Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Mae West: Wrong Track

A very long article about MAE WEST and her career in Tinseltown appeared five years ago.  It was written by Paul Phaneuf. Let's pick this up again and enjoy it together. This is Part 52.
• • Mae West: "I'm here to make talkies" or Censor Will vs. Diamond Lil • •
• • right out of Frank Capra • •
• • Paul Phaneuf wrote:    The rest is right out of Frank Capra as Mae is now forced by her circumstances to play her role to the hilt, as the religious community is eager to embrace their newly arrived missionary.
• • At first she looks on it as a temporary dodge, but as she gets into her job, she begins to internalize Sister Annie's goodness. Easily up the challenge of working with tough miners' she tells them, "You people have been on the wrong track and I'm gonna steer you right. You'll never get anywhere 'cause you don't know how to wrestle the devil. Tying a knot in his tail won't throw him on his back. Ya gotta grab him by the horns. Ya gotta know him, know his tricks. I know him. And how I know him! I can make him say 'Uncle' — — if he has an uncle."
• • She begins by visiting the local "Dance Hall and Roulette Parlor" where she confronts the head dance hall "hostess" (Esther Howard) and orders her and her girls to attend the next revival meeting at the settlement house.
• • playin' a different tune • •  . . .
• • This was Part 52.  Part 53 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, 28 March 1927 • •
• • In March 1927, in reaction to the Broadway aspirations of Mae West's play "The Drag," the New York State Legislature passed a law banning all depictions of homosexuality on the stage.
• • "Sex" had already run for 339 performances • •
• • The full-length stage play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes the trial and other matters leading up to it — — and, of course, the colorful aftermath.
• • On Thursday, 28 March 1935 • •
• • Mae West was invited to party with the King of England during his jubilee in 1935.
• • The newspapers followed this story, announcing a few times that Mae West would definitely attend the party in London. However, it was not to be — — and the busy performer would not sail for Great Britain until after World War II when she toured in "Diamond Lil."
• • Source: Article:  "Lord Byng Talks with Mae West" in The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser; published on Thursday, 28 March 1935.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The Arcade Theatre in New Jersey announced it would be offering "Klondike Annie" starring Mae West.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "I'm not just a star — — I'm a writer as well. And a thinker! I always keep busy."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A New England daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Cambridge Sentinel wrote: “Mae Day” comes early this year, but we are referring to Mae West’s days which start on Saturday. The days are 4 in number and the occasion is “Klondike Annie” with Victor McLaglen as the conqueror of the “West," in a breezy story of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast and the fabulous Alaskan Gold Rush.   . . .
• • Source: Cambridge Sentinel (Massachusetts); published on Saturday, 28 March 1936
• • 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 3669th
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 • in court in 1928

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