Mae West: Joy Unrefined

MAE WEST was a soft touch for a hard luck story. Mae rarely discussed her generosity in an interview, however, which makes this seldom seen piece in Screenland worth reading. This is Part 11 of 18 segments.
• • Mae West’s Secret Self • •
• • Mae West: Joy Was Unrefined • •

• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: They certainly did. There was no stopping that gathering once it got under way, and the guests ate too much and drank too much and joy was unrefined.
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Did Hollywood stare! The guests — there were two hundred of them — came to the party by the busload. The hostess didn't even know their names!  
• • Aileen St. John Brenon wrote: Yes, Mae West, who has captured London, Paris, Park Avenue, Main Street, and the Bronx by her free and easy ways, who exhibits sex without moonlight, flowers, or sweet whispers, who scorns Betsy Ross because all she could make was a flag, is big-hearted when she gives a party, and her invitation was carte blanche.
• • Mae West: Had a busy life • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Screenland; issue dated for October 1933.   
• • On Sunday, 1 August 1937 • •
• • "Mae West's Romance Told by Husband" • •
• • Frank Wallace, the man Mae West wed in April 1911 but ditched soon after, seemed to have the best memory in the world. Or so he convinced the Los Angeles reporter who sat down with him for this lengthy interview published in Singapore on Sunday, 1 August 1937.
• • Reading the page 1 article, "Mae West's Romance Told by Husband," you would think Mae has the same determined let's-march-down-the-aisle outlook on relationships that rings true for the Harlequin romance audience. Ummm, well, that's Frank's silly story anyway.
• • The Straits Times wrote: "Mae West and I were playing in New York when the intoxicating truth dawned on me that Mae loved me," recalled Frank Wallace.  ... "Mae," he added, "seemed restless and suddenly she blurted out, 'Honey, my lungs need ventilation. Let's walk to the park.' 'Okay, sweetie, I replied. 'Let's go.' Hand in hand we walked through the streets of Milwaukee ... Then like a bolt out of the sky, she spoke in that throaty voice of hers.  'Where's it all taking us, Frank?' ... 'How much longer can we go on this way?' ...."
• • Source: The Straits Times (Singapore); published on Sunday, 1 August 1937.
• • On Sunday, 1 August 1971 • •
• • Mae West was featured in Parade Magazine (issue dated for Sunday, 1 August 1971).    
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Film critics are predicting that you will see another new and sensational star — none other than Mae West, the "Diamond Lil" of Broadway.  
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Good sex is like good bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Mae West Takes to Flying" • •
• • A member of the British Coastal Command, who painted a curvaceous image of Mae West in costume on his parachute equipment, nicknamed "the Mae West," was featured.  Yes, he admitted he was a big fan of the screen siren. …
• • Source: Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 180; published on Friday, 1 August 1941
• • 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 5,000 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eighteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 5,049th 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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • Mae West with orphans in 1933 • •
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Mae West: Blind Ambition

At last, MAE WEST gets an outstanding, intimate biography by a family member, her step-son, whose education she financed. This is Part 4 of 7.
• • “Mae West and the Count — — Love and Loss on the Vaudeville Stage” by Guido Roberto Deiro
• • Reviewed exclusively for The Mae West Blog by R. Mark Desjardins
• • Timony shielded Mae from unsavory bigamy charges • •
• • Interesting, is that Mae’s name is listed as “Catherine Mae Belle,” a name she later used for characters in films and plays. Jim Timony, Mae’s lifelong friend and lawyer, in order to shield Mae from publicity and a possible bigamy charge, arranged to have the divorce accelerated and the alias used.
• • Matilda West was viewed differently by her Italian son-in-law • •

• • Mae West placed her mother Matilda on a pedestal, and credited her with shaping her into a star. The author pulls back the curtain behind the scenes at the West home to give us glimpses of a very tough stage mother who lived vicariously through her daughter's career, and went to great lengths to ensure that nothing got in the way of her blind ambition for Mae.
• • Count Deiro appears to be one of the few men who ever stood up to Matilda.
• • Book possesses “the ring of truth” • • . . .
• • Mr. Desjardins’ book review will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: “Mae West and the Count” — — a biography by Guido Roberto Deiro. [Outskirts Press; published on 20 March 2019; 331 pages.]
• • Released on Tuesday, 9 August 1994 • •
• • The documentary film "Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her" was released in the USA on Tuesday, 9 August 1994.
• • Gene Feldman [1920 — 25 August 2006] directed this bio-pic.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Enough for a Hollywood reporter to remember he must not bring up the subject of clothes to Kay Francis; must not infer Irene Dunne is cultivated and well-mannered, even though it is obvious in all she says and does; must not write of Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in the same paragraph. Mention of Mae West’s business acumen is taboo, and Sonia Henie’s enormous earnings as a skating star of rink and screen must be ignored.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “The best way to hold a man is in your arms.”
• • Mae West said: “I had to stay in command of my career.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Photoplay mentioned Mae West.
• • Broadway’s Steve Cochran (he last appeared on the stage with Mae West in “Diamond Lil”) has just about become Hollywood’s most despicable heavy. But there’s no doubt but what he’ll be handed his stardom after this performance.  …
• • Source: Photoplay; published in the issue dated for March 1951
• • 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 4,200 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4275th 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
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