Mae West: Cunning Power

“Diamond Lil,” a play by MAE WEST produced on Broadway in 1928, was a full 3-hour affair with a cast of 34, most of whom had non-speaking roles. Deliciously racy, with explicit sex scenes between Lil and Juarez, her 3-hour script had to be cut to shreds for its 66-minute film version.
• • In an upcoming post, the differences between the 180-minute staged melodrama and the sanitized 66-minute screen success will be discussed. Meanwhile, enjoy this assessment by Richard Brody.
• • “She Done Him Wrong” • •
• • Richard Brody wrote: Mae West displays free-spirited delight and cunning power in the comedic melodrama “She Done Him Wrong,” from 1933, set on the rowdy Bowery in the Gay Nineties, the decade of her birth. (It’s in a batch of her films released on the Criterion Channel, and it’s streaming on Amazon and other services.)

• • Richard Brody wrote:  Mae West — who wrote the play on which the film is based — flashes her regal prerogatives as Lady Lou, a high-attitude singer and a calculating collector of men and diamonds. Lou is dating the owner of the saloon (Noah Beery, Jr.) where she performs, and is also pursuing a pimp (Gilbert Roland) while her boyfriend (Owen Moore) is in jail; a shifty operator (David Landau) tries to take over the saloon, and Lou along with it, as she schemes to conquer an earnest young temperance missionary (Cary Grant) who pesters her audience.
• • Richard Brody wrote: With a tantalizing control of tempo, West sashays and quips her way through a web of crime and local politics, flaunting a carefree erotic radiance that mixes business and pleasure with gleefully feigned indifference.
• • Source: The New Yorker; posted on Thursday, 3 December 2020.
• • On Sunday, 30 December 1934 • •
• • "The High Priestess of Hokum" • •
• • On Sunday, 30 December 1934, John C. Moffitt described Mae West in his article for The Straits Times: "She's the high priestess of hokum. That's the best reason for thinking there will always be a place for her in the theatre. ..."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Picturegoer, a British publication sold in movie houses, ran a three part series: "Making Love to Mae West." Cary Grant's byline appeared on this article.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "You're never too old to become younger."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on the lore and allure of the handkerchief mentioned Mae West.
• • Writing from Edmonton, Canada, Jana G. Pruden explained: During her trial on obscenity charges in 1927, actress and sex symbol Mae West stuffed a hanky (black, because she was in mourning for her mother) into her mouth to keep from laughing at a police officer’s testimony. ...
• • Source: Article: "Hanky’s long blown image begins comeback" written by Jana G. Pruden for The Edmonton Journal; published on Friday, 30 December 2011
• • 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 16th 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 4,600 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,637th 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 • • Mae West on the set in 1932 • •
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