Friday, October 21, 2016

Mae West: Nerve Enough

In October 1933, MAE WEST was featured in a special Midnight Show at the Rivoli Theatre in Muncie, Indiana. Let's go back in time.
• • Mae West in "I'm No Angel" Holds Spotlight Starting Saturday • •
• • A special midnight showing of Mae West’s newest picture will be given at the Rivoli Theater next Saturday night at 11:30 o’clock. Her new picture comes up to the expectations and hopes of ail her photoplay followers with all the traditional fireworks of the old  Wild West.
• • Mae set herself a difficult task bettering her first picture, “She Done Him Wrong,” which lifted her to the top of the cinematic ladder. Now, from every standpoint, story, star performance, songs, wisecracks, her current picture, “I’m No Angel,” excels her previous picture.
• • Sings Torch Songs • •
• • It is a modern yarn created by Miss West herself presenting her in a picturesque characterization of a rowdy, wise-cracking carnival dancer and singer. She becomes a lion tamer, has nerve enough to put her head in the lion's mouth, and becomes a veritable sensation in a big New York circus. It is there that she captivates society millionaires.
• • In the course of the picture, she sings five "torch songs, dances a glorified shimmy number known as "the midway," wears tights, enters a cage with savage lions and wisecracks.
• • Splendid Support • •
• • Her supporting cast is a splendid one headed by Cary Grant  . . .
• • Source:  Muncie Post-Democrat (Indiana); published on Friday, 20 October 1933.
• • On Saturday, 21 October 1933 • •
• • The Broadway musical  "Let 'Em Eat Cake" previewed on Saturday, 21 October 1933 — — not far away from Election Day — — and played 90 performances at the Imperial Theatre [249 West 45th Street, NYC 10036]. One character in "Let 'Em Eat Cake" issues an order that Mae West should replace George Washington on the postage stamp.
• • On Thursday, 21 October 1943 • •
• • Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures went to see Mae West in "The Heat's On" during the previews  Cohn had let Gregory Ratoff smooth talk him into a contract for it.  "The hicks may remember Mae West but the preview houses don't," Harry Cohn told a reporter on Thursday, 21 October 1943. "This picture is going to be a bust." The public concurred. Even Mae West would agree. Tsk.
• • On Tuesday, 21 October 1947 • •
• • It was on Tuesday, 21 October 1947 that Mae West first set foot in a playhouse in Manchester, England to present her Bowery melodrama "Diamond Lil."
• • On Thursday, 21 October 1993 • •
• • John Cohen's article on Mae West, "And West Is West," appeared in The New York Sun on Thursday, 21 October 1993.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Before Mae West's death in 1980, at the age of 87, there were rumors of a dark, deep secret which would be revealed only posthumously.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'm a pretty good observer myself. I like to study character, especially where men are concerned. I've got a reputation for that."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California newspaper mentioned Mae West's influence on accessories.
• • Under the influence of rakish Mae West, gloves are now being worn even on slightly warm days. Memories of the Gibson Girl era are being revived in coat styles.  ...
• • Source: Item  in The Stanford Daily; published on Friday, 20 October 1933
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past twelve years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started twelve years ago in July 2004.
You are reading the 3557th 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 1943

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