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 32 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West’s excessive body and maturity meant an unruliness • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Excessive body or a fat body and being mature or old are both qualities associated with the unruly woman.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Then there were other Hollywood fan magazine articles that were eager to praise Mae West’s curvaceous, buxom figure more simply.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: The writers often mention the influence of Mae West on women in general (i.e., the publication's readers and movie-goers) as well as the other women in Hollywood's motion pictures.
• • Mae West as a “lush and rowdy” favorite • • ...
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Thursday, 2 December 1943 in Hollywood • •
• • "The Heat’s On" [released on 2 December 1943] • •
• • Critic Guy Savage summed it up: "The Heat’s On" (AKA "Tropicana") is a sly knock at censorship and how it affects the entertainment industry. Broadway legend Fay Lawrence (Mae West) is in "Indiscretions" — — a show destined to flop — — until producer Tony Ferris (William Gaxton) gets the bright idea to rustle up free publicity on an indecency issue. ...
• • The director responsible for this rum-soaked cinematic mirth-quake was Gregory Ratoff.
• • Mae West’s appealing costume designs were done by Walter Plunkett.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • She threw her first Hollywood party for 200 guests, and not a heart was broken, a cocktail poured, a cigarette lighted, nor a home wrecked. She's Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "The men in my life walked around stiff-legged, watching each other like animals at a waterhole, ready to leap at each other’s throats."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The New Yorker featured an article on Mae West.
• • “The Strong Woman: Mae West” • •
• • Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote: Mae West battled the censors; even after a script had been torn apart she could make the barest participle sound oozily lubricious.
• • Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote: In 1939, she made her last major film. "My Little Chickadee," opposite W.C. Fields. …
• • Source: The New Yorker; published on Sunday, 3 November 1996
• • 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 4,878th 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1933 • •
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While Mae West purists may deride "The Heat's On," when viewed alongside other Columbia Studio wartime musicals, it holds up quite well. Ironically, as mentioned above, the film is "a sly knock at censorship and how it affects the entertainment industry," West's "Lure" musical number featuring a sensual outfit designed by Walter Plunkett, was deemed too HOT, and was cut from the original released print. Sadly lost to the mists of time, visuals from this excised clip now only exist in still photographs.
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