Wednesday, April 07, 2021

Mae West: Pooh-Poohed

"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 3 of 8 excerpts.   
• • Mae West: We are both Kentucky Colonels • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Then we are both Kentucky Colonels, too, and you were kind enough to let me share a small tidbit of your own fame, by posing with me holding my colonel's commission. You never touch likker or I'd make you a real, Kentucky mint julep.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: Over the years, though I have heard numerous people in Hollywood knock you in many ways, Mae, personally I've always stood up for a pal.
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: I've pooh-poohed this marriage thing, for your real friends believe you. Anyway, who cares really? Whether you have a husband or not, this is your own private business.

• • Mae West and John Miljan • •
• • J. Eugene Chrisman wrote: But of all the snappy lines you have put on the screen in your motion pictures, Mae, my favorite is the one in "Belle of the Nineties"
— the scene when John Miljan showed you the "old master" painting and your witty comeback was: "It looks like an old mistress to me!"
• • Mae West: Well, I wish you'd tell me, Mae • • ...
• • To be continued.
• • Source: Motion Picture; published in their issue dated for August 1935.
• • On Wednesday, 7 April 1954 in Variety • •
• • The death of James Timony [on Monday, 5 April 1954] was announced in The L.A. Times on April 6th and in Variety on the 7th.
• • Mae West was prostrated by grief at the death of her long-term companion. She was unable to receive callers and dealt with his funeral arrangements. Timony's body was sent back to Brooklyn and buried in a family plot at Holy Cross cemetery.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It is mid-afternoon but Mae West is in a negligee revealing that the years you politely try not to think about have been fantastically kind. Hair kept as blonde as ever; and a smooth face untouched, Mae swears, by plastic surgery; and smooth hands that tell no tales and the seemingly unchanged hour-glass figure.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The best way to hold a man is in your arms."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California college campus reviewer discussed Mae West.
• • Film critic Bull wrote: Despite the fact that there is practically a complete absence of coherent plot, "My Little Chickadee" is still funny. Mae West portrays a woman of you-know-what repute who handles a six-shooter as easily as a fingernail polisher.
• • Bull wrote: For a carpetbag full of liver-pill ads which look like century notes she marries Fields; only the marriage is a fake. Cuthbert Twillie (W.C. Fields) later senses a "Ubangi in the fuel supply."
• • Bull wrote:  Complications are furnished by a masked bandit, the town boss, a righteous editor, and Fields' becoming the sheriff.  . . .
• • Source: The Stanford Daily; published on Friday, 5 April 1940

• • 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 4,707th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onscreen in 1934
• •
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