Auf in den Westen

This was another great 1930s film, but since I really like most 30s films, this one was great in a bit of a different way from others, and even other Mae West films. Mae plays an actress who's starring in a romantic thriller at the beginning of this film. Watching it includes young pretty fan (Isabel Jewel) of Mae's film character. Mae gets on stage live after the film. Can hardly imagine it now, how back then there was usually a live show right after the feature. And how audiences would stay seated enjoying the show next. Very few people today would have the patience to stay for a show immediately following a film. And how half the audiences back then usually had a few tears of joy at the end of a film, then everyone clapped. Just another of so many examples how people are so different today in every way.

Mae, after the show, wants to meet a man she's very interested in. Even though this film is post code, she still has a few sorta raunchy lines like "a thrill a day keeps the chill away". Other lines seem a little cleaned up from her lines in her pre code films like in "I'm no angel" and "Goin to town".

As Mae is getting ready for her date, her agent, Waren William tries very hard to stop her, but Mae doesn't listen. On her date, Waren pulls on sneaky act on her. He invites a truckload of press and news crew to horn in on the date. Mae's reaction is very amusing. That's another thing I love about Mae is that she never gets really angry or bent out of shape, she just gets even and seems to have a lot of fun doing so. Mae then wants to travel across country to meet a certain someone. On route, her Rolls Royce breaks down, and her driver gets a couple of locals just ahead of them to hook up to the Royce and pull it down the little country road. A quirky little scene there how the guys pulling the car shout out about a film star being in the Royce, and the passerbyers each making amusing comments back while Mae's rolling her eyes. Then they get to the quaint little country boarding house. There are Elizabeth Patterson as the slightly elderly owner, Gladys as a sweet young romantic, and Isabel Jewel, the star struck fan from the theater. Isabel is ecstatic by Mae being there. Gladys and Elizabeth try to make Mae feel very welcome. Mae doesn't want to stay there at first, until she sees strong Randolph Scott lifting the side of a car. The two of them hit it off, take a country walk together while getting more acquainted, and a nice moment of budding romance while Mae lays back into a haystack. I'll stop there. Get the film. Its hard to find a lot of old 30s and 40s films in stores now, but you can order them on a Amazon.com like I did. Or you can wait until they show it on TCM.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN (Paramount, 1936) directed by Henry Hathaway, with full screenplay credit by Mae West, with Warren William and Randolph Scott as co-stars, returns the "come up and see me sometime" gal in her first full-fledge comedy since I'M NO ANGEL (1933). No villains, no accidental killings nor murder victims, no jealous ex- lovers out for revenge, just the good clean humorous fun but minus those suggestive one-liners for which West is famous. While the given title and the support by cowboy actor, Randolph Scott, might pass itself off as a western, GO WEST YOUNG MAN, is actually a contemporary comedy based on a recent Broadway play, PERSONAL APPEARANCE, that starred Gladys George. Being featured in a movie from a play originated by another is indication as to why West seems miscast in a role that might have been far better suited on screen by its originator. While West might physically act in the manner of Gladys George on some occasions, she does build up her character to suit the traditional Mae West style. Unlike her previous screen efforts giving her a some men to choose from, this time she copes with three (Warren William, Randolph Scott and Lyle Talbot), but only gets to ride off with just one, and only one.

Overlooking this somewhat misleading title for now (which could easily be confused with her 1935 fringe western, "Goin' to Town", the opening credits presenting its casting names and staff in italic lettering, and night club-style underscoring indicating a lavish scale musical, the story opens with crowds gathering in a movie theater attending the premiere of DRIFTING LADY, starring Mavis Arden (Mae West) of Superfine Pictures Inc. The initial ten minutes devotes itself to a movie within a movie, starting with Xavier Cugat and his orchestra conducting as Mavis sings "On a Typical Tropical Night," to follow with her romancing one man, betraying another, Rico (Jack LaRue), a married man whom she abandons for a third (G.P. Huntley Jr.). (This plot alone is much interesting than the actual story itself). As DRIFTING LADY comes to a climatic finish, Mavis Arden, in person, on a movie promotion, steps out on stage making her speech to her avid fans that the character on screen is not real Mavis. Before going on another tour, Mavis attempts on meeting privately with Francis X. Harrigan (Lyle Talbot), a congressman, at the Palace Roof. In order to keep her single and unavailable to men, Morgan (Warren William), her press agent, arranges for Mavis and Harrigan's evening together to be disrupted by reporters. Harrigan later arranges to meet with Mavis in Harrisburg where he intends on proposing to her. Thanks to Morgan, Mavis never makes it her destination. Her limousine breaks down, leaving the movie star, her French maid (Alice Ardell), and chauffeur (John Indrisano) stranded on the road in the middle of nowhere. Eventually ending up at The Haven, an old boarding house managed by Addie Struthers (Alice Brady), Mavis and staff become her temporary boarders. Demanding Morgan for arrangements to leave as soon as possible, Mavis changes her manner after taking notice on Bud Norton (Randolph Scott), a handsome young mechanic outside her window lifting a car on his shoulders, leaving Morgan with further schemes on breaking up that relationship entirely.

While the scenario to GO WEST YOUNG MAN has the makings of a hilarious mad-cap comedy, the finished product comes off a bit weak at times. On the whole, it's really not bad in spite the fact that it could have been better, and funnier. With an impressive cast of familiar faces, it's interesting to note that, for a Mae West comedy, it consists of more female co-stars (Brady, Elizabeth Patterson, Isabel Jewell, and Margaret Perry, the latter playing Scott's fiancée) than actors fighting for her affection. With Warren William playing a scheming press agent ("just a mouse studying to be a rat") his presence, along with Lyle Talbot and Jack LaRue, give GO WEST YOUNG MAN more of a Warner Brothers appeal, considering how these actors were under contract for that studio. Character types Maynard Holmes and Nicodemis Stewart fill in the cast, along with Etienne Girardot as the complaining boarder not wanting his eggs cooked sunny side up because, "They're looking at me!"

Regardless of some brighter moments, instrumental underscoring and faster pacing might have helped this 81 minute comedy along. Other songs were reportedly written for this production, particularly "Go West Young Man," which was underscored during the opening credits, but West gets to sing one other tune, "I Was Saying to the Moon," while with Randolph Scott. Although the production code has cleaned up Mae West's screen character, her Mavis still has her eye for the opposite sex, in this case, Bud (Randolph Scott. With this being Scott's only performance opposite West, his presence offers something to the plot but no great demands. They do share one sort-of love scene together while West lies in a pile of hay in a barn telling the young man how all this reminds her about her first movie, "The Farmer's Daughter."

GO WEST YOUNG MAN, along with other Mae West Paramount titles of the 1930s, were distributed to video cassette from MCA/ Universal in 1992-93 to commemorate the centennial of her birth. Sadly these Mae West videos have been discontinued, and the movie itself was last shown on a cable channel of Chicago's very own WGN around 1987, and hasn't been seen anywhere since. In spite that GO WEST YOUNG MAN has been labeled as one of Mae West's more quieter comedies, with a fine supporting cast such as this, it should still be enjoyable viewing. And what does the title have to do with the story? We'll never know. (***)

A subdued Mae West plays against type to good effect as a spoiled actress dallying with hunky amateur engineer Randolph Scott when she's briefly stranded in his backwoods town. Warren Williams also scores as the long-suffering studio man tasked with ensuring she sticks to the term in her contract that states she mustn't wed for five years.

Go West Young Man is based on a successful Broadway play, Personal Appearance which had a 501 performance run in the 1934-1935 season and made a star of Gladys George. What did Gladys do, but play a Mae West type actress stranded between Scranton and Harrisburg on a personal appearance tour.

Of course since Paramount bought the screen right and they had Mae West, why not use the real deal in the lead. So Gladys George got her screen stardom in other roles and Mae West played Marvis Arden, a film star very much like Mae West.

Mae's got a contract that says she can't marry, but being Mae she's got a healthy sexual appetite and who knows where that might lead. That's the job of Warren William, press agent assigned by her studio. He busts up all of her potential romances, but he's also got an ulterior motive.

In fact he does a very hilarious job in pouring cold water on a romance between her and a rather fatuous politician played by Lyle Talbot. But Mae gets herself stranded out in the Pennsylvania countryside and takes a real liking to young farmhand Randolph Scott.

Randy is the only weakness in the cast. I just couldn't quite accept him as the naive young farm boy. He's just played too many tough western types for me to ever buy that.

Still this is Mae West's show and she carries it off with a style that only she can employ. No ersatz Maes for the movie going public.

This seems a slightly different Mae West picture in that Ms. West pretends to be someone else while hiding her true personality until the right man for her comes along. Also, the females in the cast have more of a scene-stealing status than before especially when the scenes are on Elizabeth Patterson and Isabel Jewell. Because this was made after the Production Code was put into full effect, there aren't too many of those risqué lines one would associate with Ms. West but when she's around Randolph Scott, well, just hear her talk then! The plot, such as it is, has her as a movie star forced to spend some time at a farm after her car breaks down, but really, it's just an excuse for some shenanigans among the cast. No great shakes, but Go West Young Man provides some good amusement for your viewing pleasure.