Customer Reviews

Mae West (Movie Icons)

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As a Mae West collector of almost 3 decades, I can be quite the skeptic when it comes to new Mae West items. This book just arrived in the mail and I was instantly impressed with the quality. They have clearly produced the rare color photos within, from original transparencies or had them beautifully color corrected! There are also many rare behind-the-scenes photos I have never seen before. Most of the book contains black and white photos, all very fine quality. It is mainly photos and what little text there is, is usually WAY off in terms of correct information, indicating very little research (probably an hour online one night!).There is no new insight, but this particular book is not really for that purpose, as it is part of a larger series of "icons" of which Mae West certainly is. This book is for the adoring Mae West fan or someone who is collecting the whole 'Icon' series from this company. I know my friends will love it!

Decades before Candace Bushnell conceived Sex And The City, Mae West was experiencing the lifestyle loud and proud. West's Broadway play, "SEX" which premiered in 1926, was so far ahead of its time, she had to soften the blow of its content and make it safe for mass consumption by placing the setting in the Bowery of the 1890's complete with period piece costumes. West's vision of SEX was not an escape into the fantasy of the past, but a journey into the possibilities of the future.
Taschen's latest addition to their Movie Icons series, Mae West, is depicted in a stunning collection of mostly black and white stills from her films and stage productions, many never published before, wearing gowns designed by Travis Banton, Schiaparelli, Walter Plunkett, and Edith Head. A pleasant surprise is the inclusion of several rare advertisements that Paramount and Columbia Pictures utilized in promoting these films at the time of their original release.
The only disappointment is the rather weak commentary. In an attempt to appeal to three different markets, Taschen has printed the accompanying text in English, German and French, leaving a lot to be desired. However, the superior production values and low price make this volume a must have for West aficionados.

A perfectly descriptive account of the film career of Mae West filled with many delightful pictures. A must have for any film buff or fan of Mae West.

As many have said, in a roundabout way, look to this tome predominately for its photos. And does it deliver--the two most interesting photo "styles" being those from scenes later cut from Mae's movies (for censorship or other editing reasons) and the behind-the-scenes shots of the director and/or crew focusing on the star and her cast mates.

The former includes poses and costume shots that we never see in "Belle of the Nineties" as well as a shot of Mae being surrounded by Chan Lo's minions in "Klondike Annie," a clear precursor to the completely excised torture and self-defense killing scene. Another "Annie" photo, taken with a child and Phillip Reed in Mae's sleigh, may reflect another cut scene, for there exists, though not in this tome, a lobby card with this same child, along with Mae and Reed, standing beside the bunk of an older man who may be his sickly father or grandfather. They do not appear in the finished film.

There's also an interesting pose of Mae and Leonid Kinskey (the "agitator" from "Duck Soup" and "Sasha" from "Casablanca") from "Goin' to Town." He appears to be doing a "nance" turn on his reputed - and uncredited - role of Cecil (the interior decorator), which barely exists in the final film. Indeed, Kinskey merely shows up in the distant background, silently fidgeting and fussing, while Mae instructs the movers as to which pieces go to the storehouse and which get the heave-ho. Perhaps "Cecil" was censored or otherwise cut, for without a pause feature or a wall-sized screen, one would miss him entirely.

Another interesting aspect: repros of production materials including one, circa "Belle of the Nineties," that foretell two movies ("Gentlemen's Choice" and "The Queen of Sheba") that were not, in fact, ever filmed. There are other very intriguing ad campaigns from "Go West, Young Man" and "Klondike Annie," among others.

Yet another aspect unique to this volume is a repro of several pages from the playbill for Mae's later Broadway revival of "Diamond Lil," accompanied by some dazzling poses. (Her other later plays are pretty much ignored, however.)

You'll see several familiar shots, but a wealth of ones I've yet to see in any other Westian book. A number of these are in color (possibly "colored" rather than original color shots, given that her hair in some shots is more that of a basic blonde, rather than a platinum blonde). The stills from "My Little Chickadee," "The Heat's On," "Myra Breckinridge," and "Sextette," however, are largely widely available poses.

On the distinct downside, the pages are rife with misidentified shots and, as regards quotes, they are predominately random, ensuring it will be perplexing to the novice to discover that many of the reiterated lines are not in fact from the movie being highlighted in any particular caption/photograph. It's interesting, but misleading, to note the "Visual Filmology" section in fact includes both stage and television poses, as well as private photos.

Mae's early screen test, which took place circa 1921 with Jack Dempsey for Pathé Studios, is listed as "one of the many screen tests West endured in order to break into Hollywood." This is the only screen test of which historians are aware, and it did not result in her breaking into Hollywood. That came years later with "Night After Night," thanks largely to the combined influence of William Le Baron and George Raft...for that, it seems there may have been a second test after hunting her down.

An early publicity spot, set in a jail and following a page featuring a photo from Mae's "Sex" trial, indicates the publicity shot is also from that period, when it is very clearly from the "I'm No Angel" era and thus years later. The difference in Mae's weight, alone, indicates we could not be looking at two shots book-ending an eight-day stint in Blackwell Penitentiary.

A publicity shot from "She Done Him Wrong" is listed as a still from "I'm No Angel," which of course had no 1890's styles in it. Another identifies the wrong actor as Paul Cavanaugh ("Goin' to Town"), while another identifies a shot of Mae and Victor McLaglen ("Klondike Annie") as being from "Belle of the Nineties" (the dresses from that shot and the Belle photo adjacent to it are strikingly similar, incidentally). McLaglen, of course, was not in "Belle," while Travis Banton, in the other photo, did not do the costumes for "Annie."

Another posed still from "Goin' to Town" misidentifies Monroe Owsley (who portrayed Fletcher Colton) as singer Tito Guizar, while a behind-the-scenes photo from the same movie is said to be set in a restaurant, rather than the saloon in the film.

The caption for a production still from "Every Day's a Holiday" discusses drag both in film and vis-à-vis Mae's career, mistakenly indicating Charles Butterworth (whom confidence woman Mae merely had modeling a wrap and hat she planned to steal) is in fact doing a scene in drag. Not the case.

A shot with Henry Fonda is not, as incorrectly stated, from Dick Cavett's "Backlot USA" special; it's obviously much earlier, and in fact Fonda was not involved in "Backlot" at all.

It's very perplexing to see how thorough and accurate certain sections are, while others are completely off the mark. It took quite some wherewithal simply to amass this...so what happened to that resourcefulness when it came to history and the facts and final editing? It's as if the researcher merely concentrated on amassed data, without actually watching any of the films in question. Or perhaps one compiler was an archivist while the rest were close relatives of the publisher.

Still, this can honestly be h-i-g-h-l-y recommended to the Mae West fan, the classic movie fan in general, the classic movie comedy fan in particular, and lovers of Hollywood pictorials. For beginners, however, pick up a couple of other Mae books first and nab this one up later, treating it as enjoyable candy floss to festoon your collection and not part of its foundation. Because paradoxically, it's a treat for the eyes that would make historians weep.

This were a pretty book. Not much words, but lots of great pictures, ya know? Lots of other languages, so that was different. Didn't learn much, but pretty photogrphs.

I never paid any attention to Mae West in the movies all through the years, but after finally watching one of her best movies I really wanted to see pictures of her through her career. This book is just the ticket if you want to see her in scenes from her movies. It starts out when she just started acting and goes the whole way up to her final performances. As far as information and history of her, there isn't any in this book. But if you really want to see some beautiful crystal clear pictures of her , this is real nice! Also Amazon gives you a real nice price on the book!

I am a Mae West fan, else why would I buy this book? You are invited to read my reviews of other Mae West titles on this site. In any case, this is a nice little photo book which chronicles the career of the famous movie icon, the fabulous Mae West. There is only a few pages of biographical information in it---information readily available on the Internet, or in other books. My guess is that the authors just put it together as a photo keepsake. That is exactly what it is.

What I find annoying and confusing about the book is that it is written in several languages--- English, followed by other languages. I mean, why didn't the publisher print foreign editions. It is just silly. It is difficult to explain in type. If you ever get your hands on this book, you'll see what I mean. If the foreign translations didn't exist, the book would be half the size it is, so I answered my own question.

Anyway, the book is mostly photos, posters, and ads, some, if you want to destroy the book, you can pull out and frame. A fine assortment of photos, pictures and ads, I will say that. But, again, it is simply a small book of photos of Mae West, little biographical information, plus many of her famous quips. Quite a few of the photos have been seen many times before. You look at the pictures, then put the book away. Not a keeper. Not recommended. Well, maybe recommended for the Mae West fan. Oh, Mae had blue eyes. The colorized picture of her on the front cover shows her with brown eyes......well, from that on, you make your own decision.