Mae West: Her Showdown

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's enjoy it together. This is Part 2.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:   "So this is the place where a leaf falls up in some canyon and they tell you it's winter." — — Mae West arriving in Hollywood.
• • Paul Phaneuf explained:  On June 16, 1932 Mae and her manager embarked on a four-day train ride to Pasadena. And like Frank Miller on the High Noon train, Mae was arriving in town for her own showdown . . . with the forces that had plagued her career in New York: censorship.
• • Paul Phaneuf continued:  Mae West, New York born and bred, was 38 and a recent toast of Broadway with her smash hit Diamond Lil. However her latest stage endeavor, The Constant Sinner, had closed quickly after causing controversy with its plot involving sexual relations between races. She had also been arrested for an earlier play about a woman of ill repute. Its attention grabbing title was simply Sex. As the primary writer, and star, Mae had served a ten-day sentence in the women's prison at Welfare Island for producing an immoral play.
• • The effects of the Depression • •  ...
• • This was Part 2. Part 3 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5 November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Tuesday, 4 January 1938 in Los Angeles Herald Examiner • •
• • ... the only proper protection ... • •
• • The Los Angeles Herald Examiner used to run a "Views and Reviews" column. It was on Tuesday, 4 January 1938 that readers noticed a short item deriding Mae West: "The name of Mae West — — much more of a miss than a hit — — has been banned from use on its radio programs by the National Broadcasting Company. Such action is the only proper protection for the homes of decent American citizens. ..." Startling, eh?
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• •  Mae West puts on a brave smile as she welcomes the new year of 1935, although with the enforcement of the Production Code in 1934 her career took a downward turn.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "A girl in the convertible is worth five in the phonebook."
• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • A Texas publication mentioned Mae West.
• • Kandy Main wrote:  Mae West starred in "In a Style All Her Own" during 1914. A newspaper critic reported that Fort Worth audiences of the day were too unsophisticated for this show. ...
• • Source: Item in The Junior Historian; published in January 1968
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3610th 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 1914 • •
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