Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Mae West: Special Outrage

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 7 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: What happened next hurt Mae • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: She still hungered for “men and masculine charms,” and she still turned phrases: as her maid walked away, Mae West looked at her posterior and remarked, “I see it in your face.”

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: After Breen, “Belle of the Nineties” still had piquancy.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: What happened next hurt Mae West more than Breen had.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Darkening the shadow cast by the Legion of Decency, the New York censors objected to the theme, dialogue, and situations in “Belle of the Nineties” and rejected the picture.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Board members were especially outraged by a happy ending that promised sex without marriage.
• • Mae West: “I’ll cool it off!” • •  …  
• • 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, 19 April 1927 • •
• • The sentencing of Mae West, Jim Timony, and the cast of "Sex" took place on Tuesday, 19 April 1927 in Jefferson Market Court (General Sessions).
• • That trial and the dramatic guilty verdict end Act I of the full-length stage play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," a serious-minded comedy set during 1926 — 1932. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • On Thursday, 19 April 1928 • •
• • In his diary, Carl Van Vechten wrote: Then we go to see Mae West in "Diamond Lil," sitting in the front row. I like it even better than before. ...
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, Broadway star who made such a sensational debut in films in "She Done Him Wrong," last year, will be seen soon in her second starring vehicle "I'm No Angel." This remarkable film won the distinction last year in America of being the most popular production of the year, and wherever else it has been screened it has generally proved an outstanding success.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”
• • Mae West said: "He who hesitates is last."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The N.Y. Times mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Star In Raided Play Jailed and Fined" • •
• • Mae West the star of one of three recently raided Broadway plays was sentenced to ten days in the workhouse and a fine by Judge Donnellan today as the penalty for participating in an obscene performance. A similar sentence and fine were pronounced in the case of James A. Timony and a sentence without the fine for William Clarence Morganstern. All the other 19 defendants in the "Sex" case received suspended sentences.  ...
• • Source: The New York Times; published on Tuesday, 19 April 1927

• • 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 4,975th 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 • • Chicago newspaper ad in 1934
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