MAE WEST, classic of classic 20th-century vamps

has her own American Masters

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mae-west-dirty-blonde-about/12370/

and she mostly wrote her own material.

I only know My Little Chickadee and, er, Myra Breckinridge. What's considered essential Mae?

She Done Him Wrong
I'm No Angel
Belle of the Nineties
Goin' to Town

That's about it really.

Chickadee was her least favorite bcz it's really a Fields film she was shoehorned into.

Her very first film, Night After Night, is a George Raft vehicle that she completely takes over in her 15-20 minutes on screen.

Sextette rules

polyphonic pinch hitting for KJB

the clips fill me with horror

Ringo Starr chimes in on the PBS show; he just wanted to hang with Mae

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeRm1T9V5wc

Her very first film, Night After Night, is a George Raft vehicle that she completely takes over in her 15-20 minutes on screen.

I so want to be Mae West in that movie. Unfortunately most of the time I feel more like Alison Skipworth (although she is badass in certain other movies).

There's a supercut on YouTube of West in Myra Breckinridge. Popular culture has always taken the casting couch for granted, but the gender-flipped approach was cringeworthy even before Me Too.