Mae West: Moral Outrage

“I first went to interview MAE WEST after the collapse of ‘Myra Breckinridge’ [1970]. Like almost everyone else, I was in awe of the woman,” wrote Jacoba Atlas. Let’s read her fascinating first-hand account from 1974. This is Part 14 of 19 segments.
• • Image from a Cracked Mirror • •
• • Mae West is nothing if not contradictory • •
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: But that is right to the point. In a time when youth is idealized beyond all justification, it is somehow doubly disturbing to see a woman who was above the “common horde” bending to the ultimate corrupting illusion. But then, Mae West is nothing if not contradictory.

• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: For instance, she is the woman who is "credited with creating such moral outrage” that the Hays Office — Hollywood Censor — was formed to stop her.
• • Jacoba Atlas wrote: The Hays Office censored, rewrote and condemned many of her films, yet right now Mae West believes we need a national censor. “As for censorship, I say, yes. There should be a censor. There must be a limit; too much is too much. Have we gone too far? Yes." Mae West continued, “I walked out of Last Tango in Paris. People have abused their freedoms.”
• • Mae West is made up • • …
• • This long profile by Jacoba Atlas will be continued on the next post.  
• • Source: Los Angeles Free Press, Volume 11, issue 517; published on Friday, 14 June 1974.
• • On Saturday, 11 May 1935 • •
• • Movie critic Andre Sennwald offered his review of "Goin' to Town," starring Mae West, to the readers of The New York Times on page 21 on Saturday, 11 May 1935.
• • On Friday, 10 May 1935, this new motion picture opened in Mae's hometown at the New York Paramount.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Frank Wallace filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California against Mae West declaring she was damaging his reputation and his professional standing by denying they had wed. The movie star spent quite a long time continuing to deny it.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Frank Wallace? Never heard of him!"
• • About Frank Wallace’s claims, Mae West said: "It's all a bunch of strudel."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The foreign fashion press mentioned Mae West and her curves.
• • "London Says Mae West Curves Are Fashion's Whims" • •
• • Writing from London, Nell Murray wrote:  Just to demonstrate that there must be some truth in the announcement from America that the female form divine for 1934 would weigh at least 12 pounds heavier than it did last year (in order to accommodate the threatened Mae West curves), a London dress designer ...
• • Source: Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Queensland); published on Sunday, 6 May 1934
• • 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,471st 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 • • at Elton John's party, 21 September 1974 • •
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