I'm No Angel (1930s)

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The Original Commercial Recordings

1.I LIKE A GUY WHAT TAKES HIS TIME
(Rainger, Robin) [B13037A]

2. EASY RIDER
(Brooks)
(both rec. 7th February 1933 with Orchestra
directed by Victor Young) [B13038A]

3. I'M NO ANGEL
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison) [LA 33A]

4. I FOUND A NEW WAY TO GO TO TOWN
(Brooks, DuBois, Eilison) [LA 34A]
(both rec. 3rd October 1933 with Orchestra)

5. I WANT YOU, I NEED YOU
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison) [LA 62A]

6. THEY CALL ME SISTER HONKY TONK
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison) [LA 61A]
(both rec. 7th October 1933 with Orchestra)

The Film Soundtracks

"My Little Chickadee"

7. WILLIE OF THE VALLEY
(Oakland, Drake)
(rec. Nov. 1939 with Orchestra cond. by Charles Previn)

"She Done Him Wrong"

8.  I LIKE A GUY WHAT TAKES HIS TIME
(Rainger, Robin)

9. EASY RIDER
(Brooks)

10. FRANKIE AND JOHNNY
(Trad.) (all rec. Nov. 1932 with Paramount
Studio Orchestra)

"I'm No Angel"

11. THEY CALL ME SISTER HONKY TONK
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison)

12. THAT DALLAS MAN
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison)

13. I FOUND A NEW WAY TO GO TO TOWN
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison)

14. I WANT YOU, I NEED YOU
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison)

15. I'M NO ANGEL
(Brooks, DuBois, Ellison)

(all rec. July 1933 with Paramount Studio
Orchestra)

"Belle Of The Nineties"

16. WHEN A ST. LOUIS WOMAN COMES
DOWN TO NEW ORLEANS

(Johnston, Coslow)

17. MY OLD FLAME

(Johnston, Coslow)

18. MEMPHIS BLUES

(Handy, Norton)

(all rec. March 1934 with Duke Ellington

and his Orchestra)

19.  TROUBLED WATERS

(Johnston, Coslow)

(rec. March 1934 with Sam Mc Daniel,

Chorus and Duke Ellington Orchestra)

"Goin' To Town"

20.  HE'S A BAD, BAD MAN

(Fain, Kahal)

(rec. Dec. 1934 with Paramount Studio

Orchestra)

21.  MON COEUR S'OUVRE A TA VOIX

(Softly Awakes My Heart) (Saint-Saens)
(rec. Dec. 1934 with Tandie McKenzie &
Paramount Studio Orch.)

"Klondike Annie"

22.  I'M AN OCCIDENTAL WOMAN IN AN

ORIENTAL MOOD FOR LOVE

(Austin)

23.  MISTER DEEP BLUE SEA

(Austin, Johnson)

24.  LITTLE BAR BUTTERFLY

(Austin, Johnson)

(all rec. Sept. 1935 with Otto "Coco" Heimel

[guitar] and Instrumental Accompaniment)

"Go West, Young Man"

25.  ON A TYPICAL TROPICAL NIGHT

(Johnston, Burke)

(rec. August 1936 with Xavier Cugat

and his Orchestra)

26.  I WAS SAYING TO THE MOON

(Johnston, Burke)

(rec. August 1936 with Paramount Studio Orch.

cond. Georgie Stoll)

"Every Day's A Holiday"

27.  FIFI

(Coslow)

(rec. Oct. 1937 with Chorus & Paramount Studio

Orch. cond. LeRoy Prinz)

"Goin' To Town"

28.  NOW I'M A LADY

(Fain, Kahal, Coslow)

(rec. Dec. 1934 with Paramount Studio Orchestra)

Production, film transfers and editing by Geoff Milne

Technical Note: This collection begins with the six recordings made for Brunswick Records, the only commercial ones recorded by the artist in the 1930's. They make interesting comparisons with the following soundtrack versions. The quality of these soundtrack recordings varies considerably, and traces of distortion are evident in a few places, particularly on track 27 ("Fifi") which it was not possible to eliminate. The sound at the start of track 12 ("That Dallas Man") is thin as Mae West is listening to a phonograph record of herself singing.

"It's not what I do, but how I do it. It ain't what I
say, but how I say it, and how I look when I do it and
 say it".

This was the very essence of the baddest, sexiest, flamboyant lady of all time, on and off the stage and screen. She was a man-teaser, a witty, larger-than-life personality who became a legend in her own life-time. No publicity agent, no movie mogul or theatrical impresario created this exotic image - it was achieved entirely by the lady herself, through her own natural talents, by dogged persistence and hard work laced with just a small measure of good luck. The little that hindered her determination to get exactly what she wanted, she turned to her own advantage. She thought and cared only about herself. "My ego is breakin' records," she once declared. About the public love affair she carried on with herself, she was once heard to remark, "I see myself as a classic. Who else can do what I'm doin' and look the way I look?" Who else, indeed? Sex and men were dominant factors in her life, on the stage and screen, and off. When off she spent a considerable amount of time making her men 'comfortable', and there were plenty of them. They were drawn to her like moths to a flame. "A thrill a day keeps the chill away" might have been her motto! Her public hung on every word, every suggestive look, every movement, but her projection of a tough, liberated female and her own brands of irreverence and double- entendres brought her into regular conflict first with the League of Decency, and later, in Hollywood, she proved anathema to the influential Hays Office.

Mary Jane West was born at home in Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, on 17th August, 1893, the second of four children. Katie (born 1891) died in infancy, Mildred (later renamed Beverly) and John followed after Mary Jane. Their father John had once been a featherweight prize-fighter known as 'Battling Jack' and when his boxing days were over, he headed a detective agency, then a livery stable hiring carriages.

Mother Matilda, always known as Tillie, was the driving force behind Mae's (Mary Jane) entry into vaudeville. Tillie had been a corset-modeller and originally dreamed of becoming an actress but this was frustrated by her marriage to John. She was determined, however, to see her daughter on the stage. Mae had already appeared in several amateur shows mostly organized through their local church when, seven years old, she was enrolled in 'Professor Watts Dancing School'. Her first vaudeville appearance was at an Elks fund-raising event at the Theatre Royal on Fulton Street, Brooklyn, and it was to be a debut the audience would not forget. That determination to have things her own way showed itself for the first time when, as an amateur, she was not accorded a spotlight for her performance. The professionals who had appeared before her had a spotlight, so she wanted one. Mae stamped and yelled, the orchestra stopped playing the intro. The audience, highly amused by this display from one so young, joined in the shouting until the manager was forced to do what Mae wanted. Then, and only then, did she perform her song. "Movin' day" won her the loudest applause and a gold medal! Many amateur nights followed, Tillie flaunting that gold medal to prove her daughter had what it takes to become a star until, at the Gotham Theatre, she met Hal Clarendon, actor in and producer of his own stock company. Mae joined the company and played in a variety of roles: as Little Nell in "Little Nell The Marchioness", Lovey Mary in "Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch", the Angel Child in "Ten Nights In A Bar Room", and many others. When she became too mature to play child parts, Mae worked briefly in an acrobatic act which brought her into contact with musclemen. She was to be fascinated by them all her life. She teamed up with Willie Hogan in his 'Huck Finn' vaudeville act, and whilst touring, met Frank Wallace, with whom she formed a song and dance duo. On 11th April, 1911, they were married in Milwaukee, secretly, in order to keep Tillie from knowing - Tillie felt marriage would get in the way of her ambitions for Mae. Mrs. Szatkus (Wallace's real name) soon became disillusioned with marriage - Frank wanted to settle down and have a family, Mae didn't, and it wasn't long before they parted.

In 1911, Mae made it to Broadway. Jesse Lasky had opened a plush theatre restaurant on West 46th Street called the 'Folies-Bergere' and engaged Mae to appear in the cabaret with a comedy duo, Cook and Lorenz. The show was "A La Broadway" and it lasted for just eight nights, but long enough to get Mae some attention. The New York Herald reported: "There were some shining lights in the cast, notably Mae West", and The Times critic wrote: "A girl named Mae West, hitherto unknown, pleased by her grotesquerie and a snappy way of singing and dancing". Lee Shubert saw her act and signed her for his forthcoming show "Vera Violetta", starring Al Jolson and Gaby Deslys but Mae, fearing her act was somewhat rough, developed a cold and did not appear on opening night at the Winter Garden on 20th November, 1911.  She joined the show a little later by which time Jolson had become the star, eclipsing even the great Mme. Deslys.

Mae was seen next in Florenz Ziegfeld's "A Winsome Widow" which opened at the Moulin Rouge in April, 1912.  Variety described Mae as coarse, a rough soubrette, all of which caused her consternation. She fared no better when returning to vaudeville teamed with a dance duo as 'Mae West And The Girard Brothers' and was again noted by Variety as being too coarse. Then by herself as a 'Muscle Dancer', Variety observed that "Mae West sings while making interesting movements in a seated position". For a while, she formed a double act with her sister Beverly, but it was Mae the patrons really came to see. One of her favourite songs was "And then" which went "We were sitting on the couch - and then, the lights went out - and then", with the audience imagining the rest. Mae would then drive them wild with "It isn't what you do, it's how you do it".

In 1915, she toured to San Francisco in "Such Is Life", and whilst there had talks with Universal Pictures, but nothing came of the discussions. Her next partner was vaudevillian Harry Richman. Part of Mae's act featured a routine called 'The Gladiator' which, although delighting the audiences, was not received too well by theatre managers from whom there were complaints of indecency. Mae was to find herself in constant conflict with the various bodies who claimed to be protecting the morals of the nation. After "Furs And Frills" in 1917 (which ran for only 32 performances) she made it as a star on Broadway when "Sometime" opened at the Shubert Theatre on 4th October, 1918. The music was supplied by Rudolph Friml and although Mae's part was comparatively small, it attracted attention. She introduced the Shimmy dance to Broadway audiences, as well as her famous walk. The show ran until June the following year. In October, she was in the "Demi-Tasse" revue which formed part of the bill at the Capitol, sharing with the Douglas Fairbanks film "His Majesty, The American". Mae again danced the Shimmy and sang a couple of songs, and Muriel DeForrest introduced the Gershwin/Caesar number "Swanee" which Al Jolson heard and included in his own show "Sinbad", making it a giant hit. Mae was in "The Mimic World" in 1921 but the show lasted only a month.

Never completely happy with the dialogue and songs assigned to her (she was always tinkering with scripts and lyrics, much to the chagrin of authors and songwriters), Mae decided to write a play for herself. Utilising a theme close to her heart and with a controversial title, "Sex" opened at Daly's Theatre on 26th April, 1926, to indifferent reviews. Billboard noted it as "poorly written, poorly acted, horribly staged", whilst Variety, no friend to Mae, described it as nasty, infantile, amateurish and vicious. Despite these and unflattering comments from other reviewers, the play became a cult show and ran for nearly a year. It came to grief when the theatre was raided by the police in February, 1927, and Mae, found guilty on charges of corruption, was sentenced to ten days at Welfare Island. Her next production, also staged at Daly's, foundered after only nineteen performances. The Daily Record described "The Wicked Age" as disgusting. Mae was to prove triumphant, however, when "Diamond Lil" opened at the Royale Theatre on 11th April, 1928. It ran until January, 1929, helped by enthusiastic comments from the critics - "she's simply superb", "glamour Miss West undoubtedly has" and "Mae West has become an institution on Broadway" - all destined to guarantee packed houses. Even before "Diamond Lil" closed. Mae had written another play, one which was destined to bring

her yet more notoriety. "Pleasure Man" opened at the Biltmore in October and its transvestite party scenes immediately drew the attention of the authorities. On the first night, the police swooped and arrested the whole cast, charging them with indecency. An injunction was obtained to prevent interference on the second night but it was invalidated by the D.A. in time for a second raid on its third night's showing. That spelt the end of "Pleasure Man". "Diamond Lil" went on tour and, reaching California, Columbia Pictures showed interest in filming the play. Mae was screen tested with disappointing results and with the story line considered indecent, the project was abandoned. Back in New York, Mae appeared on Broadway once more in her own production of "The Constant Sinner", opening at the Royale in September, 1931. Lasting a mere eight weeks, it was her last stage venture for several years - Hollywood now beckoned, this time for real.

One of the backers for "Sex" and "Diamond Lil" had been gangster Owney Madden who employed a handsome young man by the name of George Rauft to call at the theatre and collect his share of the receipts. Rauft and Mae became quite friendly and it was he, with name now changed to Raft and appearing in his eleventh film, who suggested Mae to Paramount as a lighter touch for "Night After Night". True to form, Mae was not happy with her script and there were many altercations with several Paramount executives, but she won out in the end. Her part in the film was comparatively small but she made a terrific impact and as far as moviegoers were concerned, it was her film. George Raft acknowledged that "Mae West stole everything but the cameras". From her role came one of her most famous quips. Entering a nightclub, the hatcheck girl is heard to remark, "Goodness, what lovely diamonds" to which Mae replies. "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie". The diamonds, incidentally, were her own. The film was premiered in New York on 4th October, 1932, and Paramount, facing bankruptcy through their ownership of the Public Theatre Chain, and realising that Mae was a hot property, quickly decided that they would tread where Columbia had failed. "Diamond Lil" was to be turned into a film and Mae was to approve the script - they were hardly in a position to argue. They did argue, however, with the Hays Office who initially threw up their hands in horror at the idea of such an outrageous play reaching the cinema screens. But Mae and the studios were determined to press ahead with the project, agreeing to various changes both to the script and lyrics to the songs in order to placate the Hays hierarchy. Walking across the Paramount lot one day, Mae spotted Cary Grant, an actor about whom she knew nothing, but decided there and then that he was to be her leading man. When it was pointed out that he was already working in another film, she merely decided that shooting would be delayed. She also decided that her film would be shot in sequence as if it was a stage play, a procedure unheard of in Hollywood - it seemed that Mae had taken over the running of the studio! Hays insisted on a change of title so the film became "Ruby Red", then "She Done Him Wrong". Production commenced on 21st November, 1932, and was completed in an amazingly short time of eighteen days. It cost a modest $250,000 to make but after its premiere at New York's Paramount Theatre on 9th February, 1933, went on to gross $2 million in three months in the USA alone. In spite of the toning down dictated by the censors, Mae managed to bring alive the bawdiness of the Bowery in the Gay Nineties. Paramount were mightily pleased - they were more interested in making dollars than preserving morals, and Mae was their way out of the red. For them, "She Done Him Wrong" was all right.

To capitalise on their new star, the studios lost no time in preparing for her next film. Writer-publisher and friend Lowell Brentano presented Mae with a perfect vehicle in "The Lady And The Lions", perfect because she had always wanted to be a lion-tamer. For the second time, Cary Grant was chosen as lead male. Excepting the one where she puts her head into a lion's mouth (a special effect added later) all the scenes inside the lions' cage were performed by Mae herself, her total assurance and mastery earning her the spontaneous applause of the studio crew. The film contained some of the star's famous one-liners, some of which must have proved apoplectic to the Hays office. To Grant, she says "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better" and to a reporter who asks "Why did you admit to knowing so many men?" Mae retorts "Well it's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men". She had her pet monkey Boogie on the set, fastidiously peeling grapes before eating them, much to the amusement of all present - it inspired another of Mae's famous quips when she asks her maid "Beulah, peel me a grape". "I'm No Angel", as it was now titled, opened at the Paramount Theatre on 13th October, 1933. So popular was Mae that in its first week 180,000 people crowded the cinema, breaking the venue's records. The film, which had cost $225,000 to make, grossed $2.85 million in domestic release alone. Variety noted of the star, "she is the biggest conversation provoker, free space-grabber and all-round box-office bet in the country". When asked about the character she plays, Mae explained "She's the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success, wrong by wrong." As far as Paramount were concerned their star could do no wrong, echoing one of Mae's most famous remarks "Come up and see me sometime".

Concerned that all the major studios were frequently paying mere lip-service to their censorial decrees, the Hays office decided the time had come to tighten the Production Code. A new man emerged in the organisation, and he intended to be tough. His name was Joseph Breen - the English trade paper Film Weekly dubbed him 'the Hitler of Hollywood'. It was not going to be easy, but the studios had to think of new ways to try and circumvent his dictates. Mae was aware that everything she said and did would come under closer scrutiny now that Breen's office insisted on okaying each scene. As a decoy, Mae wrote scenes specially for them to cut, scenes so rough that she would never use them. They cut them, leaving the stuff she really wanted, and if they subsequently protested over what was left, she would show them the okayed scripts! Wary of the determination shown by Breen's office to enforce the new code, Paramount, full of trepidation, made six title changes to Mae's next film "Belle Of The Nineties". When production was completed, Breen made further cuts and these, together with scissor-wielding morality boards in various parts of the USA, affected the continuity of the film. George Raft had been signed as Mae's leading man but when the script was revamped to appease the censors, Raft's role suffered so much diminution that he bowed out and was replaced by Roger Pryor. Premiered on 21st September, 1934, "Belle Of The Nineties" proved to be excellent box-office, which was just as well for Paramount since the film cost considerably more than Mae's previous pictures. Along with expansive costuming and larger sets, the star had insisted on hiring the expensive Duke Ellington and his Orchestra to back-up her vocals. As ably demonstrated in this collection, it was a shrewd choice. The film contained the usual quota of West-isms, such as: "You were born in St. Louis. What part?" to which she replies "Why all of me". An admirer, extolling her virtues with "I must have your golden hair, your fascinating eyes, your alluring smile, your lovely arms, your form divine is cut short by "Wait a minute! Wait a minute. Is this a proposal or are you taking an inventory?" but her best remark came with "It's better to be looked over than overlooked".

Mae had tempting offers from MGM, RKO and Warner Brothers, but remaining faithful to producer William LeBaron and Paramount, was on the set one week before Christmas, 1934, to start work on "How Am I Doin'?", the story of a saloon singer who becomes wealthy when inheriting a ranch and some oil wells. Determined to become part of the social scene, she throws a swanky party at which, to prove that she also has as much class as her guests, performs a duet with opera star Tandie McKenzie, singing "Softly awakes my heart". McKenzie's name does not appear in the film's credits nor is he mentioned in any other published cast list - could it be he did not want to be identified indulging in a burlesque performance? Released in May, 1935, as "Goin' To Town", the film received as much acclaim as Mae's previous pictures, in spite of vicious cuts by the censors. As usual, it boasted some good West rejoinders - Fred Kohler to Mae: ".... it's up to you, I'm dynamite". Mae: "Yes, and I'm your match". When a saloon crowd call upon Mae to make a speech after Kohler announces their forthcoming marriage, she declares "I'm a woman of very few words but lots of action". In 1935, Mae reached the zenith of her career, she was the country's most highly paid woman and was considered top royalty at the studios.

Mae incurred the wrath of William Randolph Hearst and his newspaper chain with her portrayal of a missionary in "Klondike Annie". That such a person would be seen as a nun was considered to be almost blasphemous. Hearst refused all advertisements for the film which was also roundly condemned by the Legion of Decency and by various Catholic bodies throughout the States. This was countered by a coast-to-coast promotional tour by the star which drew huge crowds, thus assuring excellent box-office receipts after the film's premiere in March, 1936. Mae's co-star was the bulky Victor McLaglen, something she was glad of, for she had put on quite a bit of weight since her last screen appearance.

In a complicated series of claims and counter claims, Mae's contract with Paramount Pictures came to an end. She signed a new deal with Emanuel Cohen, former employee at Paramount, for his company Major Pictures but to avoid what might have become protracted litigation, it was agreed that Paramount would distribute and show Cohen's productions. The first of these was "Go West, Young Man", an adaptation of the successful stage play "Personal Appearance which had starred Gladys George. Paramount had bought the rights and signed Miss George to play in the screen version, but Mae wanted the story so the rights were sold to Cohen. About a movie star making a lengthy personal appearance tour to promote a new film, the story could have been an episode in Mae's own screen career. Critics compared the film unfavourably with the stage play, the New York Herald Tribune reporting that: "She never makes the central character sufficiently credible to be laughed at", while the Post wrote: "The mannerisms are beginning to be tedious". The box-office returns were so disappointing that Mae began to wonder if she had done the right thing signing with Cohen. Particularly keen to make a Technicolor film about Catherine The Great, she tried to get him interested only to be told he had already invested heavily in pre-production costs for a Cay Nineties musical, including an elaborate set of Rector's Restaurant. With a promise that Catherine would be next, Mae dreamed up a story line for "Every Day's A Holiday", about a confidence girl who sells the Brooklyn Bridge to any willing sucker. Her activities rumbled, she has to leave town but returns later as a French music hall singer, falls in love with police chief Edmund Lowe and helps him battle against corrupt politician Lloyd Nolan in mayoral election. Charles Winniger, Walter Catlett, Chester Conklin and Charles Butterworth helped with comedy, but the censor had leaned heavily on the production and although it made money, it was not the success usually associated with

Mae West films. It was previewed in Hollywood on 18th December, 1937. On Sunday the 12th, Mae was heard on NBC's 'Chase & Sanborn Hour', hosted by Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen, performing with Don Ameche in a skit entitled "The Garden of Eden" (Ameche as Adam, West as Eve). At rehearsal the day before the broadcast, Mae read her lines as in the script, but on the broadcast itself, she interpreted them in an entirely different way in true West fashion. The NBC switchboard was jammed by indignant callers and in the middle of the sketch, NBC went off the air. Church groups were outraged, the Hearst press condemned the show and particularly Miss West for defiling the Sabbath whilst the New York Sun described the proceedings as "the all-time low in radio". It was all too much for Paramount who severed contact with her, as did Cohen. Mae was banned from the air-waves for many years and for a long time even mention of her name was forbidden.

In the summer of 1939 she signed for three pictures with Universal, the first being "My Little Chickadee" in which her co-star was W.C. Fields. Premiered at the Roxy in March, 1940, the film did good business but neither of the two stars were entirely happy with the result. No further acceptable story-lines were forthcoming so Mae and Universal quietly parted company. In 1941, Mae was gratified to learn that Royal Air Force flyers had dubbed their lifejackets with the name Mae West" and acknowledging such a signal honour, she wrote: "I've been in Who's Who, and I know what's what, but it'll be the first time I ever made the dictionary". How many stars have given their name to an artefact, one still in use to this day? 1943 saw her last screen appearance for what was to be 27 years when Columbia presented "The Heat's On" at Loew's State Theatre in November. It was a turkey, a fact later admitted by Mae as "a picture I should never have made. It was the biggest mistake of my life".

A pet project of Mae's finally reached fruition, not on the screen as originally envisaged but as a stage play when Mike Todd presented "Catherine Was Great" at the Shubert Theatre on 2nd August, 1944. In their now customary anti-West fashion, the critics were scathing with remarks such as "a dirty-minded little girl's essay on the Russian Empress", "her script is monotonous", "acting more limited than ever" and the like, but the public showed their complete disdain of such prattlings by filling the theatre for 1941 performances after which the show went on tour until the end of May, 1945, a total of ten months. Mae followed this triumph with yet another though not, this time, on Broadway but touring in "Come On Up" from May, 1946, until February, 1947. In September, 1947, she boarded the liner "Queen Mary" bound for England to present "Diamond Lil" in a number of provincial towns and at the Prince Of Wales theatre in London. Though the critics were not much kinder than their American colleagues, the public received Mae with tremendous enthusiasm. Unfortunately the Lord Chamberlain objected to and cut some scenes, some of the spicier ones. After the opening in London on 24th January, 1948, financial troubles beset the production and, with dwindling audiences, it closed after just three months.

Back in the States, Mae was heard on radio and seen in many television programmes. She put together a new night-club act and broke all records at New York's Latin Quarter in October 1954. In 1961 she appeared in the play "Sextet". There were constant rumours that she would appear in various films, but nothing came of these until 1970 when she featured in "Myra Breckinridge". Her last screen appearance was in 1978, in "Sextette".

When Mae first arrived in Hollywood in June, 1932, Paramount had arranged accommodation for her in Apartment 611, Ravenswood. on Rossmore Avenue. Refurbished and redecorated, it became her permanent home and it was here the 'The Man In The Red Coat' (Bill Fields' name for the Grim Reaper) called to take Mae away on 22nd November, 1980. The 'Empress of Sex' has gone, but the legend lives on.

Geoff Milne, 1996


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