Saturday, July 07, 2012

Mae West: Rouses Ire

Could a movement in Australia end the career of MAE WEST? All of a sudden the screen queen was being attacked by The Women's Vigilant Society.  Here's the article published by The Australian Women's Weekly on Saturday, 7 July 1934.
• • "Mae West Rouses Ire of Victorian Women" • •
• • Mae West may go west in Australia soon if Victorian women follow the example of America, and if the other States follow Victoria. The present popular phrase, "Come up and see me sometime," will fade away to oblivion, and Mae West will be allowed on the screen only in the most proper of roles.
• • The National Council of Women in America has banned famous studios such as Paramount Pictures and United Artists because of suggestive and indecent pictures they have produced. The Council's action is likely to find an echo in Victoria. It is rumored that the ban may mean the end of the careers of Mae West and Anna Sten at Hollywood.
• • The National Council of Women executive, at its meeting on Monday night (2 July 1934), discussed the films in question and the action taken by American women.  Many of the members, including the president, Mrs. I. H. Moss, have never seen Mae West's pictures. Some of them say they have no desire to.
• • The Women's Vigilant Society will discuss suggestive and indecent pictures in general, and Mae West in particular at its meeting on July 12. Neither the president, Mrs. Gregory, nor the hon. secretary, Mrs. Allen, have seen her. The society appointed an advertising and publications committee some time ago which succeeded in having "live" advertisements, in which semi-nude men and women drove through Prahran on lorries, banned, and the promoters prosecuted.
• • Office-Bearers in both organisations agree that it will be necessary for members to see the films objected to before any action is taken.
• • Mae West's last picture, "I'm No Angel," was shown in Geelong last week to crowded houses, and will be shown in Melbourne suburbs shortly. It has been suggested that Paramount should invite interested women's organisations to see the picture.
• • The manager, Mr. H. A. Kelly, said he has received mountains of fan-mail for Mae West, and hundreds of requests for her photograph. "I'm No Angel" was not cut at all by the Australian censors. It created a record at the Prince Edward Theatre, Sydney.
• • "It Ain't No Sin," Mae West's latest picture, is due to arrive in Australia soon. Mr. Kelly thinks that after its ban by the New York Board of Regents the film will be entirely re-made at Hollywood.
• • Source: Article: "Mae West Rouses Ire of Victorian Women" published in The Australian Women's Weekly (on page 4), issue dated for Saturday, 7 July 1934.
• • Jackie Searl [7 July 1921 — 29 April 1991] • •
• • Born in Anaheim, California on 7 July 1921, John E. Searl began his silver screen resume with "Daughters of Desire" [1929], a silent movie, as Jackie Searl when he was a lad of eight.
• • The clean-cut freckled blond was a bratty counterpart to child actress Jane Withers. Cast in 94 productions for the cinema as well as in guest-starring bits on TV (1960 — 1969), Jackie found it easier to attract attention during the pre-WW2 era.  He was seen in a minor role (Boy) in "My Little Chickadee" when he was 19.
• • After fulfilling his military obligations, Jackie Searl tried to recharge his Hollywood heyday. Then during the 1960s he made some inroads into small screen turf; he guest-starred on TV shows such as "Lassie," "Perry Mason," "Rawhide," and others.
• • Jackie Searl died in Tujunga, California on Monday, 29 April 1991.  He was 69.
• • On Friday, 7 July 1916 in Variety • •
• • The resident scold sat stone-faced through "Mae West and Sister" at Proctor's Theatre near Madison Square Park. Later on, Sime Silverman pulled up his tight garters as he sniffed and snorted behind his keyboard like an overheated carriage horse. "Unless Miss West can tone down her stage presence in every way," he sneered, "she just might as well hop right out of vaudeville and into burlesque." And if the unabashed Brooklynite was going to continue to be so disarmingly aggressive, Sime scolded Mae by suggesting that she should get up onstage next time in "men's dress altogether."
• • "Mae West now has a red carpet rolled out," Sime explained in Variety on Friday, 7 July 1916. "She loses much by occasionally overstepping the line between facetiousness and freshness. When she learns to draw the line, she will have made a marked stride in the right direction."  Thanks, big boy!
• • On Thursday, 7 July 1938 • •
• • A 1938 headline in The Sydney Morning Herald tooted: "Mae West and Clark Gable." The screen queen was in her mid-40s and the leading man was 37 years old.
• • "Film News of the Week" announced: It seems impossible to avoid the topic of the new star teams. The latest to be announced is the partnership of Mae West and Clark Gable, who are proposed for the latest roles in "New Orleans," an original story by the man who wrote "San Francisco."
• • "Film News of the Week" explained: These two champions of the rough-and-ready school should make a perfect screen match. The story, however, demands renunciation in the last reel. Mae West, as a torch-singing New Orleans belle, sacrifices love and leaves the hero to the youthful ingenue.
• • Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, "Film News of the Week" on page 28, Thursday, 7 July 1938.
• • On Friday, 7 July 1961 • •
• • Mae West's last play "Sextette" (a.k.a. "Sextet") at Edgewater Beach Playhouse opened on Friday, 7 July 1961.  "Sextette" was a Kenley Players production.
• • Save the Date: Thursday, August 16th • •
• • Thursday, 16 August 2012 will be the next Mae West Tribute in Manhattan and the evening affair will start at 6:30 pm at 155 Mulberry Street.  This year Mae-mavens will enjoy an indoor event (ahhh, air conditioning), music written by Mae West's Italian husband will be played, and attendees will be seated. At the Reception, Italian wine and light refreshments will be served. The public is invited.
• • Mae West was born in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday, 17 August 1893.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I was born on a cool night in a hot month."
• • Mae West said:  "We never did much of a sister act. I always liked to go it alone."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on the sexiest cartoon characters mentioned Mae West.
• • Steve Silverman wrote: This movie was one of the biggest movie hits of 1988 and one of the reasons was the sexy Jessica Rabbit. While Roger Rabbit was a rabbit in the movie, Jessica Rabbit is an overtly sexy and curvaceous woman. Kim Basinger was an appropriate choice as Jessica’s voice and she played it to the hilt with both her voice and the double-entendre in her message. Based loosely on actress Mae West, Jessica is alluring and enticing  . . .
• • Source: Article: "The 7 Sexiest Cartoon Characters" written by Steve Silverman for screenjunkies.com; published on 7 July 2012
By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started eight years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 2355th 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 • 1932
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