Mae West: Cadillac Fleetwood

MAE WEST used this limousine daily, then gifted it to Criswell.  Discover the Hollywood history of a 4-wheel star.
• • Mae West’s 1950 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine • •  
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: Along the years, several Cadillac limousines attached to the first Francis Ford Coppola-directed Godfather film have emerged for sale, which was to be expected. Set between the 1945-1955 decade, it features plenty of vehicles from that era, and some of them traded hands for handsome sums of money in the following years.

• • Elena Gorgan wrote: This particular one was also included in the film but is a bit more special. The listing at Hollywood memorabilia auction house GWS Auctions makes it sound as if we’re talking about a hero vehicle. This 1950 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 Limousine was used extensively during the filming and then went on to have what you might call an impressive movie career.
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: It also comes with celebrity provenance, having been used as a daily by actress and icon Mae West.
• • Mae West gave it to Criswell, her psychic friend • •
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: The 1950 Fleetwood comes with extensive documentation, the auction house notes. It’s been displayed publicly before, and comes with the purchase memo, documents from Keystone Entertainment, previous registration info, restoration records and a letter that attests Robert George Harrison bought it in 1991.
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: This letter mentions that Harrison was gifted the car by his employer, Charles Criswell King, who, in turn, had been given it as a present by his client, Mae West.
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: Should the celebrity provenance not be enough to impress you, this limo boasts a decent list of acting credits, in addition to the 1972 appearance in The Godfather. It’s also been featured in Call Me Madam and Peyton Place.
• • Elena Gorgan wrote: Selling out of Aurora, Illinois, the limo is offered with a bill of sale as part of an auction of a Hollywood memorability lot.
• • Source: Auto Evolution; published on Wednesday, 17 March 2021.
• • On Wednesday, 10 September 1947 • •
• • "50 Men for Mae" • •
• • Fifty hefty, middle-aged actors are wanted to play American tough guys in Mae West's own play, "Diamond Lil." In London, Mae, who turned down 2,000 [pounds sterling] a week to play in London before the war, has packed her bags for Britain due on September 11 to start rehearsals for London's most expensive straight play.
• • "Diamond Lil," a tale of New York's Bowery in the rip-roaring 'nineties, opens in Manchester on October 20th and in London in January. It has a cast of 50 gangsters, dope fiends, gigolos, crooked lawyers, political racketeers — — and Mae, the Bowery Queen.
• • Mae insisted on taking over two American actors  (Hal Gould and Dick Bailey)  to play a low down Tammany politician and a Chicago gangster [Chick Clark]. For the rest, Tom Arnold is holding daily auditions in London.
• • Qualifications: Applicants must "talk rough and look it."  
• • Source: The Singapore Free Press; published on Wednesday, 10 September 1947.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Due in large part to gangster threats, Mae West will not leave Hollywood on a personal appearance tour on completion of her next motion picture for Paramount.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "There wasn't anyone to play to. ... It was the first time I'd opened without my Mother."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Australian publication discussed how popular Mae West was.
• • "Grand Theatre — Second Week for Mae West" • •
• • Film World wrote: Only films that prove more than usually popular are permitted to occupy the screen for two weeks at the Grand Theatre and, naturally, the Mae West success, "I'm No Angel," falls into this class. It will enter on its second and final week today . . .
• • Source: The West Australian; published on Friday, 7 September 1934
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,819th 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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