MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 20 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: Curvaceous figure, not risqué humor, marked her as “oversexed” • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: When he says Mae West is “oversexed,” it is not for her risqué lines nor any suggestive songs but for her “overstuffed” figure.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Furthermore, why do women seem to be more excited about it?
• • Healthy-looking Screen Star • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: To think about these questions, see another three letters and an article provide some hints.
• • Mae West fan F.E.K. praised her figure in Motion Picture • • ...
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Sunday, 15 November 1936 • •
• • On Sunday, 15 November 1936, The New York Times interviewed actor Randolph Scott about his new motion picture starring Mae West. An editor paraphrased Scott's opinion and it went something like this: "Miss West is idolized by the technical crews in the studios, she is so thoughtful of them. ... her Negro maid wept bitterly during the production because she (the maid) was sick and unable to go to the studio."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Although Mae West worked very hard to trim down and get in gear before making a new movie, her public posture took the form of carefree insouciance. "I never worry about diets," she said. "The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I see good in every man. That's why I'm not married."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A review in Slate mentioned Mae West.
• • "A Seeker after Beauty, Wherever It Might Be Found" • •
• • Book Reviewer Melanie Rehak wrote: Lyle Talbot was cast in pictures with Carole Lombard, with whom he also had one of many (many!) affairs; Bette Davis; Humphrey Bogart; Barbara Stanwyck (in Talbot’s marvelous words, a woman “who seemed to be built for quick escapes and tight corners”); James Cagney; Mae West; and countless other stars of the 1930s. They were all, it seems, utterly charmed by him, and he by them. As he recalled many years later about “Miss West”: “She’d say, in that voice, ‘Where are you gonna have lunch? I think I’ll have a hamburger,’ and she’d sound, you know, like Mae West.” ...
• • Source: Slate; posted on Friday, 2 November 2012
• • 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 seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,865th 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 • • from a photo shoot by George Hurrell • •
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