Mae West and How the Production Code Affected Her Career

justness has its own reward, solely has no sale at the box locating. Those are the words of the famous impression actress bear ond Mae westerly. She was cognize for her sassy and coquettish behavior on and aside screen.Mary Jane west was born idealistic 17, 1893 in Brooklyn, pertly York. Her parents were involved in prize fighting and vaudev ghastlye. Mae worked on the submit and was in vaudeville from the beat when she was five years of come on. She was so into the entertain manpowert world that she never really foc practised on education. She canvass dance as a child and when she was 14 years old, she was calculate as The Baby Vamp.The year was 1926 and she was definitely shocking to to a greater extent or less people during that eon full point. Though the critics informly hated the come out, the ticket gross revenue were good. The theater was raided and Ms. watt was arrested along with the rest of the cast.While incarcerated on Roosevelt Island, she was allow ed to put one across her silk underwear instead of the scratchy prison let go. The warden reportedly took her to dinner every(prenominal) night.She served eight days, with deuce days off for good behavior. The media attention completely managed to invoke her case.Her next play was racy in content as well. It was entitle The Drag and was about homo provokeuality alluding to the work of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs. It overly was a box spotlight success, but it had to be played in New Jersey because it had been verboten from Broadway.Mae caught the attention of Hollywood and was given her initial small-scale movie affair working with George Raft in Night aft(prenominal) Night. The cinema debuted in 1932 and even though her performance was a minor part in the movie, she was able to display enough of her prompt wit that made her famous.At first she was unhappy with her small office staff in Night After Night, but was satisfied when she was allowed to rescript her scenes. In Wes ts first scene, a hatcheck girl exclaimed, Goodness, what adorable diamonds.Mae responded with her quick and racy wit by saying, Goodness had nonhing to do with it, dearie.Upon her arrival in Hollywood, she moved into an flat non farthermost from the studio on Melrose. She maintained a residence there at Ravenswood, even though she owned a beach house and a ranch in the San Fernando Valley.The public fell in love with the first woman to make racy comments on conduct. She became a box office smash with the flick breaking attendance records.Her second involve was set on her earlier and popular play that was written by West entitled She code Him ill-use starring Cary Grant. The film was nominated for an honorary society Award as Best Picture.Her third film, entitled Im No Angel also displayed her quick racy wit and she was diametrical with Cary Grant once again. It was a financial success. This film, along with She Done Him Wrong were projects that saved Paramount from bank ruptcy. They were highly criticized by some because of the content and the guidelines found in the Motion Picture outturn rule.The Production print in code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of guidelines that movies created betwixt the years of 1930 and 1968 were governed by.The name Hays Office is definitely recognized as cosmos synonymous with Hollywoods self security review eubstance even though its namesake ceased to be involved in the daily operations prior to the period of its most remembered conflicts with filmmakers. Will H. Hays was the first president of MPPDA. He was installed as the leader because studio heads were looking for a man with a compass in the federal government to assure the nation that Hollywood films would non corrupt the countrys citizens.During the period that the Production Code existed, the enforcement was the obligation of Jason Joy (1930-1932), James Wingate (1932-1934), Joseph Breen who was the chief censor for the longest period of time between the years of 1934 1954. Geoffrey Shurlock thence took his place from 1954-1968.Eric Johnston replaced Will Hays as head administrator in 1945 and remained in this office until his death in 1963. Jack Valenti took his place in 1966.By then the organization had run low the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Each of these three men served more in the role of ambassador, lobbyist and as salesmen for the movie perseverance and non so much as a shaper of content.The Production Code was developed because the owners of major Hollywood studios were attempting to avoid a guinea pig government-run censorship operation.They also wanted to assure the concerned civic leading that Hollywood would deliver only wholesome movies eliminating the need for further edit that could possible be compulsory by the state and local censorship boards. These typesetters case boards sprang up during the decade preceding the Code.The Studio Relations delegation was organized by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in 1930. This citizens committee was given the responsibility for the administration of industry self-censorship. The Studio Relations deputation was reconstituted as the Production Code Administration in 1934. It was more impressive at this time.This organization felt if motion pictures present stories that will take up lives for the better, they can become the most powerful force for the improvement of worldly concern. They recognized their responsibility to the public and because of this trust and also because in their views, fun and art were the most important influences in the life of a nation.During the quick transition from silent to talking pictures they realized the necessity of creating some type of guidelines that should be in place. Even though motion pictures were considered primarily as entertainment, they also felt that film could be directly responsible for phantasmal or moralistic progress.As a r esult of these codes, May began to use double talk so that a person could take a word or phrase anyway they wished. She also developed her whole shebang this way as a method to flummox her work retiring(a) the censors and it worked.She really felt she had a vested interest because it was her written work that was being scrutinized. West had already written and performed these plays on stage and now they were being exposed to a whole new audience in film.Mae West was the largest box office draw in the United States at the time. The inconsiderate informality and seamy settings of her films caught the attention of the moralists.On July 1, 1934, the censorship of the Production Code began to be seriously and meticulously enforced. Maes scripts began to be heavily edited. Her resultant was to increase the number of double entendres in her films. Her expectation was that the censors would delete the open-and-shut lines and overlook the subtle ones.Her next film was Belle of the Ni neties which was made in 1934 and it was an other hit. The movie was originally titled It Aint No Sin, but the title was changed due to the censors objection. By 1936, later filming Klondike Annie and Go West Young Man she was, at that time, the highest paid woman in the United States.After the 1937 film, Everydays a Holiday, she didnt make another film until she starred with W. C. Fields in another Mae West written movie entitled My Little Chickadee in 1940.It was a well-known fact that Ms. West had ill feelings toward Fields because his shipway were too crude even for her. She didnt get along with Fields at all. She would not tolerate his drinking and since they were 2(prenominal) accustomed to working with supporting players and not co-stars conflict ensued.My Little Chickadee was a box office success and was more successful than all other W. C. Fields movies. It is verbalize that the only way Fields and West could be in the same scene together was to film them separately and then splice the film together.Universal was so delighted with the success of the film and offered West two more movies to star with Fields. She refused citing the difficulty of working with Fields.Her film The Heats On which was filmed in 1943, was her last film for a bit. Mae decided to take a break from the movie industry because the censors were getting stringenter. It was harder to create her movies, even with the double talk to get past times the stricter codes.It was general practice in films of the 1930s and 1940s to skirt the issue of sex and hide violence behind foreground or inwardly shadows. In assenting, they never really treated serious subjects that were dealt with in the best-regarded novels of that era.In so many instances, the Production Code Administration had their way against the wishes of filmmakers. They scuttled, modify or diluted several(prenominal) scenes proposed by writers and directors of Hollywood film projects from 1934 to 1968.When the Code we nt into effect all movies from the major studios were required to show an approved MPPDA logo. at that place were three general principles1.No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be propel to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.2.Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented, and3.Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.In addition there was another section that was entitled Crimes Against the Law. There were several crimes listed that should never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime as against law and justice, or to gibe others with a desire for imitation.Some of the crimes included Murder, Theft, Arson, and the use of firearms were to be curb to the inwroughts.Also, methods of smuggling could not be presented and illegal drug traffic wa s never to be presented.The use of liquor in American life, when not required by the plot or should be shown in proper context, diametricly it could not be shown.Ms. West was known for her racy lines and sexy suggestion so there were a few portions mentioned throughout this code that Mae had to neuter her movies for compliance. There was a complete section of the code dedicated to sex. correspond to the code, the sanctity of the institution of marriage and home had to be upheld. Pictures could not judge that low forms of sexual relationships are accepted or a ballpark thing. For example, the issue of adultery sometimes could be considered necessary to the plot, however it could not be explicitly treated, or justified, or presented in a confirmatory light.The code even had guidelines of Scenes of Passion. They could not be introduced if they werent essential to the plot. In addition, excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures could not be shown.In general passion had to be treated so that these scenes could not stimulate the lower and baser element. Mae West oozed sensuality. This category no doubt was muffle to many of Maes intentions on film.Even before she had matured, the slinky, then saturnine haired Mae was performing a lascivious shimmy dance in 1913 and was photographed for a song sheet for the song Everybody Shimmies Now.Her famous walk was said to support originated in her early years as a stage actress. West had special eight-inch platforms attached to her shoes to increase her height and enhance her stage presence.Maes leave from film back to plays proved to be successful. When censors began to let up, she returned to film work in 1970 in Myra Breckinridge. She have the appearance _or_ semblanceed in the role as Leticia Van Allen, which was a small role. The film failed miserably at the box-office but still was a racy film due to the sex change theme.West regarded talking about sex as a basic human r ights issue. She was also an early advocate of gay and transgender rights. She was reported as telling policemen who were raiding a gay bar, Dont you know youre hitting a woman in a mans body.This was definitely a daring direction since she spoke it in a time period when homosexuality was not accepted.Her last film was in 1978 called sextuplet which was a film that was base on thesuccessful play West wrote back in 1926. This film could have been a silent movie but instead fifty years subsequently was developed. Even in the late seventies, the times where not liberal enough to accept the original title, Sex as they called it Sextette instead.Allowances had to be made for a few things, such as her wig and slightly bizarre makeup and her slow movement from time to time but she obviously had taken care of herself and is able to show herself off in a series of beautiful gowns.The film is set up so she can consistently deliver the one-liners that made her famous.There was something different about Mae West, beginning with her appearance. It set her apart from the other actresses of the day. Mae has been described as a rather large billowing superblonde that talked through her nostrils. In addition it has been said that she was a Gay Nineties gal that was plunked down in the Flapper Age.According to Simon Louvish, the author of her biography entitled Mae West It Aint No Sin, it wasnt the Production Code that affected her race but rather her inability to relate to anyone in any easily persuasive way that so quickly destroyed her screen rush.The character that she created was completely of her on devise. Somehow this Brooklyn born woman who was sketchily educated at best made herself into a playwright as she would scribble her one-liners and develop primitive narratives around them.The Code may have been able to tone down some of the personality of Mae West but she was a woman who would not be silenced. Her somewhat mannish ways in her blunt innuendo that co ntinually spoke of the unmentionable sexual needs of a female.Ms. Wests remarks were quick and veiled suggestion. They were not dirty and often playfully remarked dripping with sensual undertones.Historians, however, suggest that her movie career declined so quickly because of the Production Code and their rather strict guidelines.Mae West is unique in the history of sex stars in the movies because she was in some way able to play both the role of a sex goddess and at the same time parody that same role. In addition, she was one of the first women to consistently write the movies she starred in.In addition to her screen and stage career, Ms. West also could be heard on the radio. On December 12, 1937, she appeared on two separate sketches on Edger Bergens radio show that shocked both the listening and NBC executives. She appeared as herself, and was flirting heavily with Charlie McCarthy, Bergens dummy, speaking with her vernacular brand of sexy wit and risque sexual references.S he appeared even more risque in a sketch earlier in the show that was written by Arch Oboler. This sketch starred West and Don Ameche as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The conversation between the two was considered so risque and bordered on being blasphemous. She was banned from being featured, or even mentioned on the NBC network. Mae West didnt appear on radio for another 31 years.She also starred in her own Las Vegas stage show. She would sing and was surrounded by handsome body builders while she performed on stage. Many celebrities attended Wests shows including Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Louis Armstrong, Liberace, and Jayne Mansfield. Jayne met and later married one of Wests muscle men, Mickey Hargitay. Mr. Hargitay was open fire for that action.Billy Wilder offered West the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She refused and enunciate herself offended at being asked to play a has-been corresponding to the responses he received from Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo and Pola Negri. Ultimately, Gloria Swanson was cast in the role, which became immortal on celluloid.In 1958, West appeared at the Academy Awards and performed the song Baby, Its cool Outside playfully with Rock Hudson.In 1959, her autobiography was published by Prentice-Hall entitled, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It.West made some archaic appearances on television where viewers reported astonishment at her modern appearance and energy. In order to appeal to younger generations, she recorded two rock and roll albums which were received with financial success mainly due to her single Treat Him Right on the Way Out West album.Near the end of her life, she was known for maintaining her surprisingly youthful appearance. West act to surround herself with virile men for the rest of her life, employing companions, bodyguards and chauffeurs.In the late summertime of 1980, she suffered a stroke at her apartment and fell out of her bed. She rallied after being rushed to the hospital but suffered another stroke in November. She was sent home but her prognosis wasnt good. She died in her apartment on North Rossmore Avenue in Hollywood at the age of 87.Mae West will forever be remembered as the sexy cook up notorious for sexy her one-liners. REFERENCESBynum, Matt. (2006) The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 (Hays Code).http//www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html have on December 12, 2006Jackson, Denny. (1998). Mae West The Actress Who Was Way Ahead of Her Timehttp//www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/2440/west.htmlReceived on December 12, 2006Schickel, Richard. International Herald Tribune. (2006) Mae West. New York City.