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 6 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: In many ways, controversy consolidated Breen’s position • •
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Two days later, Paramount agreed to make the cuts that Breen demanded, and the Production Code administrator approved the picture pending an acceptable final release print.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: “Belle of the Nineties” helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Mae West still appeared more the prostitute than the burlesque queen.
• • Mae West: The outcome hurt Mae • • …
• • 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, 18 April 1969 in Life Magazine • •
• • Nationally, the weekend news racks on 18 April 1969 held the hot-off-the-presses issue of Life Magazine with Mae West front and center [1969 cover price: 40 cents].
• • On page 60 was this headline: "Mae West: A Cherished, Bemusing Masterpiece of Self–Preservation Plans a Movie and a TV Show and Looks Back Over 75 Very Full Years" — — and Life's exclusive interview was done by veteran news man Richard Meryman. Reflecting on his 20 hours of conversations with the screen legend, Richard Meryman acknowledged with admiration Mae's "mind-spinning version of the world."
• • The rather startling visual composition on the colorful cover revealed the 75-year-old actress in her mirrored bed, garbed in white satin, and — — in the foreground — — was the exotic black long-tailed Tricky, Mae's pet woolly monkey, who had joined her Hollywood household in Apartment 611 just two years before.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • During the 1920s, a common real estate ploy to increase land values and publicize the area was the community sponsored beauty contest. Mae West satirized phony beauty pageants in her stage play “The Wicked Age” but somehow never brought this content to Hollywood.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: The flair for writing her own plays, often raided by police, has brought Mae West to this point: preparing the galley proofs of the autobiography she wrote during the past two years and due for publication this fall. The title of it is "Empress of Sex." She says she wrote every word. And, she smiled, "I don't believe my book will be banned in Boston." ...
• • 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 4,974th 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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The iconic foldout cover LIFE magazine cover photo shoot took over ten hours to produce a pleasing result. The magazine had a strict policy of no retouching being allowed, and the harsh lighting took its toll. I recall being an 18 year old high school student when this magazine issue appeared in my high school library. The librarian noted my interest and made a positive comment regarding West. Two issues later, reader comments appeared in the Letters to the Editor section, equally praising and condemning the feature on Mae West. Little did I realize at that time how my interest in her would blossom.
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