Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Mae West: Bullet-Proof West

MAE WEST had an armored car on order during the 1930s after she was a crime victim. Here is a follow-up that appeared in print on 12 August 1938, referring to Bullet-Proof West.
• • "Mae West's Armor" • •
• • Political columnist Drew Pearson wrote:  A surprise disclosure in a report just issued by the LaFollette civil liberties committee is the fact that Mae West was, at one time, considering buying an armored car.
• • Drew Pearson continued:  The information is contained in a letter written by Donald J. Wright, a salesman for Federal Laboratories, Inc., which sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tear gas and sickening gas to city officials and anti-union employers to be used against strikers. Donald Wright was very coy in his comments regarding the famed movie star.
• • Donald J. Wright had noted: I am still working on this job but the chances of an order seem to be slipping. ... I haven't given up hope yet. Maybe if Mae West decides not to have the car protected, she will order a bullet-proof West and have herself armored.  It wouldn't be any fun, anyway, taking the measuremerits of an automobile.
• • Source: syndicated column "The Daily Washington Merry-Go-Round" written by Drew Pearson quoting Donald Wright and rpt in Daily Illini; published on Friday, 12 August 1938.
• • On Saturday, 12 August 1944 • •
• • According to an article in Billboard Magazine [The Billboard, Saturday, 12 August 1944], Mike Todd and Mae West shared the financial burden of mounting this costume drama ("Catherine Was Great") — — $150,000, not an inconsiderable sum during the World War II era. And though she often hired inexperienced actors and actresses for the minor roles, Mae West sought out the best costume people and set designers. Despite the savage reviews that would greet the star's own efforts, the critics heaped praise on the production itself, calling the scenery "as beautiful as Howard Bay's best" and rhapsodizing over lavish details such as the fireplace set in Count Mirovich's apartment and the decor of the ghoulish "secret room" of Ivan VI where a murder occurs.
• • On Saturday, 12 August 1961 • •
• • "Come On Up" was having a revival in 1961. The copyrighted version bears the credit line "based on a story idea by Charlotte Francis" but Mae had tinkered with the text and brought in a handsome old friend Jack LaRue to play the heroine's former gangster husband.
• • Save the Dates: 3 Mondays in August 2015 • •
• • Onstage Outlaws — — Mae West and Texas Guinan during the Lawless Prohibition Era • •
• • 3 events commemorate the Brooklyn bombshell’s August birthday in the room where she faced a judge who sent her to jail • •
• • New York's Annual Mae West Tribute: to celebrate the birthday of Brooklyn bombshell Mae West, on August 3rd and on August 10th, her films will be shown at 6:00pm. The first one, "Sextette" [1978] was screened on August 3rd. "Go West Young Man" [1936] will be screened next week on August 10th. The August 17th multi-media presentation will feature light refreshments (courtesy of East Village Cheese) and a raffle. You could win rare films starring Texas Guinan. Or maybe a rare reprint by The New Yorker’s caricaturist Alfred Freuh or by a famous N. Y. Times illustrator.
• • Refreshment sponsor: East Village Cheese

• • Here's the NYPL link http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2015/08/17/onstage-outlaws-mae-west-and-texas-guinan-during-lawless-prohibition-era 
• • Here's a fascinating article on speakeasy queen Texas Guinan written by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy New York's Night Club Queen Was as Big as Texas
• • Here's an interview with Mae-maven LindaAnn Loschiavo A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo
A Conversation with NYC Playwright LindaAnn Loschiavo 
• • The weekly events magazine Time Out New York recommended this event:
Time Out New York recommends "Onstage Outlaws Mae West and Texas Guinan"
• • Details — — Mae West Tribute: Triple Treat in 2015
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Only a few of the newer vaudeville performers such as Mae West and Will Rogers have approached celebrity status.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "In the first place, I've never felt up until just recently that I could get married, if I'd wanted to. My folks made a lot of sacrifices for me when I was a kid. We were a family that was close together. I had obligations as long as my mother and dad were alive."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The United Press discussed Mae West.
• • "Mae West Signs for First Film" • •
• • Hollywood, Cal., Tues., 21 June 1932 — Svelte and blond. Mae West, night club queen (sic), is in Hollywood to make her first moving picture.
• • The United Press continued:  Mae worked fast.  She signed with Helen Morgan and Texas Guinan to appear in "Night After Night" on Wednesday. She left the same night for the coast, and stopped off in Chicago just long enough to cancel her appearance in "The Constant Sinner."  ...
• • Source: The United Press, syndicated and reprinted by The Pittsburgh Press (on page 19); published on Tuesday, 21 June 1932 
• • Note: Mae West and George Raft in one scene from the motion picture that is set in a New York City speakeasy.
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •    
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,200 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3243rd 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 1933

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