Mae West: Noah Near Her Boa

MAE WEST worked in one project with a character actor who was born in January — — 17 January 1882.
• • In "She Done Him Wrong" [1933] the bejeweled chanteuse and brash entertainer Lady Lou (Mae West) works in the 1890s Bowery saloon of her boss and benefactor Gus Jordan (Noah Beery, Sr.), who has given her lots of furs and many diamonds.
• • Unbeknownst to Lady Lou, slick and sleazy Gus Jordan trafficks in white slavery (prostitution) and runs a counterfeiting ring (to help finance Lou's expensive rock collection). He also sends young women to San Francisco to be pickpockets. Gus works with two other crooked entertainer-assistants, Russian Rita (Rafaela Ottiano) and Rita's lover, the suave Serge Stanieff (Gilbert Roland).
• • Kansas City, Missouri native Noah Beery, Sr. [17 January 1882 — 1 April 1946] pursued a theatrical career from a young age.
• • Noah and his younger brothers William Beery and the legendary Wallace Beery all became Hollywood actors.
• • His much more successful younger brother, Academy Award winning Wallace Beery [1 April 1885 — 15 April 1949], was once wed to Gloria Swanson.
• • After a number of years touring on the stage, in 1915 Noah joined his brother Wallace in Hollywood to make motion pictures — — where he became a respected character actor adept at playing the role of the heavy.
• • Then, after years of working in silent films, he successfully made the transition to talking pictures. One film historian dubbed him "the villain's villain."
• • During a career that spanned three decades, Noah Beery, Sr. appeared in almost two hundred motion pictures.
• • In 1946, Noah Beery, Sr. died — — on his brother Wallace Beery's April 1st birthday — — in Beverly Hills, California of a heart attack at age 64.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: 16 January 1934

It was another appearance in court, this time as a witness for the prosecution — — on 16 January 1934 — — when MAE WEST gave testimony about Edward Friedman, who had robbed her.
• • This coverage appeared in the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express:
• • OFFICERS GUARD MOVIE QUEEN at TRIAL AFTER THREATS by GANGSTERS • •
• • Amid a chorus of masculine and feminine "oh's" and "ah's," alluring Mae West herself, a riot of color and beauty, swept thorough the courtroom of Judge Harry Sewell this morning in a grand entrance before her audience, took the witness stand and told her story of how she was robbed of $12,000 worth of diamonds and $3,400 in cash.
• • Her appearance was that of the complaining star witness at the trial of Edward Friedman, charged with being one of the robber gang, and it created as much of a sensation in the crowded courtroom as at any Mae West premiere.
• • "The man with the gun said to me, ‘Give me the poke,'" Miss West testified.
• • "My purse was on the seat beside me and the bandit reached over for it. I figured he wanted it, so I picked it up and gave it to him."
• • LAVISH GESTURES • •
• • Here the lovely Mae illustrated with lavish gestures and with the aid of a brocade purse how she generously handed over her purse to a man with the gun.
• • But if she had figured that was to save her sparklers, it was a wrong move, she admitted ruefully.
• • "Then he said, ‘Give me that ring,'" she continued. "So I did. It was a diamond ring."
• • ACTRESS GUARDED • •
• • At this moment a court recess was called. Mae's screen of protective detectives and investigators closed in around her. They were there, to see that no gangster took a shot at her because of telephone threats made against her, but they acted as gallant lackeys as well.
• • "Wouldn't you like a drink of water" asked the first lucky man to reach the side of the attractive screen siren.
• • "Here's a seat for you, Miss West," interrupted another.
• • "I'm all right, boys — there's nothing wrong with me," purred the golden-haired Mae. "I'm feeling fine."
• • A Diamond Pendant Shaped Like a Champagne Bottle • •
• • The missing jewels, she already has complained, included a diamond pendant shaped like a champagne bottle, with the "laughing water" fizzing from its mouth; a diamond bracelet two inches wide and a diamond ring. The cash represented a week's pay for working in the movies.
• • Today she said she didn't want her "rocks" back, but only to find out who really took them.
Her bodyguard, Detective Lieutenants Joe Filkas and Frank "Lefty" James, were fulfilling their pleasurable task as a result of couple of anonymous telephone calls received by the blonde heroine of She Done Him Wrong and other screen hits, demanding that she stay away from Friedman's trial — — "or else."
• • However, those calls didn't bother the nonchalant Mae.
• • "I asked the guy who called me ‘So what?' and hung up on him," she drawled. "Say, phony calls and letters and stuff like that are all a part of a day's mail. I should get hot and bothered ...'
• • She said the man who called her had a 'heavy' voice.
• • "But that don't make him unusual, like a circus exhibit, exactly. Lotsa guys have deep voices, seems like I've observed," she added.
• • Friedman is said to have admitted the robbery, but later repudiated the confession, claiming it was given during a 'third degree' by police.
• • The other men also were indicted with him — Morris Cohen, alleged Detroit gangster, and Harry Voiler, who was with Miss West as a friend at the time the holdup was perpetrated. It was Voiler, according to Friedman's admission, who hired him to hold up Miss West. He is now in Chicago fighting extradition. Cohen never has been found.
— — Source: 1/16/1934 Evening Herald and Express — —
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: William Beckley

Before she began scripting her own material, MAE WEST was invariably cast as an Irish maid in Broadway shows and revues.
• • Always one to make sure that as many extras were working as possible, Mae would boost the cast number for any project she was able to. If a leading lady typically had one maid in a scene, Mae would try to get more hired.
• • Certain actors, too, were often typecast as servants, valets, or hotel staff. For instance, William Francis Beckley, who played the desk clerk in "Sextette," is best known for his role as Gerard the butler in "Dynasty," the TV series.
• • William Beckley was born in London, England in mid-January — — on 15 January 1930. We wish him a very happy birthday today. He is 81.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Louise Kirtland

It was in a MAE WEST play that young Louise Kirtland took her first Broadway bow. Though her bio-notes often incorrectly state that she made her debut in "The Church Mouse," in fact it was in 1927 that she was cast in "The Wicked Age" at Daly's 63rd Street Theatre.
• • Born in Lynn, Massachusetts on 4 August 1919, Louise Kirtland was eight years old when she appeared as Gladys Blake. Soon after, the ambitious newcomer was cast in "Night Hostess" [1928], "Getting Even" [1929], "Light Wines and Beer" [1930] — — along with many other productions until 1983 when she was featured in a revival of "Mame," her last time onstage
• • Louise Kirtland's acting career spanned six decades. After working with Mae West, she also appeared with Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, Eva Gabor, Angela Lansbury, and Milton Berle.
• • Married in her twenties to Albert Lewis Alexander, the star and producer of radio's ''Court of Human Relations,'' Miss Kirtland was widowed in 1969 and never remarried.
• • After numerous roles on the stage and on TV, she enjoyed happy retirement years in her New York City apartment. A heart attack ended her life in mid-January — — on 14 January 1999. She was 93. The actress was buried in New England in Pine Grove Cemetery in her hometown of Lynn.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Midwest Screening

MAE WEST will be applauded in Hyde Park today at 7 PM.
• • On Thursday 13 January 2010 you will have the opportunity to watch Mae's 66-minute cinema classic "She Done Him Wrong," co-starring a young Cary Grant.
• • "She Done Him Wrong" directed by Lowell Sherman • •
• • "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" Mae West oozes sex while firing off brazen double-entendres in this racy pre-Code classic — — her first, finest, and most jaw-droppingly salacious vehicle. West plays Lady Lou, a singer at a Gay Nineties saloon, where she performs crowd-pleasing numbers like "Frankie and Johnny" and the suggestive “Where Has My Easy Rider Gone?” while also finding time to seduce an upstanding young temperance-leaguer (Grant) investigating the bar owner for corruption.
• • WHERE: University of Chicago Doc Films, 1212 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60615; Tel: 773-702-8575.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Lone Star Queen

MAE WEST enjoyed the friendship of Texas Guinan, queen of the night clubs, who also backed her Broadway plays. A woman of restless energy, Texas Guinan was born in Waco, Texas during the month of January — — on 12 January 1884.
• • The famous speakeasy hostess Texas Guinan had entertained Mae, Owney Madden, and others at Club Abbey [203 — 205 West 54th], the 300 Club and Argonaut [151 West 54th], along with other night spots.
• • In "A Night with the Padlock Queen," Allen Churchill describes the atmosphere.
• • Until La Guinan arrives, the Three Hundred Club remains sedate and dignified. Four guitarists stroll from table to table plucking out melodies on request. Their specialty is the recently successful "Valencia," but they are equally adept at such dissimilar numbers as "Sleepy Time Gal" and "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." Also on hand is Ethel the cute cigarette girl.
• • Midnight comes and goes, and a sense of expectancy fills the Three Hundred Club [151 West 54th]. Eyes dart to the entrance door. Those in the know confide importantly that Tex must be stopping at her brother Tommy's Club Plantation or at this point in history was it Texas Tommy's? . . .
• • At a quarter to one comes a stir at the entrance door and the feeling that a supercharged personality is there. An excited whisper runs through the room, Texas, Texas! Everything stops as Tex greets friends at the door and tosses a brisk word of greeting to the hatcheck girl and maitre'd. Here is royalty entering its domain.
• • One who witnesses her splendid entrance is Stephen Graham: "There she is like a queen, like the sun, like a big firework, like a gorgeous tamer who has just let herself into a large cage of pet tigers. A kiss here, a stroke of the hand there, an uttered Darling! there, she goes from table to table closing the company into a unit around her personality." . . .
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Chapter: "A Night with the Padlock Queen"
• • The Year the World Went Mad [Thomas Y. Crowell, I960]
• • BYLINE: Allen Churchill
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Chester Conklin

The Grand Prospect Hall was built in 1892 in Brooklyn — — and visiting luminaries included MAE WEST, according to the venue's website.
• • Lately, this stately structure [at 263 Prospect Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215] — — which rents ballrooms and salons for meetings and catered affairs, but has not much in the way of overnight accommodations — — plans to expand.
• • A strategy will be needed in order to stare down the local community leaders, therefore, the owners are currently reminding everyone about its storied past when Sophie Tucker graced one of the 1910 programs, when gangster mobster Al Capone used to frequent their cellar speakeasy, and when presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan attended a gathering.
• • No dates and no specific details are given about Mae West's purpose in being there. But the owners are telling the news media she was there — — and lazy reporters do not bother to check.
• • January 11th • •
• • The motion picture "Every Day's a Holiday" [1938] starred Mae West and featured Edmund Lowe, Charles Butterworth, Charles Winninger, Lloyd Nolan, Walter Catlett, Chester Conklin, and Louis Armstrong.
• • Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Chester Cooper Conklin [11 January 1886 — 11 October 1971] was an American comedian and actor. He appeared in over 280 films, about half of them in the silent era when his name really resonated. Gradually, he became a bit parts player and was cast as a cabby in "Every Day's a Holiday" — — in a memorable scene when Mae West's shady character has to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. On his birthday we reminisce about his decades long career.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Middlesex

MAE WEST has fans over in Middlesex — — i.e., Middlesex County, New Jersey. And when the Highland Park Public Library kicks off another round of its popular 1930s film series, "Treasures From Hollywood's Golden Age," they will feature a Mae West screen gem first.
• • Dr. Robert Knoll, a film educator, selects and discusses the motion pictures and The Friends of the Library will be sponsoring these events.
• • "I'm No Angel" — — this enduring favorite reunites Mae West and Cary Grant. The durable screen queen portrays a sideshow dancer and a lady lion tamer. Directed by Wesley Ruggles and released by Paramount Pictures.
• • WHERE: The Highland Park Public Library, 31 North 5th Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904; Tel (732) 572-2750.
• • WHAT: "I'm No Angel" (1933)
• • WHEN: Tuesday evening, 1 February 2011 at 6:30 PM. This series continues the first Tuesday of every month (always at 6:30 PM) through the month of June.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Herman the German

Born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Hessen, Germany, Herman Bing [30 March 1889 — 9 January 1947] was a versatile character actor who portrayed the gullible German tourist Fritz Krausmeyer who buys the Brooklyn Bridge from Peaches O'Day — — played by MAE WEST — — in "Every Day's a Holiday" [Paramount Pictures].
• • In the month of January this film debuted: 14 January 1938.
• • Unfortunately, it was the first Mae West film that failed to make money.
• • Herman Bing, a bit parts player who was active mainly in 1930s and 1940s Hollywood, was not unknown to burlesque his own Deutsch accent.
• • In the month of January — — on 9 January 1947 — — depressed at not being hired for film work, Herman Bing committed suicide in Los Angeles, California. He was 57 years old.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Max C. Freedman

MAE WEST recorded an LP "Great Balls of Fire" in 1972 — — and one track was "Rock Around the Clock," that great rock and roll standard.
• • Written in 1953 and first recorded by the Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights [Arcade label], it became a phenomenal hit instead for a country music performer Bill Haley [1925 — 1981]. When Bill Haley & His Comets recorded it [Decca label] on 12 April 1954, the front man was pushing 30 and looked older.
• • Covered by 79-year-old Mae West in 1972, the hit was still so associated with Bill Haley that it will surprise people to learn that the songwriter was actually born the same year as Mae — — but in the month of January.
• • Hailing from Philadelphia, Max C. Freedman [8 January 1893 — 8 October 1962] was a veteran Tin Pan Alley songwriter who was best known for his novelty number "Sioux City Sue." But when he teamed up with James E. Myers (aka. Jimmy DeKnight) in 1953 to write a fast and furious rock and roll tune called "Rock Around the Clock," both men became known as chart-toppers. By then song-man Max was 60 years old.
• • Keeping up with the times, Mae offered her own sassy version on this album produced 18 years later.
• • Mae West's songs featured in "Brassy Broads" • •
• • This sassy and brassy revue "Brassy Broads" is a tribute to the divas of the American stage and screen. Three vivacious ladies take the lead to perform iconic numbers like “In the Mood,” etc. Featuring songs old and new from those great dames Mae West, Sophie Tucker, Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Bernadette Peters, and Bette Midler.
• • The premiere is tonight — — on 8 January 2011 at 7:30 PM at Florida Studio Theatre, 1241 North Palm Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Keystone State

An announcement of a wine event in The Keystone State mentioned MAE WEST.
• • "Wine Circle: The Mystery of Fortified Wines" refers to any wine to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy) has been added, for instance, port, sherry, Madeira, etc. Friday 14 January 2011 is the "Wine Circle" date and the venue is the Hotel Fauchere [401 Broad St., Milford, PA].
• • Hotel Fauchere was established by Switzerland native and master chef Louis Fauchere in the mid-1800s. Notable guests who have spent the night at the "French hotel" have included Mae West, Andrew Carnegie, Robert Frost, Babe Ruth, Ogden Nash, and three U.S. presidents — — not all at the same time, however, nor in the same room.
• • Adolph Zukor's Birthdate • •
• • Mae West worked with everyone from A to Z — — and, at Paramount Pictures, she met the biggest AZ of all.
• • Born in early January as "Adolph Cukor," Adolph Zukor [7 January 1873 — 10 June 1976] was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.
• • The Hungarian journalist Farkas László writes: Throughout the 1920's Zukor used to receive about 40 letters a day from a Hungarian nation proud of his fame and stature. He never forgot the land of his birth, and was never ashamed to let people know where he was from. He hired many Hungarians to work in his studio.
• • Mae West's former agent Jerry Martin dies • •
• • According to The Hollywood Reporter: Jerry Martin’s clients included actresses Mae West, Ava Gardner, Betty Grable, Alice Faye, Gwen Verdon, and others.
• • When Martin repped Mae West, he was with the William Morris Agency.
• • The Philadelphia native also worked at Henderson Hogan, International Famous Agency and the Fifi Oscard Agency, and before that he headed the tour guide staff at NBC in New York. Jerry Martin, a former agent at WMA, died 16 December 2010 in his sleep at his home in Santa Monica. He was 80. [This death notice was printed on 6 January 2011.]
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: In the Margins

Many women playwrights have been marginalized — — including MAE WEST.
• • Theatre critic Anthony Chase has written a compelling piece. From his newsroom in Buffalo, NY, Chase writes: It was just four years ago on New Year’s Eve that the lights of Broadway were dimmed in memory of Wendy Wasserstein, who had succumbed to complications from lymphoma the day before. She left a legacy of plays that had helped transform the American theater. . . .
• • Chase adds some historical background: Wendy Wasserstein had proved, again, that women should command attention in the American cultural consciousness. . . . Of course, it seems that every couple of generations, this point needs to be proven again, and Wasserstein’s future reputation is by no means secure. The great female playwrights of the English Restoration, for instance, Aphra Behn and Susanna Centlivre among them, were the equals of their male counterparts — — Wycherley, Congreve, Farquhar — — but would be ignored by the male critics and scholars who dominated subsequent generations, and nearly forgotten.
• • Mae West's Big Box Office • •
• • Anthony Chase continues: Another American woman playwright who enjoyed the distinction of racking up the highest advance box office sales in the history of Broadway, Mae West, scored a huge hit with her 1926 play, Sex, but saw her 1928 play, Pleasure Man, closed down by the police after its second performance. Despite the fact that she duplicated this success in Hollywood, West’s work is not included in anthologies, she is never mentioned in theater textbooks, and her work is out of print. In fact, the only American woman whose plays are consistently included in the American repertoire is Lillian Hellman, and even she had to go on a deliberate publicity campaign in the 1970s when she saw a list of the nation’s 10 greatest living playwrights and found that her name was missing. . . .
• • This essay ought to be savored in full. Read more: http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n1/theater_week#ixzz1AEPL1GXe
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Theatre Week column: "An Uncommon Woman"
• • Byline: Anthony Chase
• • Published by: Art Voice | 810-812 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14202 — — ArtVoice.com
• • Published on: 5 January 2011
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Battling Jack's Last Fight

Despite having an ambivalent relationship with her father, MAE WEST took after him and also worked for him when he peddled fruit in Brooklyn and when he helmed a "detective agency" in New Jersey and New York City.
• • Born on Manhattan's Lower East Side in March 1866, John West [called "Jack"] grew up feisty, impatient, and strong. As a child he boasted that he'd rather fight than eat. He got his Irish up rather quickly, remembered Mae. He was easily angered and "always ready to do physical violence when the urge was on him." In 1969, Mae revealed in an interview that she thought her father was cruel — — but realized "all his fighting was done doing other people's fighting for them."
• • Jack West was 7 years old in 1873 when his family moved to Brooklyn, settling first in Red Hook, and then in Greenpoint.
• • Though he had no inclination to follow his father's vocation as a ship rigger, Jack knew his parents wanted him to learn a trade; they apprenticed him to a boilermaker in 1880 when he was 14.
• • But Jack West was contemplating starting a fire in the arena. At 11 years old, "Battling Jack" had fought in his first boxing match as a featherweight and yearned to become a bare-knuckles champion. These matches were often arranged by local racketeers. His favorite place to hang out was the gymnasium. His closest companions were weightlifters and boxers — — both black and Caucasian.
• • During the late 1880s, Jack was sidetracked from his vigorous athletic routine after meeting a buxom young lady named Matilda Delker [born in 1870 in Bavaria]. Youthful rebels, Jack and Tillie had much in common. Both defied their parents' expectations, Jack through boxing and Tillie through entertaining the idea of a theatrical career.
• • Initially, the couple forged a passionate bond. Mae explained, "My father had swept her off her feet." But Tillie's youthful transgressive ambitions met an end with Jack West.
• • On 19 January 1889, in Greenpoint, Battling Jack West and Tillie Delker took their wedding vows before a local minister with Jack's sister Julia West acting as maid of honor.
• • On 5 January 1935, "Battling Jack" heard the final countdown; he passed away in Oakland, California of a stroke. The previous November, Mae's father had a severe heart attack and was under the care of a Bay Area heart specialist. A funeral was held in Hollywood within days. Shortly thereafter, the deceased was taken back to Brooklyn to be placed next to his wife in the West's family crypt. Accompanying the body was his son John, his daughter Beverly, and Jim Timony.
• • On this date we remember John Patrick West with love and respect.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Glancing Back

Should NBC finally apologize to MAE WEST? — — is the question freshly posed in a radio column posted yesterday. Mae-mavens will already recognize the reference to "The Chase and Sanborn Hour" episode hosted by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen when Mae was featured as Eve in the Garden of Eden skit penned by Arch Obler and aired in December 1937.
• • Contact NBC here and let them know your opinion of this 1937 censoring of Mae and banishing her from the NBC network for fifteen years: NBC Universal Inc. Corporate Office | Headquarters | 30 Rockefeller Plaza | New York, NY 10112 | Tel: (212) 664-4444.
• • According to Matthew Lasar: Everybody’s waiting for the United States government to decide whether to approve the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. . . . But I’ve got another condition to consider — — asking NBC Universal posthumously apologize to Mae West for banning her from its radio network almost 75 years ago.
• • Matthew Lasar continues: Ironically, NBC was responsible for Golden Age of Radio’s worst act of broadcast suppression. The banning of West legitimized the endless clamor for censorship, laying the groundwork for the ever harsher interpretations of the FCC’s Pacifica decision that we endure today.
• • Matthew Lasar concludes: It’s time for the media company to make amends for that mistake by posthumously apologizing to Mae West — — one of the great stage, cinema, and radio performers of the twentieth century.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "Should NBC finally apologize to Mae West?"
• • Byline: Matthew Lasar
• • Published by: Radio Survivor | News, views and tough love for radio — — www.radiosurvivor.com
• • Published on: 3 January 2011
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • On January 4th • •
• • Mae's bodyguard and chauffeur William "Gorilla" Jones died on this date in 1982.
• • Biographers agree that the relationship wasn't all business. West and Jones remained close companions for 40 years. In public, he referred to her as ''The Lady,'' never by her name.
• • According to Hollywood lore, Mae West got very agitated when house managers tried to block Jones from visiting her sixth-floor suite in the Ravenswood apartment complex. She bought the building and hired new staff.
• • ''A motion picture company offered me a quarter-million to film my story, but they wanted to make me say I was her lover,'' Jones told Jet magazine in 1974. ''That would be a lie because she was my manager and my friend. All the money in the world would be no good without a friend who has done everything to keep me on top and let me live the life I wanted to live.''
• • Jones was devastated in 1980 when West died in Ravenswood at age 87. She left him two apartment buildings and three houses. As his health deteriorated, his weight dropped to around 100 pounds. It was in January 1982 when William ''Gorilla'' Jones died of arteriosclerosis at age 75.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West: Paris Movie Museum

MAE WEST images are admired in France amid the memorabilia in a unique movie museum.
• • According to Vivian Thomas: In movie-mad Paris, the Cinémathèque Française and its founder, Henri Langlois, have been cultural icons since the 1930s. . . .
• • Vivian Thomas explains: Founded in 1936 and the first institution of its kind, the Cinémathèque is dedicated to rediscovering, restoring and conserving old movies and making them available to the public. Realizing that films, considered disposable commodities, were fast disappearing, Henri Langlois became the first film preservationist, starting with silent movies and begging, borrowing and literally stealing films to create his collection. . . .
• • Serpent-topped headdress worn by Mae West • •
• • Vivian Thomas adds: Early engravings of cityscapes twinkle with tiny pinholes of light and hands-on exhibits abound: turn a wheel and a seagull flies, spin a dial and a ballerina twirls, rotate a handle and dancer Loïe Fuller flutters her shimmering multicolored scarves like silken butterfly wings. Film posters from all over the world adorn the walls and costume displays sparkle with a serpent-topped sequin headdress worn by Mae West and Louise Brooks's spangled silver flapper dress. . . .
• • Cinemaphiles and armchair travelers will find many interesting details here — — so check out this fine article.
• • In Paris, Cinémathèque Française is presently located at 51 rue de Bercy.
— — Excerpt: — —
• • Article: "The Cinémathèque Française"
• • Byline: Vivian Thomas
• • Published by: France Today
• • Published on: 1 January 2011
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1954 with Richard DuBois • •
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Mae West: Early January

A short story "Single Night" by Louis Bromfield became the backbone of the Paramount film "Night After Night" [released on 30 October 1932] — — which was a triumphant screen debut for MAE WEST. Here she is, as Maudie Triplett, poised in the doorway of Joe Anton's speakeasy on West 56th Street, about to tell the doorman it's "the fairy princess, ya mug!"
• • January 1st • •
• • Two months after the film was distributed to movie houses across the country, bootlegger Larry Fay met a spectacularly crimson-soaked death inside 33 West 56th Street on 1 January 1933.
• • Janus, the Roman god of gates and doorways, looks both ways. And the house on West 56th Street certainly looked different from the perspective of George Raft, Mae West, Louis Bromfield, and Larry Fay.
• • George Kesslere, who photographed Mae in his Manhattan studio many times, died on 1 January 1979.
• • Actress Libby Taylor, who worked with Mae (in the role of a maid) on "I'm No Angel" as well as "Go West, Young Man," died on 1 January 1990.
• • Musician and band leader Xavier Cugat, who worked with Mae on two motion pictures, was born on New Year's Day in 1900.
• • January 2nd • •
• • A more pleasant January memory for Mae West took place a year later. On 2 January 1934, when her sister Beverly applied for a marriage license in Chicago, it was hoped that her second Russian husband would be a better companion than her ex-husband Sergei Treshatny. The groom Vladimir Baikoff made Beverly's acquaintance when both were booked on a radio program. Beverly was doing her famous Mae West impersonation for a broadcast — — and Vlad was eager to conjugate some sultry Slavic verbs with her in private, after the show.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1932 • •
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Mae West: Welcome 2011

MAE WEST wishes everyone a joyful, spectacular New Year!


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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1930s • •
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Mae West: Mae in December

It would not seem right to bid adieu to the last month of the year without mentioning the MAE WEST LP from 1980 — — "Mae in December," flavored with the unique campy style that gave her numbers such a kick.
• • Initially released in a modest pressing as "Wild Christmas" [1966], the tracks were reissued on a small Hollywood label: AEI Records fourteen years later. The original monaural recording presented the same covers but in a slightly different order. It seems this collection has not been offered in a Compact Disc format.
• • • • SIDE 1 • • • •
1. Santa Come Up To See Me
2. Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me
3. Merry Christmas Baby
4. Santa Claus Is Back In Town
• • • • SIDE 2 • • • •
5. Put The Loot In The Boot, Santa
6. With Love From Me To You
7. Santa Baby
8. My New Year's Resolutions
• • A hard-working Mae-maven from Vancouver, Canada Mark Desjardins has shared some fascinating information about the songwriter behind "Put the Loot in the Boot, Santa" — — so come up and see Mae next month to find out more.
• • To the loyal followers of the MAE WEST BLOG, as well as all the wonderful "drive by" readers, may you ring in the year 2011 with an abundance of joy and high spirits, and may every day be meaningful and well-spent.
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1980 LP • •
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