Mae West: Top Billing

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 61 of 68.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Her next film was in 1943 • •
• • “THE HEAT’S ON” (79 mins., 1943) • •

• • Mae West’s role: Fay Lawrence • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: “The Heat’s On” was Mae West’s first film in three years but something was very different.
• • Mae Got Top Billing • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: While she still received top billing over the title, she had to share it with two men.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Her name was nowhere to be found amongst the writing and story credits.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Worst of all, her screen-time was negligible and her performance disengaged and without the wit or flair audiences had come to associate with her.
• • Mae West: Not good but not bad either • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Sunday, 21 December 1969 • •
• • "Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be Wonderful" ran the headline of a lengthy piece on Mae West in the L.A. Times's Sunday magazine section called West.  It was published on 21 December 1969 and quoted her tips on staying youthful and living a happy life.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Mae West is tight-lipped, that's what she is, about her personal affairs.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "There he was with a show house that wasn't doing so good, and there I was with a play that I was certain would make him money. He wouldn't take it. He wouldn't even read it."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A review of "Belle of the Nineties" mentioned Mae West and the music.
• • Abel wrote: "Troubled Waters" introduces a little of the Elder Michaux revival meeting. That's in the offing, but within seeming earshot, and thus Mae West does a semi-spiritual against the heated colored revival meeting background which productionally is rather well worked in. ...
• • Source: Variety; published on Tuesday, 25 September 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 5,141st 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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • lobby card in 1943 and in 1956 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Lower Energy

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 34.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: “My Old Flame” and its pleasing simplicity • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: And the film trusts in the strength of the soon-to-be-standard “My Old Flame” to present it with a pleasing simplicity.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: “Belle of the Nineties” may be a comparative disappointment in the Mae West filmography but it still entertains sufficiently for its fleeting runtime and Mae West running on reduced energy levels is still more fun to watch than the average lead actor of the age firing on all cylinders.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Still, the PCA weren’t going anywhere for a few decades and West’s career from hereon in would be coloured by uncharacteristic compromise.
• • Mae West: Her films followed a certain formula • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On 2 November 1969 in The N.Y. Times • •
• • A lengthy article appeared in the Sunday magazine section of The N.Y. Times on 2 November 1969: "76 — — and Still Diamond Lil" written by Steven V. Roberts and punctuated with several photos of the Brooklyn Bombshell at various career points. The first portrait showed Mae costumed by Edith Head for her role as Leticia Van Allen.
• • From Hollywood, Steven V. Roberts wrote: "I hold records all over the world. That's my ego, breaking records. So don't say they put me in someone else's room."
• • Steven V. Roberts explained: Mae West was not happy. Her soft voice took on a tense shrillness as she continued. "I'd like to see someone break records like that and I'll respect them as a star. 'Til someone can do that, I feel I'm in a class by myself. The only other person I know who could write his own movies and star in them was Chaplin.”
• • Steven V. Roberts added: The tirade had been triggered by a casual remark that Miss West was getting Barbra Streisand's old dressing room at 20th Century-Fox during the production of "Myra Breckinridge," Gore Vidal's garden of sexual hybrids.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Mae West's bawdy take-it-or-leave-it embrace of the double entendre sent the censors into a tizzy — — and it also has made Mae West a very rich woman in the process.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "My mother, I believe, realized that perhaps her new baby was really different from what could ordinarily be expected of a daughter. She was right; I was different. And to her I owe the opportunities that allowed me to start acting when most kids my age were still taking their meals out of a high-chair and the present crop of Hollywood darlings were being coddled."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California paper mentioned Mae West.
• • But if your fat is your fortune, as in the case of Mae West, that’s a different story! ...
• • Source: Sausalito News; published on Friday, 2 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 5,112th 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 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Rapturous Rituals

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 33.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: Duke Ellington’s Orchestra altered musical numbers • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, West’s usual snatches of scattered tunes are replaced by some big production numbers.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: The opening “My American Beauty” involves several impressive costume and scenery changes, and a bizarre and somewhat un-PC sequence involving a campily overwrought African-American spiritual service is impressively handled by Leo McCarey as he inter-cuts its rapturous rituals with a lonely solo performance by Mae West.
• • Mae West: “My Old Flame” — pleasing simplicity • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Wednesday, 1 November 1933 • •
• • On Wednesday, 1 November 1933, Mae West rehearsed "Frankie and Johnny" for the broadcast on "The Rudy Vallée Hour." The music for the orchestra was arranged by Elliott Jacobi.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • There are tantalizing flashes of insight about how Marilyn Monroe developed her screen persona: Natasha Lytess encouraged her to imitate Mae West’s walk. And Johnny Hyde told her to study Charlie Chaplin’s movies.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “I take an enema every single day of my life — — after I leave the bathroom, you can go in and fry an egg.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Palm Springs newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • Louis Sobol wrote: Johnnie Ray travels backstage of the Latin Quarter to pose for a few camera shots with Mae West.  ...
• • Source: Gossip column item in Desert Sun; published on Monday, 1 November 1954
• • 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 5,111th 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 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Pre-marital Sex

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 32.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: The re-shot ending • •
• • Andy Goulding wrote: The re-shot ending, originally intended to feature a pre-marital sexual encounter, was replaced by a wedding scene.

• • Andy Goulding wrote: It seems naive at best to imagine such a scene could convince audiences that Mae West’s character was a virgin up until then, but the interference of the PCA was clearly driven less by plot credibility than by a desire to banish West from screens altogether.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Amidst the resulting rubble of the storyline, it is the musical numbers that really stand out in “Belle of the Nineties.”
• • Mae West: How Duke Ellington’s Orchestra altered the musical numbers • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On Tuesday, 31 October 1933 • •
• • Headlines on this date emphasized the big box office Mae's movie was doing. For instance, "West Bubbles Hub [Boston] for $47,000" was circulated by wire on Tuesday, 31 October 1933.
• • On Tuesday, 31 October 1933 in New York World-Telegram • •
• • Mae West told Douglas Gilbert, a vaudeville reporter, "Women much prefer to be feminine, believe me."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Did Mae West enjoy kissing onscreen?

• • "You've gotta have romance, and what's romance without some kissing?" Mae West remarked. "And unless kissing is real, it doesn't look real. When I kiss 'em, I give 'em something to talk about."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "If I am told to take out a line, then I take it out without argument."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood columnist mentioned Mae West and her play “Klondike Lou.”
• • Mike Connolly wrote: Mae West and Steve Cochran are paging Peter Ustinov to do a rewrite job on their new play, "Klondike Lou," and act in it, too. …
• • Source: The Desert Sun; published on Friday, 31 October 1958
• • 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 5,110th 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 1934 and in 1947 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest