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 4 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: How to outsmart and outwit the Code • •
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: The Production Code administrator forwarded such letters to Association board members in Manhattan, where the company presidents could point fingers and scold; the wily Cohen apparently wanted to elude East Coast control.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Breen wrote to Hays: “There is much ‘under cover’ work going on that smacks to me of a desire on the part of the studios definitely to outsmart and outwit the machinery of the Code. ...
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: The attitude we have found here with regard to the public criticism which has become so widespread, is to belittle it all, to sneer at our critics and to continue to make pictures to suit ourselves. I am deeply concerned about it all.”
• • Mae West: The screenplay for “Belle of the Nineties” • • …
• • 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 Friday, 14 April 1978 • •
• • On Friday, 14 April 1978 Mae West did her first autograph for Snuff when she affixed her signature to their two-page agreement. By signing Mae was giving her commitment to "Autograph 2,000 Prints as Follows: Sin-cerely Mae West — — At a Time and Place Mutually Agreeable to You and Me." After she did all of her autographing duties, the Hollywood icon would be receiving her compensation: "Upon Completion of Said Autographing, You Shall Pay Me the Sum of $6,500."
• • On April 14th, Snuff Garrett secured a run of collectibles for Nostalgia Merchant.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It was an SRO celebration on Saturday night, 14 April 1973 when the Masquers Club honored the Empress of Sex with a "Mae Day" tribute. Unlike previous honorees, Mae had insisted on performing a shimmy and singing "Frankie and Johnny." The ceremony was attended by Sidney Skolsky and many other Tinseltown notables.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "No, I don't have a vision of an ideal man. A girl's got to realize that there ain't such a person. If a man's too perfect, he can get awfully dull."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: The indestructible Mae has lived for 26 years now in the same six-room apartment on the sixth floor of a fashionable apartment house not far from Hollywood and Vine . . .
• • 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 4,972nd 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 • • trade ad in 1934 • •
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