Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Mae West: Breaking Rules

A very fine tribute to MAE WEST appeared last month in Chicago Now. In case you missed it, here it is. Can you think of a better way to brighten the New Year? Here’s the fourth excerpt.
• • Why Hollywood still needs a kick-ass feminist like Mae West • •
• • Rules to break • • 
• • Steven Krage wrote: In conversation with biographer Charlotte Chandler, Mae West stated that the press "said censorship was my enemy, but I'm not so sure about that. Maybe censorship was my best friend. You can't get famous for breaking the rules unless you've got some rules to break." (Chandler 191-192)
• • Steven Krage wrote: She challenged a woman's role in a male-dominated world, stating that "as long as I was single, I belonged to every man. At least, he could think there was a possibility." (Chandler 74) She beguiled and made of a fool of every vulgar man with his hand down his pants and a libido the size of an elephant. When she was offered the role Gloria Swanson would play in Sunset Boulevard (1950), according to Swanson Biographer Stephen Shearer, West "in her late fifties... felt she was too young for the part of a silent screen actress, anyway — — she felt no affinity for Hollywood." (Shearer 314)
• • An affront to men who tried to control her • •  . . .
• • This is Part 4 of 6 parts. Part 5 will be seen on Thursday.
• • Source: Article by Steven Krage for Chicago Now; published on Tuesday, 12 December 2017.
• • In Movie Classic, January 1934 • •
• • One of the best Hollywood interviewers Ruth Biery wrote a lengthy article, "The Private Life of Mae West" and Part One was printed in the fan magazine Movie Classic, their January 1934 issue. Her 3-part series is a must read.
• • Mae West halted production on "Klondike Annie" because her very own Karl Struss was busy with a Bing Crosby vehicle "Anything Goes" (co-starring Ida Lupino, Charles Ruggles, and Ethel Merman as Reno Sweeney).
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • All Hollywood is laughing at the song parody which Mae West has composed about her recent front-page marriage rumors. It's a wow and it's not for public consumption.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It isn't often that I write a man a letter. When I've got anything to say to a man, I'd rather say it personally, if you know what I mean."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Hollywood Reporter mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West in Paramount's "She Done Him Wrong" — Now Shooting.
• • Source: The Hollywood Reporter, "Today's Film News"; published on Tuesday, 3 January 1933 
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 13th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past thirteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,800 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3867th 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 Movie Classic in 1932

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