Mae West: Flagrant Lines

It was the MAE WEST motion picture, “Belle of the Nineties” [1934] that helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator, according to the authors of “The Dame in the Kimono.” What a fascinating insider’s look. This is Part 5 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: The screenplay for “Belle of the Nineties” • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Another scenario also seems possible.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Should the contents of “Belle of the Nineties” have become known in Manhattan, Paramount could not have protected Zukor from the wrath of men like Sidney Kent.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: And equally important was that after cutting some of the more flagrant lines from the picture, Manny Cohen probably hoped that Breen would negotiate on the rest.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Once Breen had approved "Belle of the Nineties," Cohen and Zukor could then blame the Production Code administrator for whatever controversy Mae West had provoked.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: But Joseph Breen decided to send the rejection letter to Paramount Pictures, with a carbon to New York.
• • Mae West: In many ways, this controversy had consolidated Joe Breen’s position • •  …    
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code” by Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons [University Press of Kentucky, Paperback; 6 July 2001].
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003 • •
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003, a paperback edition was published of this popular biography: "Mae West: An Icon in Black and White" by Jill Watts. A must-have title for any Mae maven.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mamie Van Doren told a Hollywood newsman: “Sex symbols defy definition. I have often tried to define it myself. A sex symbol becomes a code for everyone's erotic fantasy. These codes are very perishable in popular culture. For every Jean Harlow, Mae West, or Marilyn Monroe, there are scores of girls (and boys) who never made the cut.”
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I never understood drinking. It isn't good for your looks, and it cuts down on what you are. I never wanted to cut down on what I am."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: At times, Mae West is moving to a beach house in Santa Monica that she recently purchased to escape the smog. ...
• • Source: Syndicated column rpt in Racine Journal Times Bulletin; published on Sunday, 12 April 1959
• • 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 4,973rd 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • trade ad in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest