Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Mae West: White Slavery

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's enjoy it together. This is Part 16.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • The white slavery aspect would be downplayed • • 
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:  The movie was to be directed by Hollywood pro Lowell Sherman while Noah Berry, Sr. was to play Gus Jordan, and Rafaela Ottiano was to reprise her Broadway role as Rio Rita. A very young Gilbert Roland was to be one of Mae's suitors, and a newcomer named Cary Grant was to be an undercover cop posing as a Salvation Army man.
• • "Suicide Hall" was now "Gus Jordan's" • •
• • "Suicide Hall" was now "Gus Jordan's" and was made to look more like a bar than a house of ill repute, with instructions from Hays to "stay away from featuring private rooms that could be used for immoral purposes." And phrases like "for God's sake" and "the last guy she had" were pruned out. In a typical letter from the Hays office it stated that it should be "definitely established" that Lil was not a kept woman before meeting up with Gus, and they were not to use the Salvation Army uniform for Cary Grant, rather it should be a "non-descript uniform of a mission worker." The white slavery aspect was also to be downplayed by turning it into more of a money laundering scheme.
• • Surface changes — — bawdy tone • •   . . .
• • This was Part 16. Part 17 will appear tomorrow.
• • Source:  Article by Paul Phaneuf in Films of the Golden Age Magazine;  issue dated 5 November 2011. Used with permission.
• • On Wednesday, 24 January 1945 • •
• • When "Catherine Was Great" starring Mae West was in performance, reviews were mixed. In a January column — — published on Wednesday, 24 January 1945 — — the Boston Post was rude and dismissive, sneering "It doesn't seem that anyone over 21 would admit to having written such a play." 
• • But the play and the Broadway star found some supporters in the media, for instance, Stark Young. And the fans were in Mae's corner, buying up all the tickets.
• • On Saturday, 24 January 1948 • •
• • "Diamond Lil" starring Mae West toured Manchester, Blackpool, Birmingham, and Glasgow before opening at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, very grandly, on Saturday night, 24 January 1948.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Sculptor Louis Rosenthal was interviewed and photographed in a Maryland hotel suite right next to Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "If I went out as a star and flopped, I was through. If I went out as a nobody, I wouldn't be under the gun — — and I had a chance."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article about The National Theatre in D.C. mentioned Mae West.
• • From 19 February 1945 through 24 February 1945 "Catherine Was Great" was onstage there. This comedy by and starring Mae West had billed the star in their Program as "Diamond Lil of all Russia.” Mae brought "Come On Up" to this venue on 23 September 1946 for a week-long engagement.
• • Source:   "Underused National Theatre is ready for its next act" written by Nelson Pressley for The Washington Post; published on Friday, 11 January 2013
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 12th 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 3,500 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3624th
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 • with Rae Bourbon
in 1945
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  Mae West

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