Mae West: Dramatic Bent

MAE WEST came to the attention of Tinseltown ninety years ago in 1932. Step into the Time Machine with me for a long, leisurely ride. This is Part 45 of 68.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: The funniest scene • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: The ending is somewhat abrupt and unsatisfying.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: But for all these issues, “Klondike Annie” is a fascinating, often excellent film.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: It mixes in elements of humour while retaining an overall dramatic bent (the funniest scene goes not to Mae West, but to an enterprising young boy who extorts money from everyone around him) and refuses to simplify its broad view of goodness to give the audience an easy time, as was so common in the Hays infested films of the era.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: “Klondike Annie” emerges as further proof of West’s often unsung versatility as both a writer and performer.
• • Mae West: Excessively compromised • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.

• • On Wednesday, 23 November 1927 • •
• • Variety poked fun at Mae West's attempts at funding her Broadway production of "The Wicked Age" via corporate sponsorship.
• • Mocking the apparel labels her character deliberately mentions in the dialogue (such as Sam Mayo negligees) and the long list of designers in the Program credits, Variety was as gleeful as if they were doing serious undercover detective work about a Broadway producer who was caught defrauding his naive investors.
• • Between the acts, Variety informed their readers, promotional postcards were distributed by the theatre ushers explaining that "Cammeyer shoe creations have a leading role in my wardrobe."
• • Source: Variety (on page 48); published on Wednesday, 23 November 1927.
• • On Sunday, 23 November 1980 in The L.A. Times • •
• • Mae West received a first-rate send-off in The Los Angeles Times by her friend Kevin Thomas.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • After co-starring in "My Little Chickadee," and after an absence of three years, Mae West returned to the screen in the musical comedy "The Heat's On." Her character was Fay Lawrence, a famous Broadway actress. Lloyd Bridges played Andy Walker.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "We must do all that only and exclusively with the eyes."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A United Press series mentioned Mae West.
• • Note: A series of "If" questions circulated around the film colony in November 1934. Here is one that ran on Friday, 23 November 1934.
• • Hollywood, United Press — — If your home were afire and you could save only one thing, what would it be? That’s the latest "If" stickler being brought up at film colony parties almost nightly. The answers given by leading stars and executives are often surprising, many passing up articles of value for sentimental keepsakes.
• • Mae West said she would save an old miniature of her mother Tillie as a girl. …
• • Source: Syndicated Feature (page 2) rpt in The Daily Banner (Indiana); published on Friday, 23 November 1934
• • 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 18th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eighteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 5,100 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,124th 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 • • in 1936 and in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Her Ghostwriter

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 10 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: Her ghostwriter • •
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Whether she has help or not from a ghostwriter is, in my opinion, unimportant.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Her ideas are her own, and Mae has the stamina to stay with them until they have been worked out to her satisfaction.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: One success, however, doesn't insure another.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: It merely helps. Miss West knows this.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Out of four of her stage plays, she had two successes [sic].  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: An actress's career isn't seriously jeopardized by a play failure.  
• • Mae West: In working harness • • …  
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Monday, 31 January 1927 in Bridgeport • •

• • Despite the public's curiosity about the controversial vaudevillian Mae West, and her latest play "The Drag," Jim Timony could only manage to secure half a week at Poli's Park, which was then in use as a burlesque house in Bridgeport.
• • It was a dreary and wintery Monday on 31 January 1927 when the Morals Production Company hoisted a banner over the trolley cars criss-crossing Main Street. Pedestrians were intrigued by this saucy announcement: "'The Drag' by the author of SEX — — more sensational than Rain or The Captive!" It was Mae West’s intention to give gay characters a voice and a spotlight. The police were lying in wait for her.
• • These true events are dramatized in Act I, Scene 2 of the stage play "Courting Mae West" by LindaAnn LoSchiavo. Why not bring this astonishing 95-minute play to your theatre?
• • On Tuesday, 31 January 1933 • •
• • Variety ran this article "No Good Women in History, Mae West Says, During Hot Sex Selling Talk." It was published on Tuesday, 31 January 1933.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Vaudeville star Elsie Janis dated her synopsis for a "Mae West Talking Picture" for Tuesday, 31 January 1933 — — but the project was deemed unsuitable for Mae.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I'll stick to the movie game for some time. But I hope to be able to find time to do another play."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Kansas daily mentioned Mae West.
• • In Hollywood, police raided an alleged "indecent" stage show and arrested the business manager for Mae West, along with 13 of the cast of "Ladies by Request." The play had run for several weeks in Los Angeles and was produced by Jim Timony, Mae's manager.  . . .
• • Source: The Hutchinson News [Hutchinson, Kansas]; published on Friday, 31 January 1936
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,920th 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 • • N.Y. Daily Mirror, 11 Feb 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Prison Diary #2

There are many myths about MAE WEST as a prisoner — — silliness such as she drove there “in a limousine” or she arrived “carrying roses” and “accompanied by her maid.” What better way to banish the useless B.S. than invite the Brooklyn bombshell to describe this experience in her own words. This is Part 2 of 7 segments.
• • Mae West, Sunbeam, Trips from Prison • •     
• • Island's Lady Bountiful Plans a Prison Library • • 
• • Mae West had a run in her silk stockings • •
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: Only a run in the cream colored silk stockings betrayed that Mae West had been arrested, and all that sort of thing.
• • Kind Attendants • •

Mae and Warden shake hands

• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: "Like it here?" Mae West shook her head. "I was surprised. I expected it to be a great deal worse. No. I wasn't worried, for I never worry about anything. But I expected to see a lot of terrible people around cops and things who would keep reminding you that they were attendants and matrons. They treat them — — not only me — — but everybody as though they were patients rather than criminals. In fact, I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. And I don't feel as though I'd been here more than two days.”
• • Mae West had enough material for several stage plays, she said • • . . .
• • Note: Stage play “Courting Mae West” covers her two Prohibition Era trials in NYC. Producers can request a copy.
• • Source: N.Y. Daily News (New York, NY); published on Thursday, 28 April 1927.
• • On Saturday, 26 May 1934 • •
• • A week-long series, titled "Roads of Romance" by Harry Lee and Winfield Meggs (illustrated with charming pen and ink drawings of Mae West on page 31), was printed in The Winnipeg Evening Tribune on Saturday, 26 May 1934 (and 5 other dates).
• • On Sunday, 26 May 1935 • •
• • A Singapore paper announced the latest talkie starring Mae West.
• • The Straits Times wrote: The Girl with the Hour-glass figure makes every second count! 
• • Mae West in "Belle of the Nineties" — A Paramount Picture! At the Capitol Next Week.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West reads trade magazines and a few newspapers. She has no taste for fiction, because she says she can write her own. 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Virtue has its own reward, but has no sale at the box office.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A syndicated columnist interviewed Mae West.
• • Mae West said this to journalist George Lait: “My play was lurid and shocking. Clerics and clergymen denounced it, critics assailed It. But people talked about it and what is more, they struggled to pay to see it and those who saw It told their friends and they came in droves," Mae reminisces.  . . .
• • Source: Syndicated content, rpt by Winona Republican Herald (Winona, MN); published on Tuesday, 12 December 1933 
• • 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 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,482nd 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 • • photographed at the Women's Workhouse, 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: A Young Outsider

Starring Australian actress Melita Jurisic as the American icon MAE WEST, a new play “Arbus and West” was onstage in Melbourne until March 30th. Naturally, Mae would have stipulated that her name was placed first in the title. Let’s enjoy a spirited review by drama critic Robert Reid. This is Part 4.
• • “Arbus and West” — — A one-way gladiatorial battle • •
• • The icon vs the young outsider • •
• • Robert Reid wrote: By the end of the play, Mae West comes to agree with Diane Arbus [i.e., that her image has become somewhat of a prison].
• • Robert Reid wrote: The play uses Arbus and West as ciphers for attitudes sometimes adopted in the name of feminism (despite neither of the historical women having declared any kind of allegiance to the feminist political movements of their day). Arbus is the young outsider. Through her, the play gives voice to a restrained and academic kind of 1960s feminism that’s contrasted with the behaviour of West, which stands in for an older, brassier and tougher generation’s attitude towards the relationships of power between the sexes.
• • Diane Arbus is little more than her camera • • . . .
• • To be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Witness, stage review; published on Wednesday, 6 March 2019.
• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 • •

• • On Tuesday, 5 April 1927 at Jefferson Market Court [on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village], the jury returned with a guilty verdict. As she left the courtroom, followed by reporters, photographers, and a mob of well-wishers, Mae told them, "You've got to fight in this world!" She added, "You've got to fight to get there — — and fight to stay there."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "Sex is good for you," says Mae West. An interview published in The Australian Women's Weekly began with that provocative, bold opening when they printed a profile of the sultry star.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I’ve never had anything to worry about.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Motion Picture mentioned Mae West.
• • “Mae West” • •
• • And while Broadway gets the hot-cha Velez girl, Hollywood gets Mae West, who is Broadway's idea of a daring damsel.
• • The movies really captured her first for "Night After Night," to play a wisecracking night-club hostess [sic] — — but when she stole the picture from George Raft, they wouldn't let her go. For she's that rare kind of "find" — — and Mae is exotic with a devastating sense of humor. So now she's playing Lady Lou in "She Done Him Wrong" — with Cary Grant the not-altogether-unfortunate "Him." …
• • Source: Motion Picture; issue dated for April 1933
• • 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 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,100 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4185th 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   
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1927 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West