Mae West: Tension on the Set

MAE WEST had her share of coverage from Variety, whose publisher Sime Silverman was invariably scornful, condescending, and critical. In 2021, Variety’s editorial viewpoint turned tail, deciding they’d come this time “not to bury Caesar but to praise him.” The task fell to Tim Gray, who had this to say. This is Part 7 of 10 segments.
• • Mae West: The Sex-Positive Old Hollywood Icon Who Was Far Ahead of Her Time • •
• • Mae West: TV appearance then a comeback to the screen • •  
• • Tim Gray wrote: After a 1964 TV appearance in an episode of “Mr. Ed,” of all things, she returned to the big screen in the 1970 “Myra Breckinridge.”

• • Tim Gray wrote: Though she was in her late 70s, her screen persona had not changed: She was still the sexually voracious, in-control woman surrounded by hunky young men.
• • Tim Gray wrote: When the film was being made, there were stories of tension between Mae West and Raquel Welch, a sex siren from a different era.
• • Tim Gray wrote: But Hollywood insiders were more interested in the battles among studio execs, the producers, author Gore Vidal and director Michael Sarne (who had complete artistic control over this, his second film).
• • Mae West: Trademarked vulgarity • •  …  
• • Tim Gray’s article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Variety; published on Tuesday, 17 August 2021.
• • On Friday, 21 September 1934 • •
• • On Friday, 21 September 1934, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published this tidbit under "Hollywood Gossip": Mae West is planning to back a stock company on the coast. Her sister, Beverly, and her manager, James Timony, will head the enterprise.  
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Walter Winchell wrote: Mae West's sumptuous home has a mirror wherever you look. Every time Mae turns her head, she gets a new view of her frame.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I am opposed to nudity, crudity, and vulgarity in all forms. I provide healthy entertainment to the movies because I have never taken sex seriously. I 'kidded' it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Daily Illini, a campus paper, mentioned Mae West.
• • Rialto Bills Mae West's Latest Production, "Belle of the Nineties." …
• • Source: The Daily Illini; published on Sunday, 16 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 4,826th 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 • • in Vogue in 1970 • •
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