Mae West: Eugene Chrisman

"An Open Letter to MAE WEST" was written by J. Eugene Chrisman, Western Editor, Motion Picture. His was a unique perspective as both an impartial journalist and yet an avowed fan. Let's take a look. This is Part 1 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Dear friend Mae:
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Unlike Will Rogers, I know a lot of things that I didn't see in the papers. One of them is that Horace Greeley was quite right when he said, so many years ago: "Go West, young man, go West!"
• • J. Eugene Chrisman, Motion Picture's editor • •

• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I've followed your career for a long time, Mae. I've had many a good laugh when they predicted that after She Done Him Wrong, you were through. I've been at the ringside on the previews of every picture you have made and I've thumbed my nose at the critics who said each would "under box-office" your first.
• • Mae West: I've been to the fights with you • •  ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 • •
• • April was the cruelest month for Mae West in 1927.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • On Monday, 5 April 1954 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • A devout Roman Catholic, Jim Timony carried rosary beads and began each morning by going to Mass. Mae accompanied him during this daily ritual. For decades they went everywhere together — — on cross-country trains, on the Queen Mary, in Mae's "house car," and in limousines.
• • The New York Times obituary, alas, reported his age incorrectly when they announced his death on Monday, 5 April 1954 from a heart attack at his Hollywood home. According to his obit, Timony had been in retirement for five years due to poor health.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Stephen Battaglio introduced his TV Biz column with Mae: Mae West said, "All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else." Several TV networks couldn't agree more.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars. That's subtraction."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Maine's theatres mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West played Bangor’s Bijou • •
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Mae West’s act in Bangor consisted of five songs, including one called “Isn’t She the Brazen Thing.” The publicist said it gave her “an opportunity to travesty the remarks some people in some audiences make about some of the soubrettes they see on the stage” — namely her.
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Other songs in Mae West’s repertoire that week had suggestive titles as well including “It’s an Awful Easy Way To Make a Living,” and “I’ll Do That Little Thing for You.”
• • Wayne E. Reilly wrote: Mae West toned down the innuendo, probably having been warned by the theater management that Bangor, Maine was a fairly conservative town. ...
• • Source: Bangor Daily News; published on Sunday, 23 December 2012
• • 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 4,700 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,705th 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 • • Eugene Chrisman in 1935 • •
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