Thursday, April 22, 2021

Mae West: Power to Shock

Articles on MAE WEST and 1930s reviews of her motion pictures that reveal how she was viewed by her peers are the most interesting. This review appeared in Time Magazine in 1934. This is Part 6 of 6 parts.
• • "Belle of the Nineties" (Paramount) • •
• • Mae West told Miss DeMille to gain weight • •
• • Katherine DeMille studied cutting and carried script for Cecil B. DeMille, her father.
• • Lately, Katherine DeMille has been taking thyroid treatments and has lost 25 lb.
• • Paramount Pictures had been quite pleased but Mae West told her to gain weight for Belle of the Nineties.
• • Katherine DeMille likes to play heavies. She says that anyone can be an ingenue but to be a menace takes action. She does a lot of swimming at the Beach Club in Santa Monica and plays a little tennis. She gives the kind of parties at which people go upstairs and dress in funny clothes, then come down and do acts. She knows a lot about music and likes musicians at her parties. She joined the company of Viva Villa as an extra, got a small featured role without bothering to reveal her identity.
• • Paramount scouts liked her work, singled her out for a long term contract before they knew her name. She refused to play in her father's Cleopatra (TIME, Aug. 27). Her next picture will be The Gilded Lily.
• • This six-part article has now been concluded. A fascinating look at Mae's Hollywood in 1934.
• • Source: Time Magazine; published on Monday, 24 September 1934.
• • On Sunday, 22 April 1928 in New York • •

• • "Diamond Lil" • •
• • On Sunday, 22 April 1928, The New York Times was purring about Mae West. On the theatre page was an announcement that "Diamond Lil" was the most prosperous of all the recent stage productions. Broadway backers paid attention, noticing that Mae had given the Royale Theatre its first hit — — a non-musical, no less.
• • It would be the hip-swinging role that Mae West famously brought to the silver screen as well.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In a career that lasted over eighty years, the performances of Mae West were famous, or infamous, for their power to shock, their transgression of boundaries of class, gender, sexuality and propriety, and for the frequent opprobrium that West seemed to attract.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I have had to do my share of outsmarting men through necessity."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in a Florida newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "In Days Before Dolly, There Was Mae West" • •
• • Allen Rose of The Sentinel Staff wrote: Dick Gordon of Indialantic still gets a laugh recalling the day he met Mae West, late star of stage, screen and radio, as they used to say, and self-proclaimed ''last of the red-hot mamas.'' ... Let's just say that Mae resembled Dolly Parton physically. Blonde wigs, fancy gowns, and all that went with them.  ...
• • Source: Orlando Sentinel; published on Wednesday, 20 April 1988

• • 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 4,718th 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 • • onscreen in 1932
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