Mae West: Ideas of Her Own

In 1942, when MAE WEST was feeling her Hollywood halo slipping, she decided to reinvent herself. The place to tell the entertainment world her intentions was the famous "Harrison in Hollywood" column, started by Paul Harrison, and now penned by Erskine Johnson.This is Part 4 of 5.
• • Mae West: Would be “washed up” • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote:  Mae West continues, “The public got tired of it and I got tired of it. That's when I started turning down pictures. I knew I'd wash myself up but good if I went on playing the same old stuff. They said I was being difficult, temperamental. But I was only being smart. I had a couple of story ideas of my own."
• • A Spy and a Lady • •

• • Erskine Johnson wrote: But now Mae has found what she wants. There's a spy picture over at RKO written for her by Andrew Stone and Fred Jackson. A spy picture in which she plays the spy, goes to Berlin "to take care of Hitler," plays boogie-woogie music on the piano, wears modern clothes, and acts more or less like a lady.
• • Mae West: Eyeing up Russia • • ...
• • To be concluded tomorrow with the fifth segment.
• • Source: Harrison in Hollywood column written by Erskine Johnson, Syndicated Columnist;  published on Thursday, 5 November 1942.
• • On Saturday, 5 May 1934 • •
• • "Mae West Arrives" was the headline on page 11 in Queensland's Morning Bulletin on Saturday, 5 May 1934. A host of compliments ran, like a elegant train, behind her.
• • Morning Bulletin wrote: Mae West makes you greedy. When you see "She Done Him Wrong" you want more and more of Mae. She is like the most thrilling serial story in the world. ...
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mimic Anne Russell rattles off her impressions. Some are good, notably the Mae West take-off. Other imitations are weak.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "People with careers are too busy to spend enough time on their marriage. I have seen several marriages, which should have been happy, fail — chiefly because of that lack of time."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The May Mann papers mentioned Mae West.
• • During her summer at college, May Mann began to pursue an interview with Mae West. According to May, this stunning star evaded the press in fine Garbo fashion. It was May's dream to actually go "up and see [her] some time," and write an exclusive on it. According to the editor of the Standard-Examiner, May got the interview "after two years of repeated effort . . . after considerable maneuvering, near appointments and finally by pulling all the 'strings of power and pull' in Hollywood" (Mae West article, box 9, fd. 5, editor's note). Through her contact with Miss West's personal representative, May became one of the five women to have a personal interview with Mae West . . . .
• • Source: Item in the May Mann Papers, 1930 —1982
• • 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 4,727th 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 • • at the piano in 1959 • •
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