Mae West: Was Upstaged

Cineaste printed a tribute to MAE WEST, erroneously posting a teenage photo of Clara Bow [1905–1965] taken in 1921 by Nickolas Muray and labeling Clara as “young Mae.” The piece is fully available to subscribers (who, I hope are pointing out the incorrect picture). Since Cineaste called Mae “a ghost in the room,” their selection of a wrong picture is even more ironic. This excerpt is Part 2 of 5.
• • Playing Her Script Their Way: A Reconsideration of Mae West • •
• • Mae West: Over the top charm • •
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: Mae West’s brand of charm may always have been over the top, a parody of lush female sexuality, but by 1941, and facing Ms. Stanwyck, she had definitely been upstaged and consigned to the past.
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: Mae West had gone out of style.
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: That was rough, particularly coming from a Paramount production.
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: Back in the early 1930s, it was West’s films that saved the studio from going under during the Great Depression. They regularly made ten times their production cost in their first run in theaters.
• • Mae West: Only Shirley Temple’s films came close in ticket sales • • …
• • This will continue on the next post with Part 3.   
• • Source: Cineaste, Vol. XLVII, No. 1; published in Fall 2021.
• • On Saturday, 12 January 1929 • •

• • "Diamond Lil" was staged at the Royale Theatre in New York City on 9 April 1928 and closed on Saturday night, 12 January 1929 after 323 performances.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West waged war with the gossip-mongers of her time. Her relationship with Louella Parsons was tenuous at first since the columnist brashly called Mae “fair, fat, and forty” in print.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I wrote scenes for them to cut. These scenes were so rough I’d never have used them, but they worked as a decoy. They cut them and left the stuff I wanted. I had these scenes in there about a man’s fly and all that, and the censors would be sittin’ in the projection room laughin’ themselves silly. Then they’d say ‘Cut it’ and not notice the rest.."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Photoplay Magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • In the background you see the crowd straining for a look at Mae West as she graciously posed for photographers at the premiere of  "I'm No Angel."
• • Then along came "The West" — burning up our theaters, and such like. Whooie! How Mae did move in on Hollywood! Says she, "I'm No Angel."  
• • Says we, "It’s all right, Mae. We're convinced!" …
• • Source: Photoplay Magazine; published in the issue dated for January 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 seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,907th 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 1928 • •
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