The Brilliance of Mae West


Time was not particularly kind to Mae West. Or, perhaps society and/or celluloid was the real culprit. Because we, alas, too often remember her as a caricature of herself: overblown in every aspect, held together by elastic, face-lifted to an eerie degree as she struts around in Myra Breckenridge, purring her trademark innuendoes.

Forget that version of Mae West...

 


... It was just another personae created by a consummate showbiz professional, a woman so brilliant she knew she could never stay on top without working it hard - and then some. Let us remember Mae West in her prime, as the photos on this page show: beautiful, brilliant, fearless, talented and always in control. She was one of the first Hollywood stars to recognize that sex was - and always would be - at least one arena of power open to women. She knew it and she used it well, both publicly and privately.

"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

Mae West was many things. So many things, in fact, that she was the quintessential modern-woman a good six decades before her time. Without exaggeration, it is fair to say that she was a:

  • Movie star
  • Feminist
  • Cultural icon
  • Comedienne
  • Impresario
  • Sex goddess
  • Great wit
  • Vaudeville veteran
  • Playwright,
  • Businesswoman... and even a
  • Webster's Dictionary entry!

"Goodness, what lovely diamonds.
Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."

Trailblazer & Cultural Icon

Mae West was born in 1892 in Brooklyn (Sun in Leo, Moon in Aries), the daughter of a (hold on to your feathered hat) boxer and corset model. She became a vaudevillian at the age of 14. Not convinced she was before her time yet? Listen to this: at the age of 33, in 1926, she wrote, produced and directed a Broadway show called "Sex" and landed in jail on obscenity charges. Her next play, "Drag", was banned on Broadway because it dealt with homosexuality - in 1927.

"When I'm good I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better."

After wowing Broadway in "Diamond Lil" (1928), she signed with Paramount in 1932 and moved to Hollywood, where she continued to be a trailblazer. Her risque 1930's comedies were ground-breaking in terms of both sexual content and roles for women. Her films included NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1932) and SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933) -- which was the film version of Diamond Lil and broke all existing box-office records -- is even credited with saving Paramount from having to sell out to its rival MGM.

"Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can't figure out what from."

Some people claim the Hays censorship code of 1934 was brought about almost singlehandedly by Mae West. If so, she gave Hays a run for his money in I'M NO ANGEL (1933), BELLE OF THE NINETIES (1934), GOIN' TO TOWN (1935) and KLONDIKE ANNIE (1936).

"If you put your foot in it, be sure it's your best foot."

Despite her perseverance, however, she was bucking a huge political and movie-making machine by going up against Hays. As a result, her roles were written ever tamer, leading her to abandon Hollywood as an outlet for her talents by the mid-1940's. Of the nine movies she made before her retreat, she shared writers credit for five of them.

"The score never interested me, only the game."

Mae West spent the rest of her life producing, writing, and starring in various plays and musical revues. Though offered the Norma Desmond role in Sunset Boulevard by the director himself, she reputedly turned Billy Wilder down for creative reasons (probably because Wilder did not want to give her re-writing power over her part).

"I take it out in the open and laugh at it."

She did not return to the silver screen for decades, finally making a brief appearance in MYRA BRECKENRIDGE in 1970. Once again, she enjoyed total creative control over her part, and rewrote all of her dialogue. Her last film was released in 1978: SEXTETTE, when she was 85 years old. But by then, she was suffering from memory loss, which impaired her famous delivery and caused most of her dialogue to seem stilted. Mae West died on November 22, 1980 at the age of 88, a true Tart to the end.

Oh, Miss West, I've heard so much about you.
"Yeah, honey, but you can't prove a thing."

Films:
Night After Night (Paramount, 1932)
She Done Him Wrong (Paramount, 1933)
I'm No Angel (Paramount, 1933)
Belle of the Nineties (Paramount, 1934)
Goin' To Town (Paramount, 1935)
Klondike Annie (Paramount, 1936)
Go West, Young Man (Paramount, 1936)
Every Day's A Holiday (Paramount, 1938)
My Little Chickadee (Universal, 1940)
The Heat's On (Columbia, 1943)
Myra Breckenridge (20th Century-Fox, 1970)
Sextette (Crown International 1978)

Plays (As Author and/or Performer)
1927: "Sex" - written as "Jane Mast"
1927: "The Drag" - written as "Jane Mast"
1927: "The Wicked Age"
1928: "Diamond Lil"
1928: "Pleasure Man" (writer's credit only)
1931: "The Constant Sinner" - from her novel, Babe Gordon
1939: "Clean Beds" - partial writers credit
1944: "Catherine Was Great"
1946: "Come On Up" (formerly "Ring Twice Tonight")
1961: "Sextette" (also her final film)

More Selected Mae West Quotes:

I'm no angel, but I've spread my wings a bit.

It takes two to get one in trouble.

Virtue has its own reward, but has no sale at the box office.

It is better to be looked over than overlooked.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about you lately.
You must be awful tired.

I'm a woman of very few words, but lots of action.

I can always tell a lady when I see one.
Yeah? What do you tell 'em?

Give a man a free hand and he'll try to put it all over you.

Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.

Some men are all right in their place--if they only knew the right places!

I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.

I'm single because I was born that way.

Don't come crawlin' to a man for love--he likes to get a run for his money.

I see you're a man with ideals. I better be going while you've still got them.

The best way to behave is to misbehave.

He who hesitates is last.

Any time you got nothing to do--and lots of time to do it--come on up.

Men are all alike--except the one you've met who's different.

Men are my hobby, if I ever got married I'd have to give it up.

It's not the men in my life that counts-- it's the life in my men.

Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.

I'm no model lady. A model's just an imitation of the real thing.

Women with "pasts" interest men because men hope that history will repeat itself.

Opportunity knocks for every man, but you have to give a woman a ring.

There are no withholding taxes on the wages of sin.

When a girl goes bad--men go right after her.

Love isn't an emotion or an instinct--it's an art.

You may admire a girl's curves on the first introduction, but the second meeting shows up new angles.

Brains are an asset to the woman in love who's smart enough to hide 'em.

It isn't what I do, but how I do it. It isn't what I say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do it and say it.

Look your best--who said love is blind?

Love thy neighbor--and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier.

No gold-digging for me... I take diamonds! We may be off the gold standard someday.

Don't marry a man to reform him--that's what reform schools are for.

Don't ever make the same mistake twice, unless it pays.

I'd give half my life for just one kiss.
Then kiss me twice.

What kind of man is most satisfactory?
Personally, I like two types of men--domestic and foreign.

Come up and see me sometime.

How do you do, Miss West?
How do you do what?



March's Tart Emeritus: Theda Bara
February's Tart Emeritus: Kathleen Turner


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