Mae West: Knows Her Seams

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 5 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: Audacious and unconventional • •
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Her drawl, her swagger, her audacious bandying of the conventions: these are part of her type, the type representative of the woman of experience who knows her seams as well as her smooth velvets.     

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: In my time, I have seen type after type crash the spotlight — — only to lose out because he or she had nothing more to offer than one characterization and one line of talk.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Mae West is clever — yes, very clever.     
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: No woman who wasn't clever could have startled and won New York City's Broadway as Mae West did.    
• • Mae West: Distinctive Cameo Role • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Monday, 24 January 1938 in Time Magazine • •
• • The radio ruckus Mae West set in motion just before Christmas 1937 continued being discussed in the news. Time Magazine's issue — — dated Monday, 24 January 1938 — — focused on all those "right-thinking" citizens who penned complaint letters and the FCC's request for a transcript of the offending program. NBC was reluctant to release it, however.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Believing the title "It Ain't No Sin" may invite criticism at this time, Paramount had decided to give the forthcoming Mae West picture the handle of "That Saint Louis Woman," but found out the title had been used before.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "You learn to get along in life by studying life."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in Australia mentioned Mae West.
• • "Hello, Hollywood! What's Going On Over There?" • •
• • While making "Personal Appearance," Mae West made sure that, when she had to punch Warren William, she made a good job of it. She invited four of her "fighting" friends to watch her work — — then asked them to show her how it should be done. Bravo, Mae! ...
• • Source: Sunday Times (Perth); published on Sunday, 24 January 1937
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,915th 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 • • promotional photo for "The Constant Sinner" in 1930 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Suffer the Fate

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 4 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: Is an original • •
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Is Mae West just a flash in the pan?
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Or is Mae West really a legitimate actress?
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: If "It Ain't No Sin" isn't far superior to her last effort, I, for one, believe Mae will suffer the fate that many before her have suffered.     

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Mae West will find herself close to the funereal ranks of the ex-stars.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: I agree with anyone who claims Mae West is an original.   
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: However, I consider her originality to be "type originality."
• • Mae West: Audacious, unconventional • • …    
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Friday, 21 January 1949 • •
• • On Friday, 21 January 1949 United Press syndicated an update on the health of Mae West.
• • “Mae West Recovers” • •
• • Baltimore, Jan. 20 [U.P.] — Mae West returned to New York today, ready to open in her new play "Diamond Lil" early next month. Doctors said the actress has fully recovered from her abdominal pains which sent her to the hospital here last Saturday.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Hollywood — — Mae West added to her millions by unloading a hunk of real estate in Hollywood.  The Palladium, a new $500,000 version of the same-named landmark ballroom on Sunset Boulevard, will be built there.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “A dame that knows the ropes isn't likely to get tied up.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article in Australia discussed Mae West.
• • "Action Against Mae West" • •
• • Los Angeles, Thursday — Mae West, the film actress, and Paramount Pictures have been sued for 1,000,000 dollars (£A200,000) by Mr. Mark Linder, an author, who has charged them with fraud in connection with the story of the film "She Done Him Wrong," which, he alleges, was written by him.

• • Mr. Linder claims that he was induced to sell his interest in the story for 25,000 dollars (£A5,000), while Paramount Pictures made 4,000,000 dollars (£A800,000) and Miss West 330,000 dollars (£A67,800). ...
• • Note: Approximately 15 minutes of the 1928 racy 3-hour stage play about sex trafficking, white slavery, prostitution, and low-life criminals in Chinatown — "Diamond Lil" — were salvaged and then massaged by John Bright into the highly sanitized motion picture version of 66 minutes that movie-goers saw in 1933 on the silver screen. Fifteen minutes — tops.
• • Note: This hand-kissing scene was saved. Jack LaRue played a South American pimp.
• • Source: The Argus (Melbourne); published on Friday, 21 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 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,914th 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 • • trade paper ad in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Her Wisecracks

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 3 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: Had a ready-made audience • •
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Her second talking picture, "I'm No Angel," was also her own story.

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Mae had a ready-made audience all over the country awaiting her second picture.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: In my opinion, it was a big disappointment.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Two wisecracks saved it from being a stencil of the first: "Beulah, peel me a grape," and “It’s not the men in my life. It’s the life in my men that counts, dearie.”  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: As a result of "I'm No Angel," however, those of us who have seen other cyclonic successes in pictures began to wonder.
• • Mae West: Is an original • • …    
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Sunday, 20 January 1929 • •
• • On Sunday, 20 January 1929 Mae brought "Diamond Lil" to Chicago, where it made its Midwest debut to a packed house. For most of the 16-week engagement, the play attracted a large audience in the Windy City.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • An “imaginative” meeting between frosty, anti-social Greta Garbo and sultry sex-empress Mae West generated commentary in a number of fan magazines early in 1933.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I freely chose the kind of life I led because I was convinced that a woman has as much right as a man to live the way she does if she does no actual harm to society."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A fan magazine mentioned Mae West.
• • Another gym addict is Warren William. He builds the Body Beautiful at the bars — and not the horizontal ones like some of the boys around town. So there should be one waistline, anyhow, in Mae West's new epic "Go West, Young Man" …   
• • Source: Modern Screen; published on Friday, 18 September 1936
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,913th 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 • • lobby card in 1933 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Sexy Boldness

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 2 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •
• • Mae West: Dared to depict sex boldly • •
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Then what? Well, she is different.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: She is — at least, she was — something new on the screen.

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: She dared to depict sex with nonchalant boldness. She dared to be frank with the men in her pictures.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: As I write this, Mae is beginning work on her third starring picture, "It Ain't No Sin," from her own story.  
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Her first starring picture, "She Done Him Wrong," was adapted from her hit play, "Diamond Lil" [Broadway, Royale Theatre, 1928].  
• • Mae West: Had a ready-made audience • • …
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Saturday, 19 January 1889 in the city of Brooklyn • •
• • It was Saturday, 19 January 1889, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY, 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.
• • California biographer Emily Wortis Leider wrote: If they knew about it, Matilda's family almost certainly would have attempted to thwart her impetuous marriage at age eighteen to John "Battlin' Jack" West, a cigar-chomping, street-smart tough. The marriage certificate of Tillie Delker and John West, dated January 19, 1889, in the city of Brooklyn — — a separate city then, not yet a part of metropolitan New York — — lists the groom's age as twenty-two, his birthplace as New York City, and his occupation: "mechanic."
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Directly under a striking color portrait of Mae West on the cover of the January 1934 issue of Screenland, the Smart Screen Magazine, the editors promised that you would find "Mae West's Personal Message to You!" on page 24.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  ''You've got to rock with the rock — — and roll with the roll.''
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A fan magazine mentioned Mae West was gaining weight.
• • Mae West Item: Our spy at an exclusive Hollywood shoppe ("Spying done while you wait" is our  motto) reports that Mae is growing and gaining weight.
• • When she first hit Hollywood, Mae West slipped into lingerie marked size 14. But now, it is our duty to report, she must have 18.  
• • It is heartening to add, though, that Mae still does things with an elegant touch. She never stoops to the gauchery of selecting her lingerie in person — it's all purchased by the Spanish  gentleman who is her social secretary. …
• • Source: Modern Screen; published on Friday, 18 September 1936
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,912th 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 • • magazine cover in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest

Mae West: Cyclonic Rise

In 1934, Picture Play, piqued by a New York newcomer’s meteoric rise, pondered this: “Is MAE WEST a Fizzle? A bold discussion of an important question!” This is Part 1 of 29 segments.
• • Is Mae West a Fizzle? • •

• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: A sensation a year ago, Mae West's recent picture failed to show  that she could do more than repeat herself. Is she, then, just a one-role star, a flash in the pan?
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: Speaking of curves, the curve of Mae West's popularity may drop if her new film does not establish her versatility.
• • Dorothy Herzog wrote: The cyclonic rise of Mae West is now screen history. But to what does Mae owe her astonishing success? She isn't youthfully youthful. She isn't beautifully beautiful.
• • Mae West: Dared to depict sex boldly • • …  
• • This will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Picture Play; issue dated for May 1934.
• • On Thursday, 18 January 1934 • •
• • On the third day of the robbery and jewel heist trial in Los Angeles, on 18 January 1934, Mae West was called to the witness stand to speak about Edward Friedman.
• • Worried after receiving death threats, and flanked by a human shield of husky detectives, Mae West entered the courtroom strikingly garbed in purple in Los Angeles. Career criminal Edward Friedman was charged with robbing the movie queen of $12,000 worth of diamonds and $3,400 in cash.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West was spotted recently by a Modern Screen reporter. Mae West was screaming in her excitement at the Friday night fights.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Homely man often have more sex appeal."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Modern Screen mentioned Mae West.
• • Latest from Hollywood ― What’s What • •
• • Personal to Mae West: Remember the evening a few weeks ago when you dined out with a pair of gentlemen friends? And one of them paid the check and generously slapped down two dollar bills for a tip? Maybe you were impressed and maybe you weren't.
• • Two dollars is a nice tip, but here's one we'll pass on to you.
• • If you recall, the big-hearted boyfriend was last to leave the table. In a perfect example of timing and poise, he made one of those hand-is-quicker-than-the-eye gestures and rescued one of his bucks. …
• • Source: Modern Screen; issue dated for December 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 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,911th 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: A Sex Gangster

Cineaste printed a tribute to MAE WEST, erroneously posting a teenage photo of Clara Bow [1905–1965] taken in 1921 by Nickolas Muray and labeling Clara as “young Mae.” The piece is fully available to subscribers (who, I hope are pointing out the incorrect picture). Since Cineaste called Mae “a ghost in the room,” their selection of a wrong picture is even more ironic. This excerpt is Part 5 of 5.
• • Playing Her Script Their Way: A Reconsideration of Mae West • •
• • Mae West: Mae was the heavy artillery • •
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: Jean Harlow, according to critic Graham Greene, “totes a breast the way a man totes a gun.”
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: Then, of course, there was Mae West.

• • J. E. Smyth wrote: And to extend Greene’s metaphor, if Harlow was an efficient 38-caliber revolver in Hollywood’s sexual arsenal, Mae West was the heavy artillery.
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: She was the whole show, the woman who took no prisoners, who, as co-star and friend George Raft remembered, “stole everything but the cameras” in her first film role in "Night After Night" (1932).
• • J. E. Smyth wrote: She was the era’s sex gangster…
• • This excerpt has now been concluded. However, there is more content inside Cineaste.   
• • Source: Cineaste, Vol. XLVII, No. 1; published in Fall 2021.
• • On Monday, 17 January 1944 • •
• • An article about the motion picture "The Heat's On" starring Mae West was published in Hollywood Citizen-News in Monday's issue on 17 January 1944.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • By making fun of carnality (“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”), Mae West took the harm out of her own salaciousness. She didn’t exude the raw danger of a Tennessee Williams a couple of decades down the line. Instead she chose to poke fun at prudish shibboleths.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Prize fights are my chief form of relaxation. Watching boys in action takes my mind off the studio and business problems."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Modern Screen mentioned Mae West.
• • The big news about Mae West at the moment is that last month she held up a bank.
• • Our Mae held the bank up for an hour after closing time, and all she had to do was phone in and tell the boys she was coming up to see them.
• • It seems Mae is one of the bank's most solvent patrons, so the entire staff waited until four o'clock, when Mae swished in accompanied by five ominous looking gentlemen who couldn't have been anything but bodyguards. …
• • Source: Modern Screen; published in the issue dated for March 1937
• • 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 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,910th 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 • • onscreen in 1940 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest