Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Mae West: Tom Herbert

MAE WEST starred in "Belle of the Nineties" [1934] and Tom Herbert was seen as Gilbert in a (rare) credited role.
• • Born in New York City on 25 November 1888, Tom Herbert had an older brother Hugh Herbert [1884 — 1952] who set his cap for the entertainment business first.
• • Hugh Herbert was a stage actor who also enjoyed some success as a playwright and a writer of vaudeville sketches. During the 1930s, Hugh was under contract to Warner Brothers, cultivating his trademark exclamation "woo-woo," and often cast as an eccentric tycoon, ditzy millionaire, or fuzzy-brained professor.
• • With their under-eye bags, arched eyebrows, and jelly-shaking jowls, both of the Herbert brothers had the kind of face that makes an audience grin. Aside from his bushy mustache and comical expressions, however, Tom failed to set himself apart and was often relegated to minor, uncredited stints such as the comic bartender, annoying waiter, cab driver, drunk, servant, card player, elevator operator, hobo, seasick passenger, and hen-pecked motorist, and invariably used in one shot for a quick laugh.
• • Onscreen from 1931— 1946, Tom Herbert was a member of the stock company at 20th Century Fox. He took part in 77 Hollywood films and was employed up to the end of his life. He died in Los Angeles in the month of April — — on Wednesday, 3 April 1946. Tom Herbert was 57.
• • Charles Lang [27 March 1902 — 3 April 1998] • •
• • Born in Bluff, Utah on 27 March 1902, Charles Bryant Lang, Jr., A.S.C. was the American cinematographer who gave a distinct look to "She Done Him Wrong," starring Mae West.
• • Charles Lang died of pneumonia at St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica, California in the month of April — — on 3 April 1998. He was 96.
• • On Sunday, 3 April 1927 • •
• • On page 184 of his biography of Mae West, Simon Louvish wrote: "But, on 3 April, the jury had to inform Judge Bertini that they could not agree ..."
• • Gee, must have been the proof-reader's day off. April 3rd was a Sunday. The court was not in session on the weekend.
• • Portions of this trial are dramatized in the full-length play "Courting Mae West." In
the case of both obscenity trials [1927 and 1930] in New York City, the outcome would possibly be known by an audience of die-hard Mae mavens: a guilty verdict and jail in 1927 and a hung jury in 1930. But the playwright was determined to stick to the facts and also surprise the audience regarding the outcome. How? Well, you'll just have to see the play to enjoy how cleverly this is managed. Ideally, a producer who likes to have a full house at his/ her productions will bring this play to a theatre once again.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond."
• • Mae West said: “"When women go wrong, men go right after them."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about Graham Greene mentioned Mae West.
• • The British author Graham Greene [2 October 1904 — 3 April 1991] was inspired by Mae West when he was creating his character Ida.
• • Peter Craven wrote: The primary virtue of the beautifully acted but ultimately unsteady new film of Brighton Rock may be as an advertisement for Greene's novel and an introduction of it to a new audience. The thing that's so hard to film — — perhaps to dramatise in any medium — — is indicated by Greene's outline of what he was after. On 9 April 1939, he wrote to his agent Nancy Pearn: "The real point ... is the contrast between the ethical mind (Ida's) and the religious (the Boy's and Rose's) in thriller terms."
• • Peter Craven wrote: In the novel Ida — — who, believe it or not, Graham Greene partly based on Mae West — — is preoccupied with a world of an eye for an eye. Murder has been committed and justice — — conceived of as the vengeance of society — — must prevail: " 'You want to do what's right, Rose?' she implored. Rose whispered again, 'You let us be.' ". .
• • Source: Article: "Greene's pastures" written by Peter Craven for The Australian; posted on 16 April 2011
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seven years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2258th 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 • in court, 1930 • •
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