Mae West: Obscene Play Trial

Did MAE WEST spend nearly as much time in a courtroom as she did on a sound stage? Sometimes it seems that way, doesn't it? Let's turn back the Westian clock.
• • Mae West Freed • •
• • Jury Disagrees; State Not to Ask Retrial of 22 in Obscene Play Case • •
• • New York, A.P. ― A disagreement having ended the first trial, the district attorney's office indicated today that it would not ask a retrial of Mae West and her co-defendants on charges of presenting an indecent play.
• • A Jury, which had watched policemen reenact scenes from the play "Pleasure Man," written by Miss West, deliberated 10 hours, then reported to Judge Amedeo A. Bertini on Thursday night that it could not agree.

• • Court attaches said the Jury deadlocked with seven for conviction, five for acquittal. Miss West and 22 others, including the managers and actors in the company, were continued under bail.
• • Charges against 34 • •
• • Asst. District Attorney James G. Wallace, criticized the failure to reach a verdict but indicated he would recommend to District Attorney Crain that the State drop the case.
• • In dismissing the jury, Judge Bertini said: “The difficulties of legal administration and moral regulation of the theatre-going public, and the fact that it will never again be presented, may make it undesirable to try this case again. It may be just as well to let it go and consider that we have done our duty. “
• • The play was closed at its opening, Oct. 1, two nights after.
• • Source: Associated Press; published on Friday, 4 April 1930.
• • Note: The play had its Broadway debut on Monday, 1 October 1928. When the curtain fell, the entire cast was arrested. The play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes these true events.
• • On Thursday, 16 June 1932 • •
• • Mae West arrives on The Chief • •
• • It was on Thursday, 16 June 1932 when Mae West arrived in Pasadena, California on The Chief. She was unimpressed by the motion picture landscape she surveyed from the train station. "I'm a big girl from a big town," Mae told the Los Angeles reporters, "coming to a little town."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • It is no trick at all to publicize a Will Rogers picture or one of Mae West's.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "So this is the place where a leaf falls up in some canyon and they tell you it's winter."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about summer stock in Rhode Island mentioned Mae West.
• • Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent, writes: Rhode Island is a place noted for its watery location (hence its nickname, "The Ocean State"), and proliferation of theater offerings. Combing both, Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, a classic old barn-style theater near the ocean that when summer stock was the rage had the likes of Mae West, Marlon Brando, Art Carney, and other notables treading its boards, has opened for a season hosting four Tony Award-winning shows. ...
• • Source: Article: "Legendary RI summer theater opens for season" written by Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent, Globe Staff, Boston Globe; posted on Wednesday, 15 June 2011
• • 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 16th 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 4,700 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,757th 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 1930 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Writing Frisco Kate

During the tense period of the "Pleasure Man" trial, MAE WEST needed a respectable address to buttress her public image. After their mother died, the three siblings took a flat in Manhattan at 200 West 57th Street (opposite Carnegie Hall).
• • Nathan Burkan managed to keep his controversial client out of jail in 1930. However, the legal bills bankrupted the actress. [The play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes this trial and Mae's financial peril.]
• • To cope with the pain of losing her beloved mother and to give herself some new material to produce on Broadway (or peddle in Hollywood), Mae West took up her pen.  By the end of the year, she had finished "Frisco Kate." Years later, this unpublished drama would evolve into a screenplay for the film "Klondike Annie."
• • Mae West applied for a copyright on Monday, 15 December 1930.
• • On Friday, 17 December 1937 • •
• • On Friday, 17 December 1937 in The Hollywood Reporter industry people surely noticed an article about Mae West on page 1:  "Legion of Decency Drive Impends on Radio 'Sacrilege'." This piece continued on page 4.
• • On Friday, 17 December 1937 • •
• • An article appeared on the front cover of The Cornell Daily Sun on Friday, 17 December 1937 — — above the fold. The title was "Propriety of Mae West Broadcast Questioned."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Harold Hecht, dance director of the stage and screen, has been signed by Paramount to stage the dances for Mae West's starring picture, "Ruby Red."
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I enjoyed the courtroom as any other stage." 
• • Mae West said: "I'm not just a star — — I'm a writer as well. And a thinker! I always keep busy."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about Hollywood movies mentioned Mae West.
• • Ralph Wilk wrote: Mae West, upon finishing her starring role in Paramount's "She Done Him Wrong," leaves for personal appearances in New York's Brooklyn, in Chicago, and other eastern spots.
• • Source: "A Little from 'Lots'" written by Ralph Wilk for The Film Daily; published on Friday, 23 December 1932  
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started nine years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2811th 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 • • copyright entry in 1930 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West

Mae West: Sex and Sarah

Making news on Friday, 15 June 1951 was the on-going battle between MAE WEST and actress Sarah Allen.

• • According to the pre-trial coverage, Sarah Allen had appeared in the cast of "Diamond Lil" during its 1949 tour.  She then developed her own act impersonating Mae who, at first, was so charmed that she gave the younger woman permission to include the number "Come Up and See Me Sometime." But after Miss Allen "wowed them in Bayonne, NJ with a stand-out performance," Mae's admiration cooled. "Since then Miss West not only accused her of stealing her act, but used her influence on agents to keep Miss Allen from getting stage jobs," noted the newspapers.

• • "Did Mae West Make Sex Famous?" was one headline.

• • Allen's petition, couched in rhyme began: "Can Sarah's spinal modulations/ Be subject to West's regulations?/ For buxom Mae now makes the claim/ Of introducing sex to fame!"

• • Taking her beef to the New York Supreme Court, and claiming she was slandered, she slapped a million dollar suit against the screen queen and hired lawyer Harry H. Lipsig. On Friday, 15 June 1951 there was an examination before trial in Manhattan.

• • Miss West's attorneys Klein and Weir said they had returned a point-by-point denial of the charges.

• • Mahlon Hamilton [15 June 1880 — 20 June 1960] • •

• • Born in Virginia during the month of June — — on 15 June 1880 — — Mahlon Hamilton was cast as a sideshow spectator in the opening scene of "I'm No Angel" [1933], one of the men pressing closer to ogle Tira in her hilariously over-the-top "Little Egypt" costume. Stricken by cancer, the busy bit part player also died in June, on 20 June 1960, in Woodland Hills, California shortly after his 80th birthday.

• • Ben Astar [15 June 1909 — 20 October 1988] • •

• • Born in Palestine [now Israel] during the month of June — — on 15 June 1909 — — Ben Astar portrayed an Israeli delegate in "Sextette" [1978]. Always cast as an ethnic with a foreign accent, the character actor stayed busy from 1950 — 1983 and died on 20 October 1988 in Tarzana, California at the age of 79.

• • In June 1919 • •

• • It was June 1919 when Mae West was wrapping up a successful long-running engagement in "Sometime," a musical comedy on Broadway with Ed Wynn.

• • On Saturday, 15 June 1935 • •

• • It was on  Saturday, 15 June 1935 that Mae West made headlines in The Hutchinson News [Hutchinson, Kansas].  Here's the story:  A controversy developed over Hollywood starlet Mae West's sometimes marriages. Her latest film "Goin' to Town" at the air-conditioned Fox Theatre, featured West as a married woman taking two husbands and the third — — who had met an untimely demise — — all to get her clutches on the one she actually wanted.

• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said (about Sarah Allen): "It takes more than platinum blonde hair and shapely hips to be like Mae West."

• • Quote, Unquote • •

• • An article about summer stock in Rhode Island mentioned Mae West.

• • Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent, writes: Rhode Island is a place noted for its watery location (hence its nickname, "The Ocean State"), and proliferation of theater offerings. Combing both, Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, a classic old barn-style theater near the ocean that when summer stock was the rage had the likes of Mae West, Marlon Brando, Art Carney, and other notables treading its boards, has opened for a season hosting four Tony Award-winning shows. ...

• • Source: Article: "Legendary RI summer theater opens for season" written by Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent, Globe Staff, Boston Globe; posted on 15 June 2011

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2332nd 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 • • 1951 trial • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
NYC  Mae West.