Mae West Marathon on now! Turner Classic Movies

[sophisticated_soul]

"I'm No Angel" [[on now)
"She Done Him Wrong"
"Belle Of The Nineties"
"My Little Chickadee"
"The Heats On" [[rarely shown)

[Mark Desjardines]

I was surprised that Robert Osborne didn't introduce the films last evening, as he played a key role in an A&E Mae West documentary filmed in 1993. He was more animated and less wooden back then, and Ben Mankiewicz not only provided interesting and accurate facts about West and production notes, he actually got the true essence of who and what Mae West was really all about.

The five films listed above that TCM aired were pristine copies, and along with "Myra Breckinridge" and "Sextette" which have been presented before, it would be fantastic if "Night After Night," "Goin' To Town," "Klondike Annie," "Go West, Young Man," and "Every Day's a Holiday," could be aired at some point.

Although the Hollywood Production Code that came into effect in 1933 severely clamped down on Mae West's sexually charged film personna and dialogue, there still remains a lot of fun to be had watching these films. During her Vaudeville and Broadway careers, Mae West performed song and comedic skits , and all of her films except "Night After Night" feature lavish musical music productions.

Sadly the musical number referred to as "Lure" featuring a "sinsational" costume designed by Walker Plunkett was cut from film censors in the 1943 "The Heat's On." Sporting a headdress featuring a coiled snake and talon like fingernails, one can only imagine the evils censors thought they were protecting the public from. Sadly this excised footage has been lost to time. Fortunately several stills of West's amazing costume exist.

[sophisticated_soul]

Mark, I did not know about the "Lure" number. The photo is fabulous, very exotic. It's sad that the number has been lost to time. I have all 12 of her movies and my favorite has varied over the years, right now I would say "Klondike Annie" is the one I watch most often.

[Mark Desjardines]

From the research I've done, and the people I have spoken to who knew Mae West personally, "Klondike Annie" was the film she was most proud of as a dramatic actress, but was the one that was cut so savagely by the film censors at the time. They strongly objected to some of the religious references in the script. It didn't help West either that Rudolph Hurst placed a ban on her name and advertising her films in his newspaper chain. West never attempted another dramatic role again, sticking to her comedic roles.

As a note, if you watch very closely in the "raid" scene in the opening few minutes of "The Heat's On" while the police run into the theatre to close down the show "Indiscretions," the curtain opens and you can just make out the opening scene for what would have been the "Lure" production number. Dancers are just coming out, but Mae hasn't stepped on stage yet. One can only imagine what would have happened next........

[brother_love]

I have an original copy of this print framed on my wall, it's one of my favorite pics of her. I wished I had known that they were airing The Heat Is On, I have it as a 2fer DVD with Bell of the Nineties, but can only play it on my computer because it's PAL 2. It would have been nice to have DVR it.

I was surprised that Robert Osborne didn't introduce the films last evening, as he played a key role in an A&E Mae West documentary filmed in 1993. He was more animated and less wooden back then, and Ben Mankiewicz not only provided interesting and accurate facts about West and production notes, he actually got the true essence of who and what Mae West was really all about.

The five films listed above that TCM aired were pristine copies, and along with "Myra Breckinridge" and "Sextette" which have been presented before, it would be fantastic if "Night After Night," "Goin' To Town," "Klondike Annie," "Go West, Young Man," and "Every Day's a Holiday," could be aired at some point.

Although the Hollywood Production Code that came into effect in 1933 severely clamped down on Mae West's sexually charged film personna and dialogue, there still remains a lot of fun to be had watching these films. During her Vaudeville and Broadway careers, Mae West performed song and comedic skits , and all of her films except "Night After Night" feature lavish musical music productions.

Sadly the musical number referred to as "Lure" featuring a "sinsational" costume designed by Walker Plunkett was cut from film censors in the 1943 "The Heat's On." Sporting a headdress featuring a coiled snake and talon like fingernails, one can only imagine the evils censors thought they were protecting the public from. Sadly this excised footage has been lost to time. Fortunately several stills of West's amazing costume exist.