skip to main |
skip to sidebar
MAE WEST was the ideal co-star, thought Elvis Presley. This is Part 5, the conclusion.
• • Hollywood Remembered — — Elvis Presley and Mae West by Darwin Porter • •
• • Elvis as her stooge • •
• • Darwin Porter wrote: "Roustabout" would be "a Mae West picture with Elvis as her stooge,” Col. Parker shouted at Hal Wallis.
• • Elvis was bitterly disappointed to learn that Mae West was out, with the role going to Barbara Stanwyck instead. The former speakeasy dancer from Brooklyn was the biggest female star Elvis had ever appeared with. She was free because both Joan Crawford and Stanwyck had been fired from the latest Bette Davis movie, "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte."
• • “the most closeted dyke in Hollywood” • •
• • Elvis and Barbara Stanwyck hated each other on sight. On the second day of the shoot, Stanwyck overheard Elvis telling some of his Memphis Mafia boys that she was “the most closeted dyke in Hollywood.” She never spoke to him again except when delivering her lines in front of the camera. When the picture wrapped, Stanwyck told Wallis, “As an actor, Mr. Presley is pathetic. He has no star quality.” She stormed off the sound stage.
• • "Roustabout" had its American release on Wednesday, 11 November 1964. Elvis died thirteen years later on 16 August 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42.
• • Darwin Porter • •
• • Born in 1937, Darwin Porter became America’s leading travel writer, producing numerous titles, mostly for the Frommer Guidebook series, over a 50-year career span. In the 21st Century, he became a pop culture journalist-historian, the leading celebrity biographer in America in terms of volume of works produced.
• • This was Part 5, the finale. Used with permission. We hope you enjoyed all five excerpts; this material was written some time ago by Mr. Darwin Porter.
• • On Wednesday, 7 March 1934 • •
• • The Hollywood Reporter's issue dated for Wednesday, 7 March 1934 reported that there were sixteen stories in the March 1934 Movie Mirror "and they all, individually, are worth the price of the magazine." Mae West appeared on the front cover of Movie Mirror. Inside, Harry Lang, the Boswell of Tinseltown, concluded his three-part series of the life story of Mae West. This fan magazine was 96 pages and cost a dime.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Paramount certainly hands Mae West the poor stories. No wonder the trade papers are saying she's all washed up.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Don't be dumb when it comes to men."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An argument in front of the Senate in Washington, D.C. mentioned Mae West.
• • "To the statement of Pettijohn that the producers cannot help if the Mae West pictures draw the public, he [Walter Littlefield] stated that he himself showed the pictures, but afterwards he had to admit to his patrons that he had made a mistake and apologized to them ...
• • Source: Item quoted in Harrison's Reports; dated for March 1936
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •
• • Thank
you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these
past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a
milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow!
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3654th 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 • • Elvis Presley with Barbara Stanwyck, 1964 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West
MAE WEST met Barbara Stanwyck years before the chorine selected her stage name. One of the nearly naked nymphs paraded onstage nightly by Texas Guinan in her pricey speakeasies, the ambitious Brooklynite — — born on January 20th — — managed to impress the right people and make her way after a hard-luck childhood.
• • Canadian researcher R. Mark Desjardins wanted to bring this to the attention of our readers: TCM had been featuring Barbara Stanwyck films and I had set up my DVD to record them. At 3:30 AM, I was inserting another disc. As I removed the towel off the tv in my bedroom (to enable me to snooze while the recording was in progress), there was the tail end of "Cry Wolf" [1947] flashing onscreen.
• • Mark continued: Barbara Stanwyck's character is in a room and a Mae West carnival chalkware doll is on display! What a lark to spot that movie moment! Mark added: These are often found on eBay and can go for quite a price.
• • Barbara Stanwyck [16 July 1907 — 20 January 1990] • •
• • Little Ruby Catherine Stevens was born in Brooklyn, New York on 16 July 1907. She was still under-age when she was hired as a dancer by Texas Guinan. During the years when she was onstage as part of Texas Guinan's mob, or slinking around in several of Guinan's glamourous ginmills as one of the troupe, the slim chorus girl Ruby had been noticed by Mae West, a friend of the night club czarina. Texas Guinan was a chain-smoker and, unfortunately, many of her dancers fell under the spell of nicotine.
• • In 1927, the five-foot-five brunette made her screen debut in "Broadway Nights" as a fan dancer. Between 1927 — 1986, she racked up 102 credits for motion pictures and TV work. Her earliest roles situated her screen persona as a low-class female making her way in life.
• • It is possible that, while filming "The Thorn Birds" in 1983, the inhalation of special-effects smoke on the set may have incited her bronchitis attack. She would have been at risk for pulmonary problems anyway, thanks to her life-long romance with cigarettes.
• • Barbara Stanwyck died of congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Saturday, 20 January 1990. She was 82.
• • On Sunday, 20 January 1929 • •
• • On Sunday, 20 January 1929 Mae brought "Diamond Lil" to Chicago, where it made its Midwest debut to a packed house. For most of the 16-week engagement, the play attracted a large audience in the Windy City.
• • Mae West and Sgt Pepper • •
• • Which of the people represented on the cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band along with Mae West have died?
• • One actor who died in the month of January is handsome Johnny Weissmuller, who left us on Friday, 20 January 1984. He died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I've always taken the rap for the Code — — but it was really those Barbara Stanwyck pictures (i.e., 'Babyface') that did it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Pre-Code movies mentioned Mae West.
• • Susan King wrote: Though a number of these films revolved around the gangster world, including 1930's "Little Caesar," 1931's "The Public Enemy" and 1932's "Scarface," these pre-code films were generally dominated by strong female actresses such as Mae West, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, and Clara Bow.
• • Susan King explained: Women were much more sexually aggressive in pre-code films, morals were loose. Their dialogue was suggestive. And their often skimpy outfits left little to the imagination. Some actresses who starred in pre-code films flourished after the code crackdown in 1934. But others, like Mae West, whose image was so sexually charged, lost audiences as a more sanitized version of herself. ...
• • Source: Article: "Classic Hollywood: Pre-code films out from Warner Archive" written by Susan King for The L.A. Times; published on Sunday, 8 January 2012
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2552nd 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 • • figurine • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC Mae West.
