Mae West: Dirty Blonde

I came from the theater, from the stage,

you know, as a Broadway star, big box office.

And they wanted me to come to Hollywood.

So I says, I'll make a picture

and millions of people will see me.

All aboard!

It's sort of a miracle that Mae West

ever went to Hollywood.

She was notorious.

She had spent time in jail,

her plays had been censored,

and she was known as a bad girl.

People really hadn't seen

anything like Mae West before.

People hadn't heard anything like Mae West.

Yeah you'd better come up and see me.

A little bit spicy but not too raw, you know what I mean?

Well, when I'm good I'm very good,

but when I'm bad,

I'm better.

Mae West crafted this image.

She was a sexual gangster.

She had that walk in...

"Well, I'm here, you know, lads.

Take me or take me."

You ain't seen my better side.

You're a dangerous woman.

Mae West was a pioneer for all those wonderful women

who dared to be sexy.

Cher, Madonna, Rihanna, Beyonce.

She arrives to this town

fully constructed and her own boss.

Will we see you soon as a bad girl?

Yes, a bad woman with a good heart!

Oh, why don't you guys be good

- and go home to your wives. - Who is it?

The fairy princess, ya mug!

Maudie!

Hey don't let those guys in. They'll wreck the joint.

Hey, gorilla!

She was 40 years old

before she ever appeared in a movie.

In her first film, they put her in a small role.

Hello, honey. How's business?

- Fine. - You been insulted lately?

Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.

West had taken a look at the script,

seen that her role was completely banal,

and rewritten her lines.

Joey, Joey, well, well, come here and kiss me, ya dog.

Let's take a look at you.

Well, you're looking great.

Who's your tailor now?

George Raft, the star of that film,

said, "Well, she came in and she stole

everything but the cameras."

Sit down, dearie, don't let me keep you up.

Oh, waiter, waiter!

- Yes, madame! - A chair, ya mug!

You see her on screen and you realize immediately that

she's the most electric thing about this tepid melodrama.

Oh, Joe, it's just life to see ya!

Come here, crawl to me, baby, crawl to me.

And Mae West is not the kind of girl

that is going to be a second banana for long.

In the fabled land of California,

in a city named Hollywood,

there is a gate beneath an arch beneath a famous sign:

Paramount Pictures.

Call it the gateway of the stars,

or the doorway to the world of glamour.

This is the 1930s.

Hollywood thinks it's going to be Depression-proof,

unlike every other business in America.

But by 1932,

their box office starts to decline.

Paramount is teetering on bankruptcy.

Mae West is box office, and Paramount knows it.

Mae West was able to come to Hollywood

because she had something to give.

She had had success on Broadway.

She had generated buckets of publicity

and that, for Hollywood, meant, okay, she can make money for us.

But they were a little bit worried.

Mae West had a huge censorship brouhaha

with her sensational and scandalous Broadway plays.

So, with Mae West, there's always risk,

but it's also this great financial opportunity.

Adolph Zukor from Paramount said,

"What can we do to sign you to a contract?"

And she said, "Well, I would want writing my own scripts,

my own costume designs, and money."

And he said, "Well, how much money?"

And she said, "Well, how much do you make?"

And he told her and she said, "Well, I want a dollar more."

So she got it.

In 1933, she gets her motion picture debut

where she's center stage in "She Done Him Wrong."

"She Done Him Wrong" was shot in, like, 18 days.

They turn it out very, very quickly in part

because they don't want censors poking around a lot.

Oh, hello, Mickey.

Ah, Lady Lou, you're a fine gal, a fine woman.

One of the finest women ever walked the streets.

This is a film they make for like $200,000,

half of it went to Mae West.

Right, that's a sign of how powerful she was.

I don't even think today anybody

has the control that she had.

She had approval for everything...

leading men, anybody in the background,

she knew lighting,

she was so specific

and she knew exactly what she wanted.

Mae West had that kind of vision about herself.

She also had that kind of vision about others.

Cary Grant... I mean, you know, can you imagine

Mae West looking at Cary Grant?

She just spotted him and said, you know,

"Young man, over here."

I see this guy come walking along

a half a block away

on the street inside the studio.

So I said,

"This looks like the best looking thing in Hollywood,

who is he?"

So they looked and they said, "Oh, that's Cary Grant."

They said, "We haven't had him in a picture yet,

we just use him for tests."

I said, "Well, if this guy can talk, I'll take him!"

They said, "What part?" I said, "The lead, of course!"

I could see it right away!

When you watch Cary Grant and Mae West

in this film, it's not the Cary Grant

we know... the suave, you know, whatever.

He's nervous!

He's not very comfortable in this film at all.

- But she is in control... - Thanks.

Both as a performer and as a character.

- Ain't have much luck. - I'd have a great deal

more if Doheny and the others would cooperate.

Ain't none of them worth saving.

If you hang around them long enough

you'll get that way yourself.

Well, thanks for the kind interest.

You know, I...

I always did like a man in a uniform,

and that one fits you grand.

Why don't you come up sometime and see me?

I'm home every evening.

She was like, "Mm-hmm."

She got whatever she wanted,

and she was slow and, like, not predatory

but very, like, "You want to be part of this?

Show me what you got."

You know, I met your kind before.

Why don't you come up sometime, huh?

Well, I...

Don't be afraid, I won't tell.

But, uh...

Come up, I'll tell your fortune.

Oh, you can be had.

She's a parody of, sort of,

unbridled male sexuality.

She's, like, standing sexism on its head.

Guess I'm taking your time.

What do you suppose my time's for?

Sit down.

Cary Grant does this so straight.

He's the ingénue there.

That's it. Loosen up.

Unbend... you'll feel better.

He is a sexually vulnerable young man

playing to Mae West's older, authoritative woman.

Cigarette?

No, thanks, I don't smoke.

She was not a particularly beautiful woman.

She wasn't Garbo, she wasn't Dietrich, and she knew it.

It was all for laughs.

So all this is your famous collection, eh?

No, this is just my summer jewelry.

You oughta see my winter stuff.

- I see. - You know it was a toss-up

whether I go in for diamonds or sing in the choir.

The choir lost.

That presentation of a preternatural confidence

in her own looks,

in her own skills,

in her ability to get her way,

is itself a kind of powerful image for women.

Well, good night.

Good night.

She gave women permission

to be bold and be strong.

Women saw that character on screen,

maneuvering and manipulating.

Come up again, anytime.

Thanks, I will.

She was both the epitome of a sex siren