursday, 9 October 1890, Aimee Semple McPherson, also known as "Sister Aimee" or simply "Sister," was an evangelist and a media sensation in the 1920s and 1930s; she was also the founder of the Foursquare Church.
• • In 1936, Mae West would be playing an evangelist in Nome, Alaska in "Klondike Annie" — — a motion picture released in February 1936 after a lengthy hold-up by the censors who refused to let Mae West appear as a preacher or religious worker onscreen.
• • It was in Oakland, California that Aimee Semple McPherson was found dead of an overdose of prescription barbiturates on 27 September 1944. Was it a suicide, divine retribution, or an accident? She was only 53 years old.
• • On Friday, 9 October 1931 • •
• • It was Friday, 9 October 1931 when an intriguing item appeared in The Evening Herald. Hollywood news man W.E. Oliver had written: Mae West is writing another play for herself. She plans it for next season, but reveals nothing concerning its title or theme other than: It is a historical romance of the sixteenth century and these few hints have emerged.
• • “The Greeks knew their stuff.... Aristotle you know, laid down the dictum that plays should be written about kings and queens," said Mae West. "I go Aristotle one better and insist that she be a bad queen.... When I’m seen in New York in a new role, I will be seen wearing ermine.”
• • On Sunday, 9 October 1932 • •
• • Harry Warner of Warner Bros. heard industry gossip that made him cable Will Hays on Sunday, 9 October 1932.  Harry Warner wrote:  Please wire immediately whether I can believe my ears that Paramount has arranged to make "Diamond Lil" with Mae West. Recollect it was absolutely definite that "Diamond Lil" was not to be produced. ...
• • On Saturday, 9 October 1948 • •
• • If you were reading The Los Angeles Times on Saturday, 9 October 1948, then you would have seen this headline: "Writers Ask Retrial in $100,000 Suit Against Mae West."   
• • As Mae would have said of these two scribblers who challenged her in court, "The nerve of a brass monkey."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "No, I can't talk about salary. It's getting me down. Now, you take interviews.  I gotta be careful."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in The New Masses in 1934 discussed Mae West.
• • Robert Forsythe wrote: When you consider Madame Du Barry and Nell Gwynne, it is evident that Mae West has made a mistake in confining her immorality to stage and screen. Granted that a woman of her intelligence could be prevailed upon to favor, a Congressman or a Secretary of War, the spectacle of Miss West affecting state policy as well as private temperatures is something which no future historian could afford to overlook. It is plain that on any basis of comparison she belongs to the great line. ...
• • Source: Article: "Mae West: A Treatise on Decay" written by Robert Forsythe for The New Masses; published on Tuesday, 9 October 1934

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2452nd 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: David Landau

"She Done Him Wrong," starring MAE WEST, featured one tall actor who possessed an unforgettable bassissimo voice.
• • Born David Magee in Philadelphia in the month of March — — on 9 March 1879 — — using the stage name David Landau he made his foray into the world of entertainment. Though cast in a silent film "Bondwomen" in 1915, Landau was more often seen live onstage. From 1919 — 1929, he was featured on Broadway in a dozen dramas and history plays such as "Robert E. Lee" [1923], in which he portrayed General "Stonewall" Jackson. With his menacing look and a deep speaking voice, the six-foot-two thespian was useful to directors who needed to cast "the heavy" or an authority role.
• • In 1931, David Landau made his meaningful cinematic debut as Frank Maurrant in "Street Scene," recreating the role of the domineering husband (and angry cuckold) that he had portrayed so powerfully at the Playhouse Theatre in 1929. From 1931 — 1934 he was quickly cast in 33 motion pictures.
• • In 1932, David Landau had the minor role of Dan Flynn in "She Done Him Wrong."
• • Unfortunately, in 1934, David Landau had a stroke from which he never recovered. He died in Hollywood on 20 September 1935. He was 56 years old and buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
• • Eddie Foy [9 March 1856 — 16 February 1928] • •
• • Born as Edwin Fitzgerald on 9 March 1856 in Greenwich Village, New York City, Eddie Foy, Sr. became an actor, comedian, dancer, and vaudeville star.
• • As an amateur preparing herself to be an entertainer, Mae West did impressions of Eddie Foy, George M. Cohan, Bert Williams, and Eva Tanguay.
• • It was on 25 June 1926 that Mae West appeared with Eddie Foy — — as well as Houdini and other entertainers (such as George M. Cohan, Fanny Brice, the Marx Brothers, Ann Pennington, Hazel Dawn, Al Jolson, etc.) — — at the Polo Grounds on West 155th Street in Manhattan's Washington Heights area [zipcode 10032]. The fundraiser, organized for the benefit of the United Jewish Campaign, was staged by Mae's old dancing teacher Ned Wayburn.
• • Eddie Foy died in Kansas City, Missouri on 16 February 1928 — — almost two years after he had appeared at the same Benefit with Mae West.
• • On Thursday, 9 March 1933 • •
• • On Thursday, 9 March 1933, a letter was sent by Will H. Hays, President, MPPDA, to James Wingate, Director, Studio Relations, Association of Motion Picture Producers. The bone they had to pick was Mae West's "She Done Him Wrong." Hays emphasized: "I cannot too strongly urge you to proceed in the strict enforcement of the Code. ..."
• • Did Will Hays tuck into others as much as he cut into Mae West?
• • On Monday, 9 March 1936 • •
• • It was inside their weekly issue dated for Monday, 9 March 1936 that readers could read a review of "Klondike Annie" printed in Time Magazine.
• • On Tuesday, 9 March 2004 • •
• • Starring Mae West, "Myra Breckinridge" [20th Century Fox, 1970] was issued as a DVD Release on Tuesday, 9 March 2004.
• • On Sunday, 9 March 2008 • •
• • On Sunday, 9 March 2008, listeners who tuned in to hear "The Dr. Demento Show" were treated to a special theme: celebrities. Dr. Demento played songs about celebrities and songs sung by celebrities. Examples on his program were: "Twist And Shout" (excerpt) by Mae West along with "Summertime" (excerpt) by Bill Clinton, "Kashmiri Song" (excerpt) by Rudolph Valentino, ("I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (excerpt) by Phyllis Diller, and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" sung by Marilyn Monroe.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West told reporters this about her wriggling on stage: "It was nothing more than an exercise involving control of my abdominal muscles, which I learned from my father when I was a child.” [No, Mae did not take the stand in 1927.]
• • Mae West said: "A man in the house is worth two in the street."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a comedienne mentioned Mae West.
• • From David Hiltbrand's article: “Chelsea Handler is rare in that she’s an attractive woman who is able to speak frankly about her sexual exploits,” e-mails Traci Skene, editor of the stand-up comedy Web site SHECKYmagazine. “In the past, her particular (brand of) bawdy humor would have only been accepted coming out of the mouth of a seemingly much older woman — — Mae West for example. ... Chelsea manages to make it funny, believable, and acceptable.” . . .
• • Source: Article: "Snarky host of ‘Chelsea Lately' offers cheeky stand-up" written by David Hiltbrand for The Philadelphia Inquirer; published on 9 March 2009
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2233rd 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 • • filming in 1932 • •
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Mae West.