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MAE WEST: The Lies, the Legends, the Truths
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 29, 2021
Mae West, an America icon
This is a fascinating study of Mae West, an actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol. The author reveals a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own image. Her screenplays made her a cultural icon for sexuality and social subversion. In the 1930s, she was not only considered scandalous but dangerous to the American society. She achieved her success through hard work and dogged persistence by employing fair or foul means, trickery, and ruthlessness in the rough-and tumble world of show-business. She dimmed Marlene Dietrich's allure, outshone glossy Joan Crawford, and overpowered Greta Garbo's subtle eroticism. Depression era audiences were stimulated by her unapologetic exhibitionism and cynical behavior. In her films she was the first woman to function as a leading man. For all the variety of the scripts she wrote, the constant factor was West’s personality to ridicule social attitudes toward sex. She was a sensation on Broadway with her play “Sex.” In 1926, she was convicted of obscenity, and spent ten-days in prison but emerged as a star. The movie “She Done Him Wrong” single-handedly saved Paramount Studios from probable bankruptcy, or it may have improved Paramount's fiscal condition and probably saved it from being merged with MGM Studios.
Enigmatic life of Mae West was spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures. Her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway, and Hollywood, where she became one of the big screen's most popular and colorful stars. This book is well-written and the author’s narratives of West’s life and her interactions with other leading ladies is fascinating. Reading this book is a pleasure!
This is a fascinating study of Mae West, an actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol. The author reveals a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own image. Her screenplays made her a cultural icon for sexuality and social subversion. In the 1930s, she was not only considered scandalous but dangerous to the American society. She achieved her success through hard work and dogged persistence by employing fair or foul means, trickery, and ruthlessness in the rough-and tumble world of show-business. She dimmed Marlene Dietrich's allure, outshone glossy Joan Crawford, and overpowered Greta Garbo's subtle eroticism. Depression era audiences were stimulated by her unapologetic exhibitionism and cynical behavior. In her films she was the first woman to function as a leading man. For all the variety of the scripts she wrote, the constant factor was West’s personality to ridicule social attitudes toward sex. She was a sensation on Broadway with her play “Sex.” In 1926, she was convicted of obscenity, and spent ten-days in prison but emerged as a star. The movie “She Done Him Wrong” single-handedly saved Paramount Studios from probable bankruptcy, or it may have improved Paramount's fiscal condition and probably saved it from being merged with MGM Studios.
Enigmatic life of Mae West was spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures. Her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway, and Hollywood, where she became one of the big screen's most popular and colorful stars. This book is well-written and the author’s narratives of West’s life and her interactions with other leading ladies is fascinating. Reading this book is a pleasure!
November 11, 2022
Mae West is a woman I truly admire. She made herself and lived her life as she choose. Awesome!
September 23, 2024
Mae West: Ponderings
Based on, Mae West: The Lies, the Legends, the Truths (1982) by George Eells and Stanley Musgrove
Here was a woman with a goal. She wanted to be a star. She wanted others to see her as a star. But not how they imagined a star should be, rather how she thought a star should be. Did life get in the way? Sure did, but as Mae West said, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” And boy, did Mae West live.
This is not my favorite book. It is heavy on gossip and tidbits, and light on her story, her mystique, and her. I wanted to know about Mae West and her times. It is true that the book is old, 1982. There were more people around then that knew Mae West. But sometimes a little distance is good for perspective. For you need to understand that when Mae West, “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Mae West loved her lovers. But she loved herself more. She outnumbered them, so to speak, so she needed more. A marriage at a young age, in an era where divorces were cumbersome, did not hinder her much. You see Mae West understood, “It's not the men in your life that matters, it's the life in your men.” And she was a little kind, but more than a little selfish, “All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.”
“When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Welcome to the world of Mae West, where not all that you read is true, but gosh darn it, she would have been a star, me thinks, in any era. As one performer commented, “As a professional I have utmost respect for her professionalism. She knew what she was doing onstage. And she did it every performance.”
You see, Mae lived in a world that predated film. Film was almost an afterthought for her, and her style was, well, all too risqué, for that thing called TV. But that did not stop Mae West from creating her own versions of reality, sometimes realities that even competed with each other.
Let’s end the review with a final story. When a competitor gasped, “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!”
“Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”
This was the launching of a film career that had producers constantly on alert for the censors. The censors had a hard time deciding what to do with a fully clad, but a Mae West with a disarming wit, and a persona that was just, well, so Mae West.
The book? Well, Mae West was bigger than the story they try to tell. So much bigger.
Lino Matteo ©™
Twitter @Lino_Matteo
https://linomatteo.wordpress.com/2024...
#BookReview #Montreal #BusinessEnglish #LinoMatteo #MaeWest #Trillies #Legends
Based on, Mae West: The Lies, the Legends, the Truths (1982) by George Eells and Stanley Musgrove
Here was a woman with a goal. She wanted to be a star. She wanted others to see her as a star. But not how they imagined a star should be, rather how she thought a star should be. Did life get in the way? Sure did, but as Mae West said, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” And boy, did Mae West live.
This is not my favorite book. It is heavy on gossip and tidbits, and light on her story, her mystique, and her. I wanted to know about Mae West and her times. It is true that the book is old, 1982. There were more people around then that knew Mae West. But sometimes a little distance is good for perspective. For you need to understand that when Mae West, “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Mae West loved her lovers. But she loved herself more. She outnumbered them, so to speak, so she needed more. A marriage at a young age, in an era where divorces were cumbersome, did not hinder her much. You see Mae West understood, “It's not the men in your life that matters, it's the life in your men.” And she was a little kind, but more than a little selfish, “All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.”
“When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.”
Welcome to the world of Mae West, where not all that you read is true, but gosh darn it, she would have been a star, me thinks, in any era. As one performer commented, “As a professional I have utmost respect for her professionalism. She knew what she was doing onstage. And she did it every performance.”
You see, Mae lived in a world that predated film. Film was almost an afterthought for her, and her style was, well, all too risqué, for that thing called TV. But that did not stop Mae West from creating her own versions of reality, sometimes realities that even competed with each other.
Let’s end the review with a final story. When a competitor gasped, “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!”
“Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”
This was the launching of a film career that had producers constantly on alert for the censors. The censors had a hard time deciding what to do with a fully clad, but a Mae West with a disarming wit, and a persona that was just, well, so Mae West.
The book? Well, Mae West was bigger than the story they try to tell. So much bigger.
Lino Matteo ©™
Twitter @Lino_Matteo
https://linomatteo.wordpress.com/2024...
#BookReview #Montreal #BusinessEnglish #LinoMatteo #MaeWest #Trillies #Legends
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September 10, 2025I enjoyed the writing of this book and the pace of it but at times I did have trouble since I'm not familiar with all of the names of the famous people who were around at the time. But it was informative and a good way to learn about Mae West.
October 5, 2017
What a nice lady. But I must confess I am not the fan I think I used to be. Maybe because these days there are never any films on TV by her. I like: Don’t you know the ten commandments? – No, but if you hum it I am sure I can whistle along with it. Unfortunately not even really by her. Should be. 5/10
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews