Mae West: Belle’s Toll

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 9 of 9 parts, the last excerpt from this book.
• • Mae West: A new uproar over “objectionable pictures” • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: But although the New York censors—not Breen—had forced the change, the Production Code administrator had learned a lesson.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Leniency was condemned, not rewarded.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: “Belle of the Nineties” would become the last Mae West picture to escape the full force of the Breen scissors.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: While Paramount snipped at “Belle of the Nineties,” Breen watched the Catholic furor mount.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: According to a midwestern newspaper, “the general sentiment against objectionable pictures has reached the point where intelligent theatre men [exhibitors] are beginning to take stock of the situation.”
• • This excerpt from the book has now been concluded. Did you enjoy it? Tell us if you've read the whole book already.
• • 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 Saturday, 21 April 1934 • •

• • Mae West on the front page of "Picture Show Magazine" thrilled her British fans.
• • On Monday, 21 April 1975 • •
• • Released in a hardcover edition on Monday, 21 April 1975 was "Mae West on Sex, Health and E.S.P." ―  ―  written by Mae West.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Change of bill at the New York Paramount Theatre takes place on Thursday again this week.
• • Mae West in person on the stage and the Mae West film, "She Done Him Wrong," are the chief portions of the program.
• • Stage show also will include Georges Metaxa, Cliff Edwards and others.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I always use gags and wisecracks to get away from the sentimental."
• • 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: Shortly before the prison van arrived, Miss West sent an answer by a keeper to the written questions of reporters who inquired how she felt and how she had enjoyed her first (sic) night in prison. "Not so bad," wrote the actress. "The inmates were very interesting. Will have enough material for ten shows. I didn't think so much of the bed." ...
• • Note the words “the 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 4,977th 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 • • in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

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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• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • onscreen in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Special Outrage

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 7 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: What happened next hurt Mae • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: She still hungered for “men and masculine charms,” and she still turned phrases: as her maid walked away, Mae West looked at her posterior and remarked, “I see it in your face.”

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: After Breen, “Belle of the Nineties” still had piquancy.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: What happened next hurt Mae West more than Breen had.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Darkening the shadow cast by the Legion of Decency, the New York censors objected to the theme, dialogue, and situations in “Belle of the Nineties” and rejected the picture.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Board members were especially outraged by a happy ending that promised sex without marriage.
• • Mae West: “I’ll cool it off!” • •  …  
• • This will be continued 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 Tuesday, 19 April 1927 • •
• • The sentencing of Mae West, Jim Timony, and the cast of "Sex" took place on Tuesday, 19 April 1927 in Jefferson Market Court (General Sessions).
• • That trial and the dramatic guilty verdict end Act I of the full-length stage play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," a serious-minded comedy set during 1926 — 1932. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • On Thursday, 19 April 1928 • •
• • In his diary, Carl Van Vechten wrote: Then we go to see Mae West in "Diamond Lil," sitting in the front row. I like it even better than before. ...
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West, Broadway star who made such a sensational debut in films in "She Done Him Wrong," last year, will be seen soon in her second starring vehicle "I'm No Angel." This remarkable film won the distinction last year in America of being the most popular production of the year, and wherever else it has been screened it has generally proved an outstanding success.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.”
• • Mae West said: "He who hesitates is last."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The N.Y. Times mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Star In Raided Play Jailed and Fined" • •
• • Mae West the star of one of three recently raided Broadway plays was sentenced to ten days in the workhouse and a fine by Judge Donnellan today as the penalty for participating in an obscene performance. A similar sentence and fine were pronounced in the case of James A. Timony and a sentence without the fine for William Clarence Morganstern. All the other 19 defendants in the "Sex" case received suspended sentences.  ...
• • Source: The New York Times; published on Tuesday, 19 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 4,975th 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 • • Chicago newspaper ad in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Pushed Too Far

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 6 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: In many ways, controversy consolidated Breen’s position • •
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Two days later, Paramount agreed to make the cuts that Breen demanded, and the Production Code administrator approved the picture pending an acceptable final release print.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: “Belle of the Nineties” helped Joe Breen consolidate his position as an administrator.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Reminding the moguls of the vigilant eyes of the censors and the Catholics, he had scored points on “Belle” even as he let Manny Cohen retain some questionable lines and incidents; as he understood, pushed too far, Paramount would have appealed to the Hollywood Jury.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Mae West still appeared more the prostitute than the burlesque queen.
• • Mae West: The outcome hurt Mae • •  …  
• • This will be continued 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 Friday, 18 April 1969 in Life Magazine • •
• • Nationally, the weekend 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.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • During the 1920s, a common real estate ploy to increase land values and publicize the area was the community sponsored beauty contest. Mae West satirized phony beauty pageants in her stage play “The Wicked Age” but somehow never brought this content to Hollywood.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: The flair for writing her own plays, often raided by police, has brought Mae West to this point: preparing the galley proofs of the autobiography she wrote during the past two years and due for publication this fall. The title of it is "Empress of Sex." She says she wrote every word. And, she smiled, "I don't believe my book will be banned in Boston." ...
• • Source: Syndicated column rpt in Racine Journal Times Bulletin; published on Sunday, 12 April 1959
• • 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 4,974th 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 • • trade ad in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Flagrant Lines

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 5 of 9 parts.
• • Mae West: The screenplay for “Belle of the Nineties” • •  
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Another scenario also seems possible.

• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Should the contents of “Belle of the Nineties” have become known in Manhattan, Paramount could not have protected Zukor from the wrath of men like Sidney Kent.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: And equally important was that after cutting some of the more flagrant lines from the picture, Manny Cohen probably hoped that Breen would negotiate on the rest.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: Once Breen had approved "Belle of the Nineties," Cohen and Zukor could then blame the Production Code administrator for whatever controversy Mae West had provoked.
• • Leff and Simmons wrote: But Joseph Breen decided to send the rejection letter to Paramount Pictures, with a carbon to New York.
• • Mae West: In many ways, this controversy had consolidated Joe Breen’s position • •  …    
• • This will be continued 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 Tuesday, 15 April 2003 • •
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003, a paperback edition was published of this popular biography: "Mae West: An Icon in Black and White" by Jill Watts. A must-have title for any Mae maven.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mamie Van Doren told a Hollywood newsman: “Sex symbols defy definition. I have often tried to define it myself. A sex symbol becomes a code for everyone's erotic fantasy. These codes are very perishable in popular culture. For every Jean Harlow, Mae West, or Marilyn Monroe, there are scores of girls (and boys) who never made the cut.”
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I never understood drinking. It isn't good for your looks, and it cuts down on what you are. I never wanted to cut down on what I am."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Hollywood reporter interviewed Mae West in April 1959.
• • "Mae West Still Ahead in Her Battle with Age" • •
• • Erskine Johnson wrote: At times, Mae West is moving to a beach house in Santa Monica that she recently purchased to escape the smog. ...
• • Source: Syndicated column rpt in Racine Journal Times Bulletin; published on Sunday, 12 April 1959
• • 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 4,973rd 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 • • trade ad in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest