The purity police dogged the heels of MAE WEST with a Javert-like intensity. Barry Chapman analyzes how the censors affected her film Belle of the Nineties. This is Part 3 of 8 parts.
• • N.B.: When Toronto Film Society presented Belle of the Nineties (1934) and My Gal Sal on Monday, January 8, 1990 as part of their Season 42, this article was first written.
• • Censorship and Belle of the Nineties (1934) starring Mae West • •
• • Mae West: Hays Office called the original script a yarn • •
• • Barry Chapman wrote: Among their complaints, the Hays Office called it “a yarn, which is quite patently a glorification of prostitution and violent crime,” the leading character (Mae West as Ruby Carter) established as “a person with a long and violent criminal record who displays all the habits and practice of a prostitute and aids in the operation of a dishonest gambling house, drugs a prizefighter, robs her employer and deliberately sets fire to his premises and in the end goes scot-free in the company of her illicit lover who is a self-confessed criminal, thief and murderer.”
• • Barry Chapman wrote: Whew!! They sure took themselves seriously in those days.
• • Mae West: The cruelest cuts in the original opening scenes • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Toronto Film Society; reprinted on Sunday, 15 November 2020.
• • On Tuesday, 16 March 1993 • •
• • Johnny Cymbal [3 February 1945 — 16 March 1993] • •
• • Remembering the talented musician Johnny Cymbal, who died in his sleep of a heart attack Tuesday, 16 March 1993, at the age of 48 in Nashville, Tennessee.
• • Ill Folks wrote: The real novelty about Cymbal is… that his name was no drumbeat invention to go with the bass man. He was born John Blair in Scotland, but his stepfather was a Polish guy named Cymbal. The family moved to Canada where Johnny enthusiastically pursued his dream of being a teen idol.
• • Ill Folks wrote: In his up and down career, he mostly survived as a producer (for Mae West and Gene Pitney among others) and songwriter. While songwriting royalties aren't as big as ones that include performance, his bank account got healthy from a sappy Hallmark ballad covered on hit albums from Glen Campbell and Elvis Presley ("Mary in the Morning"). ...
• • Source: Ill Folks; posted on Thursday, 19 April 2012.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • After co-starring in "My Little Chickadee," and after an absence of three years, Mae West returned to the screen in the musical comedy "The Heat's On." Her character was Fay Lawrence, a famous Broadway actress. Lloyd Bridges played Andy Walker.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A man in the house is worth two in the street."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A column on Hollywood stars mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West Trades in Diamonds Against Day of Film Fade-out • •
• • Star Has Become Shrewd Bargainer in Gems And Does Own Buying and Selling • •
• • (A.P.) "Of course, I like diamonds, and who doesn't. I play with 'em like a kid with a set of blocks. Only I don't leave 'em laying around."
• • Mae West regards her icy little toys as an investment, an anchor to windward against the day when her public may weary of the Westian brand of innuendo.
• • "Gold goes up and down and so does everything else. But there'll always be dames wanting diamonds, and guys to buy them for them," Mae West said. ...
• • Source: Associated Press; published on Wednesday, 17 February 1937
• • 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 4,691st 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 1934 • •
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