Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her

Oh Mae! In some key ways, you remind me of my dear Joan Jett. I see a lot of you in her, and that made me appreciate this even more. But, in some other marked ways, you two are night and day.

Mae West was a true force of nature! She was witty and sexual, but always classy about it. She refused to use foul language in her plays, and never drank or smoked. For, she was a clean kind of dirty, if you know what I mean. And it takes a real genius to be both!

I loved this little documentary, but as expected, it only scratched the surface of who she was. Like my dear Joanie, Mae was extremely private and never really let people into her inner world. Few ever knew her on a personal level, and even they got the sense that she always kept her real self hidden away, or that she had spent so long crafting the character of Mae West, that there was no Mary Jane (her birth name) left. And like Joanie, if she did go out somewhere, she usually had her entourage with her. So, how could anyone ever hope to have a private moment with her? But, it was just as well for Mae, who wanted to keep up her image- or as Joan Jett would put it, her "mystique" for the public.

Incidentally, it just dawned on me as I was typing this review that Mae's real name of Mary Jane is a reverse-variation of Joan Jett's name Joan Marie. Yes, Jane is a variation of Joan, and Marie is a variation of Mary. Gosh, when I say Joan Jett and Mae West sort of remind me of each-other, I guess I'm really onto something!

For any Joan Jett fans who may be reading this, just know that she once likened Janice Joplin to having a certain Mae West quality, and that one of the aliases Joan used in the past to sign into hotels was "Randy Hooker". Let that sink in. Mae West would get a real kick out of it, I'm sure! 😊💥💖

This documentary film is a biography of Mae West and the influence she had on American culture. It consists of a bunch of film clips and many interviews with folks who were still alive and willing to talk about her. It follows her from her youth when she was just developing a stage persona, through her Hollywood years and to her dotage...a rather sad time when the fading star refused to let go of her 1930s persona...mostly because there didn't seem to be anything to her other than that. Because of this, the final portion is a bit sad and you see her no longer as the great and powerful feminist but as a sad caricature. Worth seeing and very informative.

Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her (1994)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very good look at the legendary Mae West who most people don't seem to remember but was nearly the age of forty when she became a star in Hollywood. This documentary runs just under a hour and I think it's best moments talk about what West was doing before she finally went to Hollywood. Again, a lot of people talk about West in Hollywood and overlook nearly forty-years worth of interesting material. I thought this documentary did a very good job at explaining what West was up to during this period but it also managed to make you see that "character" she was building and which of course exploded once she made it in films. There's also a funny story told about how she pretty much controlled Paramount and another good story about how she picked Cary Grant for SHE DONE HIM WRONG. Dom DeLuise hosts and we get some nice comments from Robert Osborne and Rex Reed. Also on hand is Anthony Quinn who tells a very funny story about the first time he met West. Fans of the actress are certainly going to enjoy hearing all of these stories and there's plenty of newspaper clippings as well as film clips. At just 56-minutes there's no doubt this here isn't definitive but it's still pretty good considering when it was made.

This was an oddball doc in that it was rather accurate with facts about her life, but filled with styrofoam peanuts of opinions & impressions. It was narrated & hosted by Dom Deluise.

I was glad her size was brought up in conversation, West was tiny like 5 feet even. She was often filmed seated with her leading men or wore huge platform shoes to bring herself to regular height. Those platform shoes also contributed to her distinctive walk. I also liked they spoke of her closeness with her family, who rallied to support Mae's early career and Mae supported them in turn for the rest of their lives.

A few spoke of her "tricks", visual illusions to hide her size & age. Mae was in her 40's when she made her most famous Paramount movies and being so tiny, every pound is amplified. I always noticed she looks heavier in film, but didn't realize all her publicity photos were retouched. Apparently, her costumes were designed with this in mind-black trimmed side seams allowed easy "thinning" in photos.

I was surprised to see a young and handsome Robert Osborne interviewed. I had forgotten how cute he was, only remembering him as a handsome older gentleman on TCM. I was actually taken aback by his first statement which struck me like a backhanded compliment. Osborne's second comment came across even nastier. That Robert Osborne that we all know & love, friend to all the stars, was actually kind of snarky towards Mae West.

Anyway, it was a good documentary. You couldn't learn much about Mae's life from personal interviews, as she was always "on" playing her charactor & answering with funny lines. Most of the interviews were with people who actually knew her, like those who lived in her apartment building or worked for her.