Who was Mae West, and why was Paramount struggling?
Going West
Ten days in jail wasn’t enough to demolish Mae West’s career.
It was in 1927 that the New York-born actress was arrested for obscenity charges while starring in her self-penned Broadway play Sex. She replied to reporters who asked how she found her first night in prison that it was “not so bad. The inmates were very interesting. Will have enough for ten shows. I didn’t think so much of the bed.” West didn’t take the arrest seriously. In fact, the event garnered a great amount of extra publicity for both the show and herself.
Mae West was what many now — and probably then — would call a pioneer in the theatrical and literary world, writing plays that dealt with taboos of the era, including sex, homosexuality, prostitution, and female rights. Her notoriety on Broadway caught the attention of Hollywood in the early years of sound pictures. It is impressive that West began her career as a cinema actress in 1932 at the late age of thirty-nine, after being signed to Paramount Pictures, making the journey from New York to Hollywood. That year, she appeared in her first film Night After Night alongside George Raft, an extremely well known and highly regarded actor of the era closely associated with gangster films, at the same time as James Cagney. Although it was only a small role, her performance was notable. …
A forgotten piece of history, the first Black only owned record label
In 1921, Harry Pace began a business venture the likes of which had never been seen before. Acknowledging a gap in the music industry market, and also the lack of availability for black Americans to record and seriously distribute their music in a white-dominated society, Pace opened Black Swan Records — the first record company that gave black musicians a platform to record and distribute their music.
Beginnings
Pace, born in Georgia in 1884, worked in finance and insurance but had always had a keen interest in music. He finally left his job in insurance in 1907, moving to Memphis to enter the music industry, and began working as a songwriter and publisher. His involvement in music publishing exposed him to the inner workings of the industry and gave him an understanding of what sold (and what didn’t), what the public enjoyed, (and what they didn’t), what was prominent, and — importantly — what was missing. …
A poem.
The beast is your most faithful companion.
Send your inner armies to fight against the slumber,
And the dark nights that cloud your world and soul.
Intent on victory,
Retreat … retreat.
The brain pulsates while the body lies weary.
The beast is your most faithful companion.
The beast is your most faithful companion.
The loss stands heavy upon the shoulders,
Omnipresent in the ears,
A mist hangs low in the blackened suffering mind.
Retreat and Defeat.
Mine eyes are the clouds with a greyness to exemplify,
And the beast is your most faithful companion.
Child like innocence does pave the…
As nostalgia hits me with good times gone,
And memories of permanent goodbyes,
The autumnal sun hits through the naked trees,
Laying itself upon the rooftops of promising fortunes.
Bouncing…
Victoria Woodhull for President, Frederick Douglass for Vice-President
In 1872, the United States held the 22nd Presidential Election. The primary contenders were Ulysses S. Grant of the Republican Party and Horace Greeley, who represented the Liberal Republican Party in alliance with the Democrats. Grant won and retained his presidency. However, the presidential election of 1872 was unique, it included the first female presidential nominee in the history of the United States. Her name was Victoria Woodhull.
The Beginnings of Her Career
Woodhull, born in 1838, was an advocate for women’s rights and universal suffrage and was active in its campaigns and protests. She was notable at the time for her impressive career prior to her political campaigns that contrasted with the idea of the traditional woman’s role in society. In 1869, she, along with her sister, opened a firm on Wall Street and entered into the finance business. A year later, she opened and published her own weekly newspaper that focussed on women’s issues in society and political ideologies. …
History
How JFK’s father failed to enter the White House
It is well documented that the Kennedy’s were a strong political family, with an equally strong desire for power. Not only did JFK actively seek the presidency in 1960, so too did his brothers Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy. Ultimately, fate intervened, as Bobby, like his older brother John, was shot dead in 1968, while Teddy found himself in the centre of a major scandal in 1969 which played a part in his failure to win the 1980 presidential election. However, before the three brothers entered US politics, there was another Kennedy who fought for the role — their father, Joseph P. …
A brief history of the 1960s Soviet cultural ‘Thaw’
Soviet Cinema
Cinema was utilized under the Soviet regime for extensive propaganda purposes throughout the early to mid-twentieth century, particularly under the rule of Stalin. A medium that could be quickly distributed and didn’t require any literary skills, the use of cinema, as it was throughout the world, was regarded as the most beneficial means of communication, influence, and, importantly, entertainment.
Communist propaganda and ideology were prevalent in Soviet cinema under Stalin, who was himself a great fan of the medium, in order to secure a collective identity and ensure continued support and obedience to both the regime and the god-like stance of the Soviet leader. Similarly, the need to promote the regime and advocate support through cinema was vital during the Second World War for morale and to continue projecting the evils of Nazism following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, despite the German-Soviet pact signed in 1939. …
A brief history of the brief Nazi government that continued after Hitler’s death.
Hitler’s suicide in 1945 didn’t end Nazi rule in Germany at once. In fact, prior to his suicide, Hitler had appointed a successor, Karl Donitz, who temporarily served as the new leader. So as to preserve Hitler’s god-like legacy that was cultivated during his leadership, Donitz wasn’t appointed Führer, but instead President of Nazi Germany.
Karl Donitz
Admiral Donitz had served as Supreme Commander of the German Navy, leading the German U-Boat attacks against the Allies, ensuring they didn’t reach mainland Germany by sea. He had served in the navy during the First World War, and Hitler had chosen him to take charge of the Nazi German navy upon his rise to power. …
A turning point for the actress’s career
Bette Davis began her rise to stardom in the early 1930s, as one of the many actresses who made the journey from Broadway theatre to Hollywood cinema at the transition of silent to sound pictures. Talent scouts, working for specific film studios and on the hunt for appropriate actresses that they believed would be box office draws, searched the New York stages and invited them for screen tests in Hollywood to determine not only their acting skills but also whether they had the potential to become major stars.
Having made the journey, all actors and actresses were met at the train station by a representative of the film studio, and this was no different for Bette Davis. However, when she arrived, she found there was no one there. As it turned out, a representative had in fact arrived but had left after determining there was no one who walked off the train that ‘looked like a film actress’. …
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