Thursday, May 31, 2018

Mae West: Phillips Smalley

MAE WEST had a celebrated cameo in “Night after Night” [1932] and Phillips Smalley (who died in the month of May) was seen in an uncredited role as Mr. Wilson.
• • Phillips Smalley [7 August 1875 —2 May 1939] • •
• • Born in Brooklyn, NY (like Mae), Phillips Wendell Smalley was the son of wealthy parents and graduated from Oxford University. Nevertheless, he decided he wanted to be in the spotlight.
• • Like Mae and many entertainers of his era, Smalley began his career in vaudeville and also acted onstage. A versatile performer, he was cast in dramas, comedies, farces, and adaptations from novels.
• • Entering the film trade during the silent screen era, he acted in more than 200 films between 1910 and his death in 1939. His love for the cinema led him to begin a career as a director in 1911.
• • During the making of a silent film “Tea for Three” [1927], Phillips Smalley had the chance to work with Owen Moore, who portrayed Chick Clark in the Mae West starrer “She Done Him Wrong.”
• • Well-connected in the industry, Phillips Smalley easily made the transition to talkies.
• • In 1932, he was cast in “Night after Night” and seen in a minor uncredited role as the character Mr. Wilson.
• • George Raft helped his pal Mae scored a modest talking part in “Night after Night.” Production began on Monday, 22 August 1932 — — and concluded in September.
• • Tall and strong-jawed, Phillips Smalley was ideal for leading man parts and had a long list of formidable credits. But by the time the film industry introduced the "talking picture," he was being relegated to minor roles. He was married twice, first to actress Lois Weber (with whom he had one child) and later to Phyllis Lorraine Ephlin.
• • Phillips Smalley died in the month of May — — on Tuesday, 2 May 1939 in Hollywood, California. He was 63 years old.
• • On Monday, 31 May 1999 • •
• • There was a 30-minute episode "Mae West" on TV's E! Mysteries and Scandals: Season 2, Episode 14. It aired on Monday, 31 May 1999.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The best motion picture that Miss West has made to date. Not a single off-color line or situation; scrupulously clean, yet funny.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Working with George Raft was a real inducement, if you know what I mean. There was a thing between me and him.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A California daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Talbot Lake wrote: When the clock strikes 1 AM, the light goes out and he trots home. To light the signs in Times Square will require 2,000,000 watts of electricity an hour at a nightly cost of $600. No wonder Frank Zoubeck perspires in the heat of the bulbs.
• • Talbot Lake wrote:  He still manages to maintain his sense of humor. Said he of a Mae West sign on which he was changing the light bulbs: “I guess this burns out more than all the rest.” . . .
• • Source: profile of Frank Zoubeck, Times Square electrician, written for the Madera Tribune; published on Thursday, 26 May 1938
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • 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 3,900 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3971st 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 a gown by Zelda Wynn Valdez in 1932

• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Mae West: McLellan Galleries

Learn how MAE WEST put her stamp on Glasgow, Scotland in 1947. This is Part 2.
• • “Those Were the Days 1947: Mae West, about to put her stamp on Glasgow” • •
• • They don’t make them like Mae West anymore. • •
• • Russell Leadbetter wrote: Diamond Lil is the kind of a bad girl made familiar by the movies — — one with a heart of gold.”
• • Russell Leadbetter wrote: As for Mae West, the star of the show, she “is all that one expected, and something more. The husky voice, the blonde hair, the famous figure, and the shimmy — — for she shimmies rather than walks — — are all there, with typical wisecracks added.”
• • McLellan Galleries in Glasgow • •
• • Russell Leadbetter wrote: Mae West was in town for the show’s run, which meant that, come the 20th — — the day, incidentally, of the wedding at Westminster Abbey between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip — — Mae was called upon to open the British Philatelic Exhibition, at the McLellan Galleries in Glasgow city centre.
• • This was Part 2 of two segments.  We hope you enjoyed it.
• • Source: Article by Russell Leadbetter for The Herald Scotland; posted on Thursday, 19 April 2018.
• • On Wednesday, 30 May 1934 • •
• • One more installment of the very interesting week-long article "Mae West in Roads of Romance" by Harry Lee and Winfield Meggs, Side Glances columnists and illustrators for The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, was published on Wednesday, 30 May 1934.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, Stewart Granger, Mae West — — some of Hollywood's greatest stars were also its worst advertisement, says the London newspaper The Guardian.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  “Although your conscience depends on what's found out, there is no husband on my conscience.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A paper in Australia mentioned Mae West.
• • “Mae West to Star Again on the Silver Screen” • •
• • Mae West will star in the motion picture "Goodness Me" for Arthur Rank in England. It is
her first screen picture in two years.  . . .
• • Source: Item on page 1 of Goulburn Evening Post (NSW); published on Monday, 5 July 1954
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • 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 3970th 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 • arriving in Glasgow, Scotland in 1947

• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West