Mae West: A Damp Squib

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 65 of 68.
• • Mae West in Hollywood 1932 – 1943 • •
• • Mae West: A high point in a damp squib • •

• • Andy Goulding wrote: It’s a high point amongst what is, unfortunately, a damp squib of a film.
• • Andy Goulding wrote: While “The Heat’s On” might feel like a limp ending to Mae West’s glory days, it was only the end of her screen years (not counting the roundly-panned duo of films she made in the 70s, later reclaimed by some as artefacts of high camp).
• • Andy Goulding wrote: Though her popularity as a screen attraction had waned, she was not recognised as an institution thoroughly embedded in the culture and her return to her stage roots, including lucrative stints in Las Vegas, proved wildly popular.
• • Mae West: Resisted a return to the screen for 27 years • • …
• • Note: Drawing of Walter Plunkett's beautiful gown for Mae West.
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Blueprint Reviews U.K.; posted on Friday, 3 December 2021.
• • On 28 December 1919 on Broadway • •
• • It was 28 December 1919 and Mae West was very busy in Manhattan — — double-booked, in fact.
• • The 26-year-old "firefly of vaudeville" was appearing that night at the Lyric Theatre [on 42nd Street, west of Broadway]. Sharing the Lyric bill with her were these entertainers: Eugene and Willie, the Howard Brothers; Carl McCullough; the 4 Haley Sisters; and "8 other favorite acts."
• • On the same night, Mae West performed at the 44th Street Theatre [near Broadway]. On the program was the top-billed act — — Sophie Tucker and Her Kings of Syncopation — — along with Ames and Winthrop, Mae West, Riggs and Witchie, and "8 other favorite acts."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Though Mae West staked her claim on the shimmy-shewabble, alas, so did Gilda Gray, who was eight years younger, lithe, lean, and long-legged — — and inclined to shake her chemise.
• • In Her Own Words • •

• • Mae West said: "Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big, black space where the audience is."
• • Mae West said: "But above all, you've gotta have a certain something."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Film Bulletin mentioned Mae West.
• • “Every Day’s a Holiday” Is One of Mae West’s Best Paramount [80 Minutes] • •
• • Where Mae West has always been popular, the recent publicity about her radio role will hardly be an adverse factor. This will get good grosses.
• • In the smaller family communities she has probably been hurt but, then, her pictures probably meant little there before.
• • The story is laid in 1899, with Mae portraying the part of a shrewd confidence woman who sells Brooklyn Bridge to a tourist played by Herman Bing.  …
• • Source: Film Bulletin; published on Saturday, 1 January 1938
• • 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 5,145th 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 1943 and in 1933 • •
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Mae West: Acted in the “Olio”

MAE WEST met her fans on the silver screen and between the pages of the day’s popular fan magazines, all of whom skated dizzily on the surface of facts and never did any fact-checking. This is the first section, Part 1, segment 30 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: Took part in the “olio” • •

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: As a member of the stock company, when there were no child parts in the plays, she was called upon to take part in what are known in old-fashioned plays as "olios," or vaudeville acts in between the scenes of the plays.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She sang popular songs and gave her imitations, being what was known on the billboards as a "coon shouter."  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: It was at this stage of the game, she avers, that she learned to roll her eyes, a propensity, however, that had to be curbed when she became, for the sake of drama, "Little Eva" or "Little Red Riding Hood."
• • Mae West: Discovered she liked being around boys • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Sunday, 27 June 1954 • •

• • On Sunday night, 27 June 1954, Mae West delighted the Las Vegas club goers — — and the female patrons stormed the stage — — when the bodybuilders in "The Mae West Revue" filed into the Sahara's Congo Room.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was all about breaking rules. Mae made her film debut at age 40 in the 1932 “Night After Night,” in a supporting role for which she wrote her own dialogue.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Sex is emotion in motion."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A trade magazine mentioned Mae West and Mike Todd.
• • Mike Todd has penciled in "Catherine Was Great," the Mae West opus for late June. …
• • Source: Billboard Magazine; published on Saturday, 3 June 1944
• • 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 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,024th 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 • • at The Sahara in 1954 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Mischievous Child

MAE WEST met her fans on the silver screen and between the pages of the day’s popular fan magazines, all of whom skated dizzily on the surface of facts and never did any fact-checking. This is the first section, Part 1, segment 19 of 32.
• • "The Real Mae West" • •
• • Mae West: A Bushwick kid who got into mischief often • •    
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She was one of those children whom all the neighborhood knows — you know the sort — a forceful little mite, getting into every kind of mischief (instituting most of it), determined to see it through — the sort that all the other children look to for leadership and a jolly good time of it, and the kind grown-ups watch and frown upon.

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She became used to the public eye at an early age because she took part in neighborhood theatricals.  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: She was a child actress at the age of five, and strange as it may seem in the light of subsequent events, one of her most popular roles was that of the angelic child of all times, the studiously polite and decorous little being of the velvet suit and lace collar, known to the world as "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
• • Mae West: How she acquired that insinuating strut • • ...   
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: The New Movie Magazine; issue dated for June 1934.
• • On Saturday, 10 June 1911 • •
• • On Saturday, 10 June 1911, it was clear that Mae West had impressed the New York critics when she appeared in "A Florida Enchantment," a two act comedy staged at Columbia Theatre. The Columbia Amusement Company was an Eastern burlesque wheel run by Henry Jacobs and John Jermon. This regional tour of “A Florida Enchantment” lasted a few months and, yes, it was onstage in Milwaukee in April 1911.
• • Under the headline "The Eastern Wheel Openings" was a lengthy review of a production by The Big Gaiety Company (Eastern).
• • “Mae West was an enticing enchantress, with a slight French accent,” they wrote.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Born in Wichita, Kansas, Black actress Hattie McDaniel was billed in the credits of Mae West starrer “I’m No Angel” (1933) as Tira's Maid — Manicurist. She has a June birthdate — — Friday, 10 June 1892.
• • After a remarkable career, Ms. McDaniel died on Sunday, 26 October 1952 in Woodland Hills, California. She was 60 years of age when she died of breast cancer.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • To Henry Hathaway in 1936 Mae West said: "I don't need the dog's ass wiggling to get a laugh in my picture. I get my own laughs."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Hartford Courant mentioned Mae West.
• • You can give your book a Mae-West-title but will it find favor with critics ― ― or the public?  
• • Book critic M.A. Turner did not think much of "Come Up and See Me Sometime," describing it as "A Flat Addition to the Tedious Single-girl Subgenre."
• • "Come Up and See Me Sometime," published by Scribner, was written by Erika Krouse (202 pages). Poor Erika. …
• • Source: The Hartford Courant; published on Sunday, 10 June 2001
• • 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 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,013th 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 • • center of this montage Mae in 1912 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: James Brockman

Though most vaudevillians honed an act and toured with it for years, MAE WEST was always seeking new material. Moreover, she liked singing about rough and tumble types such as a grizzly bear and a cave man.
• • Kendis and Brockman wrote "I Want a Cave Man . . .,” a novelty number that Mae really grooved to.
• • In 1919, James Kendis [1883 — 1946] and James Brockman [1878 — 1967] were located at 145 West 45th Street in New York when they released this song.
• • James Brockman was born on Sunday, 8 December 1878.
• • Some sources have said he was born in Russia, then emigrated to New York. Supposedly, his birth name was Jacob Brachman.  Since it was often mis-pronounced, he Americanized it to “James Brockman.” 
• • The full title of the song Mae West included in her routines for four years (from 1919—1923) was "I Want a Cave Man Like William Hart — — The Movie Star" [words and music by James Kendis and James Brockman; arrangement by Freda Applebaum; published and copyrighted in June 1919]. Though "I Want a Cave Man" is a number ostensibly about Bill Hart, a Western film star, the lyrics reveal very little association with Hart except the fact that a title like this would capitalize on his famous name.
• • James Brockman successfully composed music for the film industry. He died in Santa Monica, California in May — — on Monday, 22 May 1967. He was 88 years old.
• • On Friday, 22 May 1936 • •
• • Graham Greene reviewed "Klondike Annie" for London's publication The Spectator, printed on Friday, 22 May 1936.
• • Unlike so many critics, Greene praised Mae's satire on the revivalists, astutely noting that "it never occurred to me that Miss West's conversion was to be taken seriously." He wrote: "I am completely uncritical of Mae West. I enjoy every one of her films . . . ."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •

• • Owen Moore is back from New York to play with Mae West in her first Paramount starring vehicle, "Ruby Red." He is abandoning a personal appearance tour which started in Hollywood last April and which has taken him through the South and East. 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Too many women make the mistake of waking up some morning and saying, 'I am no longer attractive to men.'  That does it, brother, from then on they're not!"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Billboard mentioned Mae West.
• • “Mae West to Invade Atlantic City” • •
• • NEW YORK. Aug. 8. — — Mae West's new one, “The Constant Sinner,” is set to open in Atlantic City on August 24, with Mae in the lead. Now rehearsing under direction of Lawrence Marston. The much fought-over play “Daughter of Diamond Lil” seems to have been dropped.
• • Show is Shubert backed.
• • Those contracts that Equity has received have been signed by Joe Gaites. No bond as yet posted.
• • Source: Billboard; published on Saturday, 15 August 1931
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,480th 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 • • sketch in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Loses Cooch

After the huge acclaim “Diamond Lil” enjoyed on Broadway, a box office bonanza and critical darling both, it would seem that the future would forever look bright for MAE WEST.
• • Certainly, a false and distorted ideal of one career success after another was described in her memoir. 
• • But if you flip through Variety during 1930, especially a number of several dismal entries for Mae West during May, bitter truths emerge.
• • Let’s have a look at what Mae was up against just one month after the nerve-wracking “Pleasure Man” trial — — another battle that she fought her way through.
• • “Mae West Blue: Loses Cooch” • •
• • Variety wrote: Operation for removal of her cooch dance on Mae West’s act, after the opening at Fox’s Audubon, was Mae West’s first date on a Fox percentage route.

• • Variety wrote:The West turn at the uptown Fox Theatre was reported to have reached a new level in blue stuff. Management decided to cut out all the dirt, but later, from accounts, discovered that if cutting the dirt, nothing would be left. Decision was to let it go as was — —all but the cooch.
• • Variety wrote: Prior to going with Fox, Mae West was submitted to R-K-O and Loew’s — — and rejected by both.
• • Note: Built in 1912, Fox’s Audubon, 3950 Broadway, NYC, had 2,368 seats.
• • Source: Variety; published on Wednesday, 7 May 1930.
• • On Monday, 21 May 1973 in Variety • •
• • A brief item appeared in Variety on Monday, 21 May 1973.  Mae West mentioned she was writing a new book "Sex Drive," that would include real names and be largely autobiographical.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “If you can’t go straight, you have to go around.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Time Magazine reviewed a film starring Mae West.
• • Cinema: The New Pictures • •
• • Time Magazine wrote: “Goin' to Town” (Paramount). “She Done Him Wrong,” the first picture in which Mae West was starred, was her funniest.
• • Time Magazine wrote: “I'm No Angel” made the most money, $3,000,000. The cleanest was “Belle of the Nineties,” at the height of last summer's Legion of Decency Campaign.
• • Time Magazine wrote: “Goin' to Town” is the only one which deals with the contemporary scene [sic] but, aside from this detail, it is distinguished mainly by the strictness with which it adheres to the basic Mae West formula which, as the constant element in all four of her productions, can now ...
• • Source: Time Magazine; published on Monday, 20 May 1935 
• • 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 15th 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 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,479th 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 • • news in May 1930 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Enchantment Reviewed

On Saturday, 10 June 1911, it was clear that MAE WEST had impressed the New York critics when she appeared in "A Florida Enchantment," a two act comedy staged at Columbia Theatre.  The Columbia Amusement Company was an Eastern burlesque wheel run by Henry Jacobs and John Jermon. This regional tour of  “A Florida Enchantment” lasted a few months and, yes, it was onstage in Milwaukee in April 1911.
• • Under the headline "The Eastern Wheel Openings" was a lengthy review of a production by The Big Gaiety Company (Eastern).  Let's discover what was on the Program. 
• • N.B.: The text below follows the spelling, punctuation, errors, and style of The New York Clipper's coverage — — printed 104 years ago. You will note that, in one paragraph, Frank Wallace became a "Fred" Wallace.
• • The Eastern Wheel Openings • •
• • The New York Clipper wrote:  At the Columbia Theatre last week, this company opened its first New York engagement. 
• • "A Florida Enchantment" is the two act comedy, dealing with the flirtation of Meyerwurst, a woman hater, with a little French adventuress, a partner of a young con man.  Harry W. Fields played the German, while Al Herman, in a funny make-up as a Jew, introduced some novel comicalities. Eddie Lovett, with a series of natty suits, was the affable "Cheathem," and acted well, also singing several catchy songs.  Barry Melton looked handsome In several fine gowns, and led several numbers in clever style. William Betts was a polite lunatic, with some funny capers; also Lord Bonehead.  Albert Dunstan was an acrobatic waiter, Eddie Miller a detective, Frank Wallace, Young Goldberg.  Mae West was an enticing enchantress, with a slight French accent. Etta Wood was the jealous and energetic Mrs. Goldberg, and Catherine German had a few lines as Miss Meyerwurst.
• • Mae West sang "Tiger Love" • •
• • The numbers Included "Think It Over, Mary" by Frank Wallace and the girls; "Kiss Me," by Miss Melton; "Girl of My Dreams," by Mr. Lovett, with leading stars impersonated by sundry girls;  "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey," by Catherine Gorman, who sang the catchy verses, assisted by the girls, with several sorts of cuddling  movements; the operatic finale to the first act, by the entire company; a recitation about "Worry," by Mr. Lovett;  "Tiger Love," by Mae West and the girls, and "Some of These Days," by Miss Melton.  Some novel business, with Mr. Fields occupying an orchestra seat, flirting with Miss West, and back talk with Eddie Lovett, caught the house — — Mr. Fields being finally ejected by an usher.
• • Mae West and Fred Wallace [sic] sang several coon songs • •
• • The olio had Irene Dillon, who appeared in several character changes, and rendered several songs, including a baby number. She did well with all of them. Mae West and Fred Wallace [sic] sang several coon songs, with Miss West making several changes down to full tights, with good effect.  Al Herman, in black face, presented some novel business in his monologue, and employed his powerful voice to good advantage. The Five Musical Gormans, two men and three girls, played various musical Instruments, especially strong in brass, with the youngster pounding the drum and the bass drum, also playing the xylophone in clever style. The lady cornetist executed some good solos.
• • Sydney Dean, assisted by Messrs. Dunstan, Betts and Miller, presented "Christmas on Blackwells lsland," which made a big hit on their previous appearance at this house, and Mr. Dean received several encores for his finishing song.
• • The chorus of fourteen girls worked well. W. J. Rostetter Is the musical director.
• • Source:  Review in The New York Clipper; published on Saturday, 10 June 1911.  
• • On Sunday, 10 June 2001 in The Hartford Courant • •
• • You can give your book a Mae-West-title but will it find favor with critics or the public?  Book critic M.A. Turner did not think much of "Come Up and See Me Sometime," describing it as "A Flat Addition To Tedious Single-girl Subgenre" on Sunday, 10 June 2001 in The Hartford Courant. "Come Up and See Me Sometime," published by Scribner, was written by Erika Krouse (202 pages). Oh, dear. Poor Erika Krouse.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • I am told that Mae West weighs more than one or two nutmegs — — but she is not British.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Back in 1926, I wrote and starred in the play 'Sex,' the first time the word was ever used on stage in that manner."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California newspaper discussed Mae West.
• • "Mae West Starred in Granada Program" • •

• • Mae West proved to Hollywood that she is the most versatile woman in America during the filming of her new picture, "She Done Him Wrong," opening Sunday at the Granada theater.  
• • This prolific star, who wrote the script for her first starring vehicle, has always written her own stage plays, has published two novels, authored the lyrics for several of the songs [sic] composed by Ralph Rainger [7 October 1901 — 23 October 1942] for her new motion picture, and, besides, turns out sketches and material for other performers in her spare time.  . . .
• • Source: Item on page 6 in The Bakersfield Californian; published on Saturday, 10 June 1933 
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,100 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3197th 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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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
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