Mae West: Tiger’s Inamorata

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 8 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: “I’ll cool it off!” • •
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: “If they think it’s too warm,” Mae West purred, “I’ll cool it off.”
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Mae West and Paramount must have reasoned that other censors would follow the New York lead, for Manny Cohen suspended not only the New York premiere but the national release of the picture until he could make the requested cuts.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: For the next month, Manny Cohen worked on the motion picture; he even shot a new conclusion that showed the Tiger Kid (Roger Pryor) and his inamorata exchanging wedding vows.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Variety called the “benefit-of-clergy finale” an “obvious curtsey to Joe Breen.”
• • Mae West: Uproar over “objectionable pictures” • •  …   
• • This brief excerpt from the book will be concluded 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 Wednesday, 20 April 1927 • •
• • Bruce Gould's article "'Sex' on Trial" was printed in New Republic on Wednesday, 20 April 1927 on pages 246 — 248.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Louella Parsons wrote: Mae West got herself a movie job. Yes, indeed! She signed a contract with William Shapiro who brought Bobby Breen to the coast. Shapiro, at one time associated with Sol Lesser, has obtained capital to finance the Mae West movie.
• • Now here's the part that to me should even make the sphinx smile. Shapiro has an option on John Barrymore's services and is trying to get him to play opposite La West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Brains are an asset, if you hide them.”
• • Mae West said: “My play 'Sex' was a work of art.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • National newspapers mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Starts on Jail Term" • •
• • "Found Prison Inmates 'Very Interesting' on First Night" • •
• • The Scranton Times wrote: Mae West, star and coauthor of "Sex," with two negresses and three white women as fellow passengers, left Jefferson Market women's prison today in a prison van for the workhouse on Welfare Island, where she will serve nine days of the ten-day sentence imposed yesterday for giving an obscene play. ...
• • Note the words “in a prison van.”
• • Note: The stage play “Courting Mae West” dramatizes Mae’s prison trials.
• • Source: The Scranton Times; published on Wednesday, 20 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 4,976th 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 • • onscreen in 1934 • •
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