“GOIN’ TO TOWN” (1935; Directed by Alexander Hall)

“KLONDIKE ANNIE” (1936; Directed by Raoul Walsh)

“GO WEST, YOUNG MAN” (1936; Directed by Henry Hathaway)

“EVERY DAY’S A HOLIDAY” (1937; Directed by A. Edward Sutherland)

“MY LITTLE CHICKADEE” (1940; Directed by Edward F. Cline)

(Kino Lorber)

“GOODNESS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT—THE MAE WEST FILMS, PART TWO”

By Raymond Benson

This is the continuation of reviews of the classic 1930s (and 1940) films of Mae West, which began here.

Kino Lorber has just released in gorgeously restored, high-definition presentations every Mae West film made between 1932-1940—the Paramount years, plus one with Universal. This review will cover the last five of nine titles.

What is not commonly appreciated among Hollywood enthusiasts is that Mae West held a unique position in the history of cinema. Until the modern era, she had the extraordinary fortune—for her time—of being a leading actress who wrote her own screenplays. Six of the nine pictures reviewed here and in Part One were written by West, one was co-written, and all but the first was based on or adapted from West’s plays or stories. It wasn’t until the likes of Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Angelina Jolie, and a finite number of other actresses appeared on the scene to write original scripts for themselves that Hollywood allotted that kind of opportunity to a female performer. West was doing it in the 1930s, and this was unprecedented. Her talent and wit deserve a renewed appreciation today.

Her first two solo pictures (not counting her debut, Night After Night) are undoubtedly the quintessential Mae West movies (She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel) because of the freedom she had in the pre-Code years. Once the Production Code kicked in on July 1, 1934, West battled censorship and the challenges of getting across her risqué humor with more subtlety. It can be said that her remaining Paramount Pictures titles suffered when compared to the pre-Code fare, but they are still entertaining and worth a look.

Goin’ to Town (1935) takes place at the turn of the century when automobiles are appearing but there are still horses and buggies. It’s a globe-hopping affair that begins in what appears to be the Wild West as Cleo Borden (West) is a cattle rancher who juggles men on the way to fulfill her desire to refine her manners and join high society. Although her designs are really aimed at British engineer Edward Carrington (Paul Cavanaugh), she marries Fletcher Colton (Monroe Owsley) for convenience, but he’s an obsessive gambler. In Buenos Aires, Cleo faces off with rival Grace Brittony (Marjorie Gateson). As a recurring theme to this and other West vehicles, the actress sings “He’s a Bad, Bad Man, but He’s Good Enough for Me”! Goin’ to Town is entertaining enough—it’s better than the previous Belle of the Nineties, but the picture lacks interesting co-stars for West. The Blu-ray comes with an audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger, plus the theatrical trailer.

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Klondike Annie (1936) is overseen by solid filmmaker Raoul Walsh, and it shows. It is perhaps the best of West’s post-Code pictures, despite its embarrassingly offensive take on Asian characters, which was standard operating procedure in Hollywood for the time. It’s the 1890s again (why do so many of West’s films take place in that decade?). Rose Carlton (West) is a “kept woman” in San Francisco’s Chinatown by cruel club owner Chan Lo (Harold Huber, not an Asian actor). Rose ends up killing Lo and escapes on a ship to Alaska, the captain of which is Bull Brackett (the fabulous Victor McLaglen). Rose disguises herself and impersonates the deceased Sister Annie Alden, a missionary who was on her way to Nome to head up the only establishment of worship in an otherwise rough Gold Rush town. Bull falls hard for “Annie,” and she likes him, too, but she also has eyes for Mountie-like inspector Jack Forrest (Phillip Reed), who is looking for Rose because she’s now wanted for murder. Klondike Annie went through major Hays Office interference and in fact two major scenes were deleted from the film—the murder of Lo (we now only hear about what happened in conversation later), and the sequence in which Rose dons Annie’s clothing and dresses the former sister in the garb of a streetwalker (the censors seriously objected to this on puritanical grounds!). Nevertheless, Klondike is lively, rather suspenseful, and features the most exotic of settings for a Mae West movie. The disk comes with an audio commentary by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, plus the theatrical trailer.

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Go West, Young Man (also 1936) was helmed by accomplished director Henry Hathaway, and it fares well for West and her filmography. West is controversial movie star Mavis Arden, who has a penchant to get in trouble. Thus, her studio has assigned press agent Morgan (Warren William, who was known as the “king of pre-Code,” but he was apparently still working post-Code) to keep an eye on Mavis and stop her from dalliances with men. On the way to a public appearance, their car breaks down in a hick town where Mavis and Morgan must stay at a boarding house run by a prudish woman (Alice Brady) and her more open-minded aunt (Elizabeth Patterson). The problem is that hunky Bud Norton (Randolph Scott) runs the gas station next door to the boarding house! It’s another enjoyable West romp that is more of a screwball comedy than any of her other pictures. The disk comes with an audio commentary by author/film historian Lee Gambin, plus the theatrical trailer.

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Every Day’s a Holiday (1937) was the last picture West made for Paramount, after which her contract was cancelled. She, along with many other actresses such as Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and even Bette Davis, were deemed at the time by the Hollywood press as “box office poison” (which was nonsense, of course). It’s too bad, for Holiday is one of the funnier titles in the West canon, mainly due to character actor co-stars Charles Butterworth (as Graves, a butler who is sweet on West’s character, Peaches O’Day), Charles Winninger (as Van Doon, an outrageous millionaire who also has the hots for Peaches), and bumbling Walter Catlett (as Nifty, Peaches’ manager). Peaches, who has a habit of “selling” the Brooklyn Bridge to numbskulls, has her eyes on police captain McCarey (Edmund Lowe), whose rival is the police chief Quade (Lloyd Nolan). Peaches, wanted by the law, “disguises” herself by donning a black wig—and of course no one recognizes her as Peaches anymore (!). Quade, once pursuing Peaches to arrest her, is now after “Fifi” to woo her. Fun stuff all around. Look for Louis Armstrong’s cameo leading a marching band and performing a song. The disk comes with an audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger, plus the theatrical trailer.