Editing Mae West (section)

===Motion pictures and censorship===
[[File:Mae West NYWTS cropped2.jpg|thumb|upright|"Diamond Lil" returning to New York from California, 1933]]
In June 1932, after signing a two-month contract with Paramount that provided her a weekly salary of $5,000 ($110,000 in 2023), West left New York by train for California.{{sfn|Leonard|1991|p=103}} The veteran stage performer was by then nearly 40 years old, yet managed to keep her age ambiguous for some time. She made her film debut in the role of Maudie Triplett in ''[[Night After Night (film)|Night After Night]]'' (1932) starring [[George Raft]], who had suggested West for the part.{{sfn|Leonard|1991|p=103}} She did not like her small supporting role in the drama at first, but was appeased when she was allowed to rewrite portions of her character's dialogue.{{sfn|Eells|Musgrove|1982|pp=105–106}} One of several revisions she made is in her first scene in ''Night After Night'', when a hat-check girl exclaims, "Goodness, what beautiful diamonds", and West replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie."<ref name="amuse">{{cite book |last=Ashby |first=LeRoy |title=With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2006 |page=[https://archive.org/details/withamusementfor00ashb/page/224 224] |isbn=978-0-8131-2397-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/withamusementfor00ashb/page/224 }}</ref> Reflecting on the overall result of her rewritten scenes, Raft is reported to have said, "She stole everything but the cameras."<ref name="amuse"/>

For her next role for Paramount, West brought her ''Diamond Lil'' character, now renamed "Lady Lou", to the screen in ''[[She Done Him Wrong]]'' (1933).<ref name=children>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Sarah |title=Children, Cinema and Censorship: From Dracula to the Dead End Kids |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2005 |page=55 |isbn=978-1-85043-813-7}}</ref> The film was one of [[Cary Grant]]'s early major roles, which boosted his career. West claimed she spotted Grant at the studio and insisted that he be cast as the male lead.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCann |first=Graha |title=Cary Grant: A Class Apart |publisher= Columbia University Press |year=1998 |page=73 |isbn=978-0-231-10885-0}}</ref> She claimed to have told a Paramount director, "If he can talk, I'll take him!" The film was a box office hit and earned an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].<ref name=children/><ref>{{cite book |last=Vogel |first=Frederick G. |title=Hollywood Musicals Nominated for Best Picture |publisher=McFarland & Co. |year=2003 |page=54 |isbn=978-0-7864-1290-7}}</ref> The success of the film saved Paramount from bankruptcy, grossing over $2 million, the equivalent of $46 million in 2023. Paramount recognizes that debt of gratitude today, with a building on the lot named after West.<ref>{{cite book |last=Starr |first=Kevin |title=The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s| publisher=Oxford University Press US |year=2002 |page=256 |isbn=978-0-19-515797-0}}</ref>

[[File:Mae West in I'm No Angel 2.jpg|thumb|230px|right|West's second film with Cary Grant, ''I'm No Angel'' (1933)]]

Her next release, ''[[I'm No Angel]]'' (1933), teamed her again with Grant. The film was also a box-office hit and was the most successful of her entire screen career. In the months after its release, references to West could be found almost everywhere, from the song lyrics of [[Cole Porter]], to a [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) mural of San Francisco's newly built [[Coit Tower]], to ''[[She Done Him Right (1933 film)|She Done Him Right]]'', a [[Pooch the Pup]] cartoon, to ''[[My Dress Hangs There]]'', a painting by Mexican artist [[Frida Kahlo]]. Kahlo's husband, [[Diego Rivera]], paid his own tribute: "West is the most wonderful machine for living I have ever known—unfortunately on the screen only." To [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], West was especially unique: "The only Hollywood actress with both an ironic edge and a comic spark." As ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' put it, "Mae West's films have made her the biggest conversation-provoker, free-space grabber, and all-around box office bet in the country. She's as hot an issue as Hitler."{{sfn|Eells|Musgrove|1982|p=127}}

[[File:Mae West - 1936.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Publicity photo, 1936]]

By 1933, West was one of the largest box-office draws in the United States<ref>{{cite book|last=Pendergast|first=Tom|title=St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/stjamesencyclope04pend|url-access=limited|publisher=St. James Press|year=2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/stjamesencyclope04pend/page/n146 116]|isbn=978-1-55862-405-4}}</ref> and, by 1935, she was also the highest paid woman and the second-highest paid person in the United States (after [[William Randolph Hearst]]).{{sfn|West|1997|p=24}} Hearst invited West to [[Hearst Castle]], his massive estate in [[San Simeon, California|San Simeon]], California, where Hollywood celebrities and prominent political and business figures frequently gathered to socialize. "I could'a married him," West later commented, "but I got no time for parties. I don't like those big crowds." On July 1, 1934, the censorship guidelines of the film industry's [[Production Code]] began to be meticulously enforced. As a result, West's scripts were subjected to more editing. She, in turn, would often intentionally place extremely risqué lines in her scripts, knowing they would be cut by the censors. She hoped they would then not object as much to her other less suggestive lines. Her next film was ''[[Belle of the Nineties]]'' (1934). The original title, ''It Ain't No Sin'', was changed because of censors' objections.<ref>{{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Thomas Patrick |title=Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934 |url=https://archive.org/details/precodehollywood0000dohe |url-access=registration |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/precodehollywood0000dohe/page/338 338] |isbn=978-0-231-11095-2}}</ref> Despite Paramount's early objections regarding costs, West insisted the studio hire [[Duke Ellington]] and his orchestra to accompany her in the film's musical numbers. Their collaboration was a success; the classic "My Old Flame" was introduced in this film. Her next film, ''[[Goin' to Town]]'' (1935), received mixed reviews, as censorship continued to take its toll by preventing West from including her best lines.{{sfn|Louvish|2006|p=279}}

Her following effort, ''[[Klondike Annie]]'' (1936), dealt, as best it could given the heavy censorship, with religion and hypocrisy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Black |first=Gregory D. |title=Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, and the Movies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |pages=228–229 |isbn=978-0-521-56592-9}}</ref> Some critics called the film her [[magnum opus]], but not everyone agreed. Press baron William Randolph Hearst, offended by a remark West made about his mistress [[Marion Davies]], sent a private memo to his editors stating: "That Mae West picture ''Klondike Annie'' is a filthy picture... DO NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVERTISING OF THIS PICTURE." Paramount executives felt they had to tone down West's characterization. "I was the first liberated woman, you know. No guy was going to get the best of me. That's what I wrote all my scripts about."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bavar |first=Michael |title=Mae West |publisher=Pyramid Communications |year=1975 |page=87 |isbn=978-0-515-03868-2}}</ref>

Around the same time, West played opposite [[Randolph Scott]] in ''[[Go West, Young Man (1936 film)|Go West, Young Man]]'' (1936), adapting [[Lawrence Riley]]'s Broadway hit ''[[Personal Appearance (play)|Personal Appearance]]''.{{sfn|Watts|2003|p=10}}{{sfn|Leider|2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/becomingmaewest0000leid/page/402 402]}} Directed by [[Henry Hathaway]], it is considered one of West's weaker films of the era due to censor cuts.{{sfn|Louvish|2006|p=308}}

West next starred in ''[[Every Day's a Holiday (1937 film)|Every Day's a Holiday]]'' (1937) for Paramount before their association ended. Censorship had increasingly made West's sexually suggestive humor difficult to sustain on screen. She was included in the "[[Box Office Poison (magazine article)|Box Office Poison]]" list published by the Independent Theatre Owners Association. This did not stop producer [[David O. Selznick]] from offering her the role of Belle Watling in ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'', but West declined, saying it was too small and would need rewriting.

[[File:Platform shoes worn by Mae West, 1950s AD, wood, metallic leather - Textile Museum, George Washington University - DSC09965.JPG|thumb|A pair of "trick" platform shoes worn by West in films to make her look taller, which also contributed to her unique gait]]

In 1939, [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] approached West to star opposite [[W. C. Fields]] in ''[[My Little Chickadee]]'' (1940).<ref name="trapeze">{{cite book|last=Louvish|first=Simon|title=Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W. C. Fields|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=1999|page=[https://archive.org/details/manonflyingtrape00simo/page/435 435]|isbn=978-0-393-31840-1|url=https://archive.org/details/manonflyingtrape00simo/page/435}}</ref> Although West and Fields had a combative relationship, the film was a box office success.<ref>{{cite book|last=Deschner|first=Donald|title=The Complete Films of W.C. Fields|publisher=Citadel Press|year=1989|page=140|isbn=978-0-8065-1136-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=James|title=W.C. Fields: A Biography|publisher=A.A. Knopf|year=2003|page=399|isbn=978-0-375-40217-3}}</ref> Religious leaders condemned West's on-screen persona, taking offense at lines such as: "When I'm caught between two evils, I generally like to take the one I never tried."<ref>{{cite book|last=Gehring|first=Wes D.|title=Parody as Film Genre: "Never Give a Saga an Even Break"|url=https://archive.org/details/parodyasfilmgenr00gehr|url-access=limited|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1999|page=39|isbn=978-0-313-26186-2}}</ref>

West's final film of the period was ''[[The Heat's On]]'' (1943), produced by Columbia Pictures. She only agreed to star as a personal favor to director [[Gregory Ratoff]].{{sfn|Tuska|1992|p=153}} It was the only film where she was not allowed to write her own dialogue. The result was poorly received, and West later cited her frustration with censorship as a key reason for her departure from filmmaking.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dick|first=Bernard F.|title=The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=1993|page=130|isbn=978-0-8131-1841-3}}</ref> Instead, she found continued success in nightclubs, stage shows, and Broadway revivals where she retained creative control over her performances.