Mae West: Interesting Point

On Friday, 4 October 2019, MAE WEST was praised for being the one bright spot in a bad movie.
• • What Were They Thinking? • •
• • Film critic Joe Riddle wrote: “Myra Breckinridge” was (and is) one of the most notorious flops of all time. It was rated X (which was the NC-17 of 1970.) And rightly so.
• • Joe Riddle wrote: Not only was it a disgusting mess of a film . . . it wasn’t funny, and that to me is its biggest failure.
• • Joe Riddle wrote: Based (very loosely) on Gore Vidal’s satire, Myra’s first strike was casting Raquel Welch in the title role of the transgendered Myron (Rex Reed). Welch couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag, as my father used to say. And even though she was lovely, and wore some fantastic outfits, she couldn’t carry the film on her shoulders.  . . .
• • Joe Riddle wrote: Strike two was the plot. Myron has a sex-change operation to become Myra, so she can claim half of the estate of her lecherous Uncle Buck Loner (John Huston, who must have needed a paycheck). He runs an acting academy. Lots of sexual deviancy, debauchery and decadence. It didn’t make much sense to me. Again, it wasn’t funny.
• • Joe Riddle wrote: Strike three was the director.  . . .
• • Joe Riddle wrote: The cast includes the first American film role of Farrah Fawcett and the first film role for Tom Selleck, who likely didn’t list Myra on their filmography. Also character actors (again, needing a paycheck) Roger C. Carmel, George Furth, John Carradine, Jim Backus, Andy Devine, Grady Sutton, Kathleen Freeman, William Hopper and B.S. Pully.
• • The one interesting point is Mae West • •

• • Joe Riddle wrote: The one interesting point is Mae West (as Hollywood talent scout Letitia Van Allen) who, at 78 was still feeling her oats. She got to sing two songs (which were part of her contract for making the film) and wrote her own dialogue. Maybe that’s why her lines are better than everyone else’s. She sings the Otis Redding song “Hard to Handle” and “You Gotta Taste All the Fruit.”
• • Joe Riddle wrote: From IMDb: “Raquel Welch later said she was fascinated at working with Mae West, mainly because she could never actually figure out if West was a man or a woman.” They did not get along during filming, according to studio wags.  . . .
• • Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.; published on Friday, 4 October 2019.
• • On Friday, 23 October 1931 • •
• • It was on Friday, 23 October 1931 that the New York City tabloid Evening Graphic reported on the very strange fan letters that Mae West was receiving.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Paramount is bringing back “She Done Him Wrong” as a supporting attraction, banking on the increased Mae West b.o. 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Gay boys are taking over the business."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Buffalo station mentioned Mae West.
• • Theater Talk: Diversity in America is theme of seven Buffalo productions.
• • SEX, by Mae West, at the Jackie Maxwel Theatre, through October 13, 2019 . . .
• • Source: WBFO; published on Friday, 4 October 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 15th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,300 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4329th 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 1970 • •
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