Thursday, April 25, 2019

Mae West: Able to Swallow

John Chapman, drama critic for The New York Daily News, was nicknamed “Old Frost Face,” however, his pen warmed up to MAE WEST. Let’s enjoy his review of “Diamond Lil,” published in that newspaper in 1949. This is Part 2.
• • Same Old Mae in Same Old Play — — “Diamond Lil” Is Funnier Now • •
• • Mae West exhibits elastic convolutions • •
• • John Chapman wrote: She talks as if she hasn't quite been able to swallow a toasted marshmallow all the way down, and when she isn't talking she seems to be trying to fetch a remnant of pork chop out of a back cavity.
• • John Chapman wrote: When she moves, which is constantly. she exhibits the elastic convolutions of a batch of salt water taffy in an Atlantic City boardwalk machine. It is the same old Mae in the same old play and now it is funnier and so is she. Its extravagant sexiness and its background of Bowery dives, swan beds, white slavery and hoodlumism were spoofs even in 1928, but the cynicism of the play and star made Mae West, who is "Not a day older," portray the lead in "Diamond Lil" rather pleasantly naughty.
• • Mae West gets away with the single entendre • • . . .
• • Source: The New York Daily News; published on Monday, 7 February 1949.
• • On Thursday, 25 April 1935 • •
• • It was on a Thursday that Mae West's latest motion picture was released in the USA on Thursday, 25 April 1935.
• • An enormous international cast was assembled to do justice to Mae West's ambitious screenplay "Now I'm a Lady" centered around the main character Cleo Borden, who wishes to be part of the tony horsey set
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • George Eells' Letter to the Editor (discussing Mae West and the black artists she helped break into films) was printed on page 95 in The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, 25 April 1982.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I had obligations to my mother. I couldn't let anything interfere with them while she was alive, and I never discussed them. Well, she's gone now."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about a restaurant in Augusta, Georgia mentioned Mae West.
• • Virginia Willis wrote: Nat King Cole croons over the vintage tableside-controlled Seeburg 100 Wall-O-Matic jukebox. An antique Coca-Cola clock glows on the wall and the bathrooms are designated male and female by respective photos of Edward G. Robinson and of Mae West. …
• • Source: Bon Appetit;  published on Tuesday, 16 April 2019
• • 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 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4199th 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
1949
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