Unafraid of a challenge, a culture clash, an outlandish costume, nor an opportunity for showmanship, MAE WEST sang an abbreviated opera aria in her motion picture "Goin' to Town" [released on 25 April 1935] decked out, quite hilariously, as the Biblical temptress Delilah.
• • At a time when Paramount and other studios were weighing the advantages of signing comely opera divas such as Grace Moore and Lily Pons, an item appeared in Modern Screen comparing one soprano to Mae West.
• • Modern Screen wrote: Madame Jeritza (now the wife of the film chief, Winfield Sheehan), who is by no means a slight woman, looms upon the Hollywood horizon as the next great opera star to cast her lot with the cinema.
• • Modern Screen wrote: Strangely enough, Madame Jeritza's chances for success in the new medium are more than favorable. It may be sacrilege and almost impudent to suggest, but the blonde Viennese songbird could easily be ballyhooed into a grand opera version of our own Mae West!
• • "Floradora" figure • •
• • Modern Screen wrote: She has the same type of "Floradora" figure, the identical buxom lustiness, and a corresponding flair for buoyant portrayal.
• • Modern Screen wrote: Even in coloring, they are enough alike to be unmistakably related to the same species of feminine beauty.
• • Modern Screen wrote: Her success might be as phenomenal as Mae West's.
• • Modern Screen wrote: There would be no question of competition, because in such characterizations, set to music, Maria Jeritza would rule in a realm of her own, the undisputed queen of a new kind of operatic treatment.
• • Note: Maria Jeritza [6 October 1887 — 10 July 1982] was a celebrated Moravian soprano singer, long associated with the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.
• • Note: Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Vladimir Eugene Baikoff [1 May 1902 ― 7 April 1956] became an actor; he was known for "Goin' to Town" [1935] and "Klondike Annie" [1936]. He married Mae's sister Beverly on Wednesday, 3 January 1934 in Chicago. He died in Los Angeles at age 53.
• • Source: Modern Screen; published in the issue dated for December 1935.
• • On Thursday, 3 March 1927 • •
• • No, Mae did not take the stand on 3 March 1927 • •
• • A familiar image of a smiling Mae West at her "Sex" trial in New York City on Thursday, 3 March 1927, has the incorrect caption that she was "on the witness stand." However, Mae did not take the stand in March nor in April 1927.
• • Why not? Mae's motivations are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West" during the chaotic New York City courtroom scene [Act I, Scene 5] that ends the first act with a bang.
• • On Tuesday, 3 March 1936 • •
• • On Tuesday, 3 March 1936, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the opening week of "Klondike Annie" was record-breaking. "The Gold Rush Is On," the editors wrote.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • In "I'm No Angel" Mae West plays the part of a lion tamer which gives her a chance for plenty of hip-tossing.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “It’s not the men in my life. It’s the life in my men that counts, dearie.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Film Daily mentioned Mae West, whose support a Massachusetts congressman sought.
• • Bids Stars to Hearing on Mass. True Name Bill • •
• • Boston — Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, and Mae West have been invited by Rep. Francis X. Coyne of the State Legislature to appear at a public hearing within the next three weeks to lend support to the "True Name" bill. The bill would compel screen and stage stars to use their legal names.
• • "Won't you come up to the State House, Boston, and lend support to my true name bill?" wrote Congressman Coyne to Mae West. "You seem to be getting by on your own name and curves." …
• • Note: In 1938, Rep. Francis X. Coyne was a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was born in Whitman, Massachusetts in the month of March ― ― on Sunday, 15 March 1891.
• • Note: In 1947, after accepting a bribe, Coyne was arrested. “Former State Rep. Francis X. Coyne, 55, author of a "true name" bill for film stars rejected by the legislature several years ago, today branded as "a lot of nonsense" charges that he obtained $1,100 on a promise to get a war veteran a city job. …
• • Source: Film Daily; published on Thursday, 3 March 1938
• • 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 4,900 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,942nd 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 1935 • •
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