Friday, February 27, 2015

Mae West: Wallace Wedding

MAE WEST paid dearly for her concealment of a brief secret marriage to Frank Wallace, who resurfaced during the Depression. The former vaudeville song and dance man turned out to be not love-struck but rather a down-and-outer looking for a quick payday.
• • "This Gentleman May Be Known As Mr. West" • •
• • New York, Feb. 27 [AP] — — Asserting that right is might, Frank Wallace today renewed his efforts to obtain a court order declaring him to be the husband of Mae West, motion picture star.
• • From Supreme Court Justice John E. McGoehan he obtained permission to serve Miss West through the sheriff of Los Angeles county, California, with papers in his suit for a declaratory judgment.
• • "She has money and power," he said, "but justice is on my side. That makes it even."
• • Wallace, denying it was a publicity stunt as charged by Miss West, said his reputation had been damaged by her statement that she never had heard of him. He made it plain through Samuel J. Siegel, his new lawyer, however, that he wished to avoid any unpleasantness or embarrassment because he said he still had the warmest esteem and admiration for the alleged Mrs. Wallace.
• • Siegel produced a photostatic copy of a marriage license indicating that Wallace, a song and dance man currently at liberty, had married Mae West in Milwaukee 25 years ago.
• • They separated in 1916, Siegel said, when a booking agent convinced them that Mrs. Wallace had a future in the movies if she could appear as an unmarried woman. Wallace signed a pact agreeing to keep the marriage secret, the attorney went on, and would have remained silent if Miss West had not said she never heard of the guy when the marriage license came to light last year.
• • Siegel said he understood Wallace had been married again and divorced since 1916, but insisted that had nothing to do with his alleged status as Miss West's husband.
• • News by Associated Press rpt in Daily Illini;  published on Friday, 28 February 1936.
• • On Saturday, 27 February 1932 • •
• • The headline on Saturday, 27 February 1932: "Puppets to Act in Shows Today."
• • The Cornell Daily Sun announced the Mae West marionette show on the front page: Tatterman Marionettes will present plays in Willard Straight Theater. "Stringing Broadway" is adult entertainment. The puppets . . . poke good-humored fun at the contemporary world of politics, the theatre, and letters. A burlesque grand opera . . . A.A. Milne, Mae West, and Eugene O'Neill are on the program. . . .
• • "Stringing Broadway," with its chorus of "Glorified Girls," takes the professional revue for a ride, noted the Cornell Daily Sun.
• • Source: Cornell Daily Sun, page 1 story, Volume 52, Issue 106, published on Saturday, 27 February 1932.
• • On Thursday, 27 February 1936 • •
• • Joseph Breen wrote to Will Hays about Mae West and "KIondike Annie." His letter is dated for Thursday, 27 February 1936.
• • Newspapers were aware of the bickering and the chaos. The Los Angeles Herald printed a news story on page 4 about the censorship issues on Thursday, 27 February 1936. It was never easy being Mae West.
• • On Sunday, 27 February 1938 • •
• • From Perth Australia, the newspapers echoed the after-shocks of "The Chase and Sanborn Hour" in December 1937: Mae West's un-Scriptural portrayal of Eve in a national broadcast has aroused the wrath of hundreds of American women and infuriated the clergy. They are shocked because, instead of the serpent tempting Eve, as the Book of Genesis records, Mae West tempted the serpent. The company that broadcast Mae as Eve has been besieged by angry resolutions from women's clubs.  . . .
• • America's big Catholic League of Decency is also planning to reprimand her. . . .
• • Source: From Our Own Correspondent by Air in New York, Sunday Times (Perth, Australia) published on Sunday, 27 February 1938.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West's song numbers for "Myra Breckinridge" were shot on 19 March 1970.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Frank Wallace?  Never heard of him!"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Raquel Welch discussed the red carpet chaos during the VIP premiere of "Myra" and Mae West.
• • Raquel Welch said: They didn’t screen it for me, and I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to see it before I had to. They asked me to come to New York for the opening, and I did that. I pulled up in a car in front of the theater, and there was a big red carpet there and a lot of press and a lot of fans, and I walked a couple of paces — and a bunch of bodyguards came and lifted me underneath both arms and pushed me inside. And I said, “What the heck is going on? I haven’t been manhandled like this ever!”
• • They said, “Well, Mae West’s car is right behind yours, and she did not want you to be on the red carpet at the same time she was.” Bobby Fryer was so absolutely terrified of Mae, and Mae was so terrified of this movie and her whole image that it all sort of went neurotic. I was just along for the ride. I realized, It’s going to be a disappointment. I just hope it’s not as bad as I think.  I really didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it wasn’t good when we were making it.  . . .
• • Source: Article:  "Raquel Welch vs. Mae West" from Out Magazine; published on Monday, 16 February 2015 
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 10th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during this past decade. The other day we entertained 1,430 visitors. We reached a milestone this week: 3,100 posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3124th 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 • in 1970

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