Customer Reviews

Go West Young Man [VHS]

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That's because this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the west--it's set in PA. Except that there's some talk that big movie actress Mae West will take local rube grease monkey Randolph Scott back to Hollywood with her. Or--duh--maybe it's a play on her last name? Down to basics: Mae is this big movie star whose contract stipulates that she cannot marry for the next five yearrs. Her public relations man Warren William is there to make the contract stick, and so promptly dispatches any guy he thinks Mae will look twice at. Car trouble lands the two in a Pennsylvanian hick town filled with her hayseed fans, further complications when Mae takes a shine to local yokel Randy Scott. That's about it. Takes too long to get to the much better and rather satisfying wrap-up. Be that as it mae, Ms. West is always fun to watch with all her purring and undulations. Warren William is the comic relief this time round (oh, he's so much better as a scoundrel, as in "Skyscraper Souls" or "Employees' Entrance"--what a waste of talent); here he shows a little of that whatever it was that was so disturbing in great quantity in the gadawful "Satan Met a Lady". "Go West, Young Man" was okay for one viewing, but I don't advise a revisitation.

Mae West was so displeased with this bland adaptation of the Broadway hit "Personal Appearance" that she mentioned it only once in her autobiography. Thanks to Hays Office censorship, "Go West, Young Man" (1936) lacked the comic spark of Mae's earlier films, with few classic one-liners and a tamed West stuck in rural Pennsylvania. Co-star Randolph Scott and director Henry Hathaway fared better in their Zane Grey collaborations. The weakest of Mae's Paramount vehicles.

After the failure of "Klondike Annie," Mae West tried something different: an adaptation of someone else's material. "Personal Appearance" was a stage play about a big star stuck in a small town, and in the early scenes of the film, she is fairly funny as she plays the star as vain, ignorant, and self-obsessed. This brief bit of satire is promising, but the film soon becomes the usual West vehicle, with various slickers and studs after the irresistable heroine. This is the rare West film with a strong supporting cast, and it passes fairly pleasantly, but the censors were at their strongest -- and Mae without double entendres isn't really Mae.

This enjoyable comedy has always been one of my favorite Mae West pictures although it does not enjoy the fame or reputation of I'M NO ANGEL or SHE DONE HIM WRONG or even MY LITTLE CHICKADEE. The movie was based on a naughty hit play called PERSONAL APPEARANCE that starred Gladys George as a blonde movie queen with multiple men who finds herself stranded among her fans in the middle of the country. Sounds like a terrific springboard for a Mae West picture but the movie was made after the censor boards clamped down and cut nearly all of the racy dialogue which may well have been Mae Westisms in the first place!! Yet the movie has a lot to offer fans of classic movies, especially for it's glimpse into how movie-mad the American public was in the 1930's. Mae is delightful and her seduction of Randolph Scott is one of her more potent cinema encounters. The film also gives lie to the legend of West being so jealous of other women she never let other actresses shine in her films - the picture is loaded with excellent character actresses who have many scenes with Ms. West and Elizabeth Patterson even has some wonderful lines in scenes with La Mae and a delicious barb at Mae's expense: "In my day, women with hair that color didn't go out in the daytime!" Mae West even shares many scenes with another blonde - delightfully dingy little Isabel Jewell who at one point even does an impression of Mae's Paramount rival Marlene Dietrich in a scene with Mae talking about how much she loves movies! Mae even is unafraid to appear unsympathetic, at times acting quite bossy and self-centered as a spoiled movie diva. This is a really enjoyable if unusually conventional 1930's comedy film for a Mae West picture which is all the more reason it may find a greater audience than many Mae West romps.

Marvis Arden (Mae West) is a sensational movie star. Her following spans the world and her personal appearance tours prove her popularity. On her way home from one such appearance, Arden's car breaks down. She orders her publicity man (Warren William) to find her a place to stay, suspicious that he planned the break down to keep her away from a man. However, she soon finds herself mooning over an attractive repairman in town (Randolph Scott) and listening to his ideas about inventing equipment for film.

West is wonderful as always in this breezy and enjoyable movie. She has many snappy quips, especially brilliant since she wrote the script herself. It is always exciting to see Hollywood parodying itself and its stars. The visual elements are quite good, especially the opener. The story is somewhat typical of West because she is out seducing men, but it is unusual because it involves typical country folk. Great fun!

Mae West wrote "Go West, Young Man" based on the play "Personal Appearances" by Lawrence Riley. The change in title is a mystery to me, since "Personal Appearances" is short and sweet with a nice double meaning, and "Go West, Young Man" is only remotely related to the film's plot. Mae West plays haughty movie star Mavis Arden, "reigning queen of the cinema". Mavis' contract states that she cannot marry for 5 years, so her press agent Mr. Morgan (Warren William) is constantly maneuvering to keep his star single and scandal-free, impeding her potential romances in any way he can. While on a publicity tour, Mavis' car breaks down in rural Pennsylvania. Morgan arranges for rooms at a nearby boarding house while the auto is repaired. Miss Arden finds that she has many avid fans in the country, including an earnest mechanic, Bud Norton (Randolph Scott), who has invented a new sound technology for motion pictures.

Mae West embodies her stage and screen persona in "Go West, Young Man", as in all of her films. But the character of Mavis Arden is distinct from most of her other roles in that she is not likeable. Mavis thinks nothing of busting up Bud's good relationship with his girlfriend. And she looks down her nose at the customs of common people. This is odd, since Mae West's characters are typically of low birth themselves. They are self-absorbed, but they are not cultural snobs. Mavis Arden is, even though it is implied that her ancestry is not exactly patrician. Granted, Mae West's films were made to entertain, not to be analyzed. But I was struck by the lack of sympathy generated by this character. Elizabeth Patterson deserves a mention for her role as "Aunt Kate" Barnaby, a down-to-earth spinster who works at the boarding house. Warren William gives Mr. Morgan a certain punchiness that endears him to the audience even though he is at odds with the heroine. Not one of Mae West's best efforts, but it's entertaining.

Zestfully tedious. Mae plays a movie star whose car breaks down in a hick town. She's invited to stay at the home of a young blond farmer in the form of Randolph Scott... One would expect Mae's impact on the unsophisticated folk she encounters - plus her allurement of the handsome young farmer - to be pretty darned amusing. Not so. Under the Legion of Decency's scrutiny, the star had become more statuesque and less outrageous and the pace of the play - on which the film was based - slowed down as Mae struck her glamourous signiture poses which were always kept front and centre by director Henry Hathaway. Based upon the successful broadway comedy PERSONAL APPEARANCE which starred Gladys George as Mavis, this rather toned-down version is an adequate yet unexciting vehicle for star West. Born August 17, 1893 in Brooklyn, Mae's dad was a small-time prizefighter named Jack West while her mother Mathilda was supposedly a great beauty in her day: a Lillian Russell type. While Mae was by no means a beauty, the amazing Hollywood expert beauty technicians made West look much more attractive than she was in the twenties: one can hardly believe she's the same person when photographs from the two decades are compared!