Mae West: A Turn-Away Event

MAE WEST became a symbol of rebellious youth in 1968. 
• • In mid-February, the "cinema fraternity" of the University of Southern California held a special event in her honor. Variety covered this happening, reporting in their issue dated for Tuesday, 13 February 1968.
• • "A turn-away event" • •
• • Delta Kappa Alpha hosted this unique affair on campus in the Town and Gown building. About 88 attendees made it inside including George Cukor, Mervyn Le Roy, Jimmy Stewart, and Robert Wise.
• • For nearly an hour, Mae West addressed the audience from a set designed to resemble a lady's boudoir. In closing she thanked the gathering for their riotous applause and "heavy breathing."
• • Covering the extravaganza for The Hollywood Reporter, James Bacon noted: "Up come the house lights and there's three USC All-Americans around the bed in a huddle ... O.J. Simpson among them. ... The huddle broke and there was Mae on the bed. Where else? ..."
• • Source: Article by James Bacon for The Hollywood Reporter; published on Tuesday, 13 February 1968.
• • On Sunday, 13 February 1927 • •
• • Mae West was making headlines on this date. Don't you wish you knew how she felt about being on the front cover of The New York Times at the center of a scandal?
• • On Sunday 13 February 1927, The N.Y. Times ran these headlines:
• • "RAIDED SHOWS PLAY TO CROWDED HOUSES"
• • One ["The Virgin Man"] Expiring, Is Brought Back to Life by Police Campaign — — May Seek Bigger Theatre.
• • PRODUCER DROPS "THE DRAG" — — No Further Effort Will Be Made to Present It, He Declares.
• • Source: New York Times, page 1, column 4; published on Sunday, 13 February 1927.
• • But eleven days earlier, "The Drag" was far from dead.
• • On Saturday, 13 February 1971 • •
• • Mae West was the cover girl on Nieuwe Revu (in the Netherlands), a magazine dated for Saturday, 13 February 1971, Issue No. 8.
• • On Sunday, 13 February 2000 • •
• • Vincent Canby looked back on the career of Mae West in an article "Mae West, Still There for Us to Come Up and See" published in mid-February in The New York Times [Sunday, 13 February 2000] and focused on her sexpot image in "My Little Chickadee," released in the USA on 15 March 1940.
• • N.Y. Times critic Vincent Canby wrote: When Mae went to Hollywood, her good humor and bold assumption of sexual authority, coupled with her raunchy aphorisms of Wildean balance, transformed her into one of the world's biggest box-office attractions. She was also the reason Hollywood overhauled the Production Code, the apparatus by which the industry censored its own material, in this way to combat the new licentiousness represented by little Mae. ...
• • On Tuesday, 13 February 2001 • •
• • This book, featuring Mae West, was published on Tuesday, 13 February 2001: "Passionate Minds: Women Rewriting the World" written by Claudia Roth Pierpont [NY: Vintage, February 2001].
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "He said over at the Mission, he'd make a saint of Diamond Lil./ Did he say when I looked at him, I gave his tambourine a thrill?" [from the prologue for an unused script written by Mae West]
• • Mae West said: "I'm getting the highest salary yet paid."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The New York Times mentioned Mae West.
• • Maureen Dowd wrote: In "My Little Chickadee," Mae West rolls her hips and eyes and goes with arithmetic. "A man has $100 and you leave him with $2," she lectures a class of schoolchildren. "That's subtraction." ...
• • Source: "Love Lit 101" written by Maureen Dowd for The New York Times; published on Sunday, 13 February 2005 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2576th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1969 by Mike Childers • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West

Mae West: On His Mind

An Oscar-winning director was so bowled over by MAE WEST that he planned to make a TV bio-pic about her in 1968.  The Hollywood icon was enthusiastic, too, about this project.  Let's hear what this was all about.
• • "Two Women on His Mind" • •
• • Nan Musgrove wrote:  Famous Hollywood movie director Robert Wise had two women on his mind when he was in Sydney recently — — fresh, sparkling Julie Andrews and famous temptress Mae West. Mr. Wise was in Australia for the invitation preview performances of his latest film, the Twentieth Century Fox production "Star!" — — the story of Gertrude Lawrence.  Wise directed Julie Andrews as Gertrude Lawrence in "Star!" and hopes to direct Mae West in her first TV special — — and his first TV production — — the story of Mae's life.
• • Amazing Mae • •
• • Nan Musgrove explained: The other woman on Robert Wise's mind, Mae West, is today "a marvellous old girl of 77."  Mr. Wise met her at the University of Southern California.  Mae was not taking a degree. She was addressing the cinema fraternity at the university where they have a cinematic course. Mr. Wise was elected an honorary fellow some years ago and was chosen with another famous director, George Cukor, to talk about films. Mae was the other guest-of-honor, scheduled to talk about her career for 15 minutes.
• • Nan Musgrove continued with Mr. Wise's comments:  "Mae West was amazing. We got so carried away with her reminiscenses and memories that we all kept her on the stage for 45 minutes and she ended up singing 'Frankie and Johnny.'  She never got to saying 'Come up and see me some time,' but at the end she said, 'Thank you for your loud applause and heavy breathing,' and sat down amid terrific applause."
• • Robert Wise remarked: "I was so struck with Mae and her memories that I plan to make a TV show about her.  Later, I called on Mae in Hollywood to make arrangements for the show. What an experience that was!  She still lives in the same apartment she had at the height of her career and the door was opened by a 45-year-old muscleman who looked me over before I was admitted. The apartment has miles of deep pile white carpet, white furniture, gilt ornaments. It is a perfect setting for her. I was so struck with it, I decided we couldn't just follow TV style and have Mae on a stool talking. We had to produce her, white carpet and all."
• • Robert Wise added: "When I told her, she was very pleased. She is such a professional, she insisted on coming to the studio to see that the set reflected her way of life.  Mae is a real production. I am sure nothing just happened in her career. Her success wasn't an accident, she really worked at it."
• • Nan Musgrove added:  Mr. Wise, 54, is a pleasant, quietly spoken American. He has two sides, I'm sure, the mild-mannered social personality and the dynamic director he is.  He has enough Academy Awards, "Best Director" Oscars, to fill a shelf, starting with "West Side Story" in 1961 and going through to "Sound of Music" in 1965,  . . .
• • Source: Article: "Two Women on His Mind" written by Nan Musgrove for The Australian Women's Weekly (on page 2); published on Wednesday, 16 October 1968.
• • Oscar Wilde [16 October 1854 — 30 November 1900] • •
• • Mae West said: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
• • Oscar Wilde said: "Nothing succeeds like excess." Born on 16 October 1854, Oscar Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. Like Mae, he appeared on the cover of "Sgt. Pepper." And like the controversial Brooklynite, Mr. Wilde was hounded and dragged through courtroom trial. Oscar Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on 30 November 1900.
• • On Monday, 16 October 1933 in Time • •
• • Time Magazine's review of "I'm No Angel" ran in the issue dated for Monday, 16 October 1933.
• • On Monday, 16 October 1939 • •
• • When they were collaborating on a screenplay, both Mae West and W. C. Fields signed a Universal Films contract. The document is dated Monday, 16 October 1939.
• • On Friday, 16 October 1959 • •
• • The sympathetic headline in The Hollywood Reporter was "Mae West Too 'Person'-al; CBS Junks Interview Tape" and it was printed on 16 October 1959.
• • In Marietta, Georgia, the Journal ran this article on page 3: “Too Sexy?: CBS Cancels Mae West's TV Interview.” It was printed on 16 October 1959.
• • The Los Angeles Herald-Express ran a similar piece on Friday, 16 October 1959. The media reacted en masse to CBS's censoring Mae by taking her side.
• • On Saturday, 16 October 1965 • •
• • The song "Day Tripper" was recorded on Saturday, 16 October 1965 by The Beatles. Mae West covered the song on her album "Way Out West" [1966].
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I consider myself above changing.  I haven't had time to change."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on new DVD sets mentioned Mae West.
• • Kenneth Turan wrote: Although DVD releases tend to focus on recent box-office successes, it can be more interesting to look at those that provide rarities not easily available until now.  One new boxed set is so on this wavelength, it's even got the word in its title: “Universal Rarities: Films of the 1930s." On tap here are major stars in earlier roles: Mae West appearing with Duke Ellington in “Belle of the Nineties," ...
• • Source: Article: "Rare films from Mae West, Frank Capra: Kenneth Turan's DVD pick" in The L.A. Times; published on 10 October 2012

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2459th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1969 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West.

Mae West: Nudity, Crudity

"MAE WEST Wants Everything to be Clean" was the newspaper headline on Thursday, 18 April 1935.
• • Here's what Mae told a reporter in April 1935: "I am opposed to nudity, crudity, and vulgarity in all forms," said Mae West, the famous motion picture actress. "I brought healthy entertainment to the movies because I never took sex seriously — — l 'kidded' it," she added.
• • Miss West declared that she wanted to have something to say about the decency campaign at present sweeping the cinema world. "It is a good thing, and it had to come," she said. "Everybody was trying to outdo everyone else at being dirty. New books, the stage, magazines, the movies — — all were in the race to see how far they could go. My pictures don't shock me, but I've been genuinely shocked by some stories and some scenes I've seen in pictures. It's hard to see why people who wear next to nothing on a public beach object to nudity on the screen. But I'm for clean pictures and clean everything." [This article appeared on page 20 of The Queenslander, a weekly newspaper printed in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in their issue dated Thursday, 18 April 1935.]
• • Stephen Longstreet [18 April 1907 — 22 February 2002] • •
• • Before the versatile New Yorker began writing about jazz and musicians, and before changing his name to Stephen Longstreet, he had worked as an illustrator using the byline Henri Weiner.
• • According to the book reviewer from Time Magazine (who wrote this in 1959): With the "editorial assistance" of prolific Stephen ("High Button Shoes") Longstreet, Mae makes a determined effort at total autobiography.
• • Using a well-worn line borrowed from Texas Guinan, Mae West titled her life story "Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It."
• • Argyle Nelson Jr. born on April 18th • •
• • On Mae West's last film "Sextette," the Film Editing credit went to Argyle Nelson Jr.
• • Born in Los Angeles in April — — on 18 April 1931 — — Argyle Coe Nelson was employed as a film editor from 1965 — 1991. Half of the 30 projects he was attached to took place on television and fourteen (including "Sextette") were for the cinema.
• • We wish Argyle a very happy and healthy birthday. He is 81 years old today.
• • On 18 April 1969 in Life Magazine • •
• • Nationally, the 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.
• • Mae was photographed for Life by the 63-year-old lensman Philippe Halsman, who was born in Latvia on 2 May 1906. Aided by his friend Albert Einstein, Halsman emigrated to the United States. A portrait he took of the scientist became a US postage stamp in 1966.
• • Philippe Halsman began working with Salvador Dali and also with Life Magazine (from 1942 onwards).
• • Inside there was a lavish pictorial showing Mae West as "a chorus girl, 1918," on Broadway in 1921, in 1927 after she had been released from jail, in 1930 as "a gun moll," in several Hollywood publicity stills with leading men, and in 1948 when Mae West was signing autographs for Cub Scouts in Los Angeles, admonishing them, "come back when you're 21."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "If you select your characters and the atmosphere in which they live with sufficient care, you don't have to use much imagination to make them colorful or their story interesting. In newspaper language, you don't 'write them up' — — you 'write them down.' You really have to tone them and their actions down and make them less sensationaI than they actually are in order to make them believable."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An invitation to a tantra sensual eating event in Manchester mentioned Mae West.
• • Excerpt from this invite: Wednesday 18 April 2012 at 7:00 pm
• • A Taste of Tantra Sensual Eating Event
• • Mark Addy Restaurant, Salford, Manchester, M3 5EJ
• • "Too much of a good thing is wonderful" — — Mae West
• • After the resounding success of the first ‘Taste of Tantra’ Sensual Eating event, Manchester’s award-winning Mark Addy restaurant — — together with Tantra organisation, Shakti Tantra and Sensual Eating’s Thea Euryphaessa — — is pleased to announce another festive evening of decadent, plate-licking, moan-inducing food by candlelight amid the warm and welcoming company of gregarious gourmands.
• • Critically acclaimed chef, Robert Owen Brown, will create debauched Dionysian dishes to draw you in to reconnect with (and reconsider) the many dimensions of food. ... Please note that although this is a food-oriented event it is not your standard sit-down, three-course meal. Guests are therefore encouraged to have a light bite beforehand. . . .
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2274th 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:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1935 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC
Mae West.