criterionforum.org

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:55 am**

MAE WEST IN HOLLYWOOD, 1932-1943

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (Archie Mayo, 1932)
SHE DONE HIM WRONG (Lowell Sherman, 1933)
I’M NO ANGEL (Wesley Ruggles, 1933)
BELLE OF THE NINETIES (Leo McCarey, 1934)
GOIN’ TO TOWN (Alexander Hall, 1935)
KLONDIKE ANNIE (Raoul Walsh, 1936)
GO WEST YOUNG MAN (Henry Hathaway, 1936)
EVERY DAY’S A HOLIDAY (A Edward Sutherland, 1937)
MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (Edward F Cline, 1940)
THE HEAT’S ON (Gregory Ratoff, 1943)

Release date: 22 November 2021
Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set (9x UK Blu-ray premieres, 1x World Blu-ray premiere)

Pre-order here.

When Mae West went to Hollywood in the early 1930s, she was already a major star. Having sensationalised Broadway, it was time for the movies to receive the same. Her fame allowed her control, picking her co-stars (including a young Cary Grant), receiving screenwriter credits, and baiting censors and audiences alike as the pre-Code era gave way to a more sanitised period in American filmmaking. This six-disc collection brings together all ten of West’s classic Hollywood features, from her supporting turn in 1932’s Night After Night to 1943’s musical extravaganza, The Heat’s On.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K restoration of I’m No Angel
• 2021 restorations of Belle of the Nineties, Go West Young Man and Every Day’s a Holiday from 4K scans
• 2018 restorations of Goin’ to Town and My Little Chickadee from 4K scans
• 2017 restoration of She Done Him Wrong from a 4K scan
• High Definition remasters of Night After Night, Klondike Annie and The Heat’s On
• Original mono soundtracks
• Audio commentary on She Done Him Wrong by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson (2021)
• Audio commentary on I’m No Angel by critic and writer Farran Smith Nehme (2021)
• Audio commentary on Klondike Annie by academic and curator Eloise Ross (2021)
• Audio commentary on Go West Young Man by writer and film historian Nora Fiore (2021)
• Mae West at UCLA (1971): archival audio recording of the great performer in conversation at the University of California, Los Angeles
• Introduction to My Little Chickadee by Harriet Fields, granddaughter of W C Fields (2021)
• Lucy Bolton on Mae West (2021): the writer and academic discusses the irrepressible stardom of West
• Christina Newland on Mae West (2021): the writer and critic looks at West’s glamour and attitudes to sex
• Two Super 8 versions of I’m No Angel: a pair of original cut-down home-cinema presentations, each consisting of unique scenes
• Super 8 version of The Heat’s On
• Original theatrical trailers
• New and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with a new essay by Iris Veysey, archival articles, a critical archive, and film credits
• World and UK premieres on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 6,000 numbered units
• MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
• All extras subject to change

#PHILTD250
BBFC cert: PG
REGION B
EAN: 5060697921823

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:19 am**

This is literally every film she made other than two in the '70s (Myra Breckenridge of course being one of those)

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:10 am**

I can recommend this podcast on Sextette to anyone who fancies a belly-laugh. Poor Timothy Dalton! https://play.acast.com/s/7c29fd12-a7d6- ... 5cc4d9958f

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:15 am**

Is there even an HD master of that?

In any case, Myra Breckinridge was obviously impossible thanks to Disney owning it now, so absolute completism was never going to happen.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:48 am**

A beautiful-looking package. The Pre Code films are peerless; the rest were strangled at birth by the vindictive institutions of American puritanism.

Half a dozen commentaries by eminent women writers in the field. Splendid.

Can it be true there is zero participation by men, and specifically gay men? This seems a missed opportunity. Gay culture is part of the story which produced this oeuvre, supported it, celebrated it and memorialised it. (And would buy this package.)

I hope at least the book reflects this aspect of the history and significance of these films.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:32 pm**

West’s screen presence is like nails on a chalkboard for me, but this is undoubtedly a killer set for those who like her (hell, I’d probably pick it up if I had any conflicted feelings within towards her work)- I’m particularly interested in Newland’s extra, tho not enough to purchase

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 2:52 pm**

Certainly blows the anemic Kino releases out of the water. But, having suffered through these when they were on the Criterion Channel, I have no intention of ever watching these again.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:01 pm**

My Little Chickadee makes me wonder what the odds are that Indicator could do a W.C. Fields box, perhaps somewhat similar to this DVD set

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:02 pm**

ethel wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:48 am The Pre Code films are peerless;

I’m happy these are someone’s cup of tea. But most should proceed with extreme caution

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:05 pm**

As often with Indicator, I'm totally new to these movies but will watch them all for my reviews. What should I then expect of them ?

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:05 pm**

domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:02 pm
ethel wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:48 am The Pre Code films are peerless;
I’m happy these are someone’s cup of tea. But most should proceed with extreme caution

I’m curious about revisiting some of these, but this has been my sentiment with Mae West. There’s such a sense of non-acting with her that borders on Brechtian and not sure if I fully enjoy it. Even as a tremendous W.C. Fields fan, her part in My Little Chickadee bugs me with just how sort of lazy it is. Maybe that’s the appeal!

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:10 pm**

tenia wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:05 pm As often with Indicator, I'm totally new to these movies but will watch them all for my reviews. What should I then expect of them ?

Of the ones I’ve seen (so may not apply to every film, but enough of them), Mae West is a true example of “star as auteur”. That’s not necessarily a good thing, depending on how she strikes you. Lots of mildly bawdy one liners and hot to trot come-ons from the least sexy woman imaginable. I can see why these would have camp value, though

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:32 pm**

domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:10 pm come-ons from the least sexy woman imaginable.

I may be revealing my homosexuality here but that seems a bit harsh, no?

Surely she had straight male fans, at least in the 30s, who found her attractive, and one would assume that there are men (and women for that matter) that still pick up on that sex appeal today?

I mean, I would certainly do a young Robert Montgomery as he appears in The Divorcee, or even John Wayne circa The Big Trail. Is the consensus among the straighties here on this board really that Mae West is the epitome of un-fuckability?
:-k

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:38 pm**

Without necessarily commenting on her physical appearance: her singing alone is unbearable.

The one film in this set I've seen lives or dies on her being some kind of goddess (it's the only narrative beat), and the incongruity is probably a tough hurdle for most to overcome.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:39 pm**

tenia wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:05 pm As often with Indicator, I'm totally new to these movies but will watch them all for my reviews. What should I then expect of them ?

You will be thankful that the movies are pretty short.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:51 pm**

I can only hope that Mae West's contemporary Jean Harlow receives the same kind of attention at some point, but still this is a great looking set.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:55 pm**

Marwood wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:32 pm
domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:10 pm come-ons from the least sexy woman imaginable.
I may be revealing my homosexuality here but that seems a bit harsh, no?

Surely she had straight male fans, at least in the 30s, who found her attractive, and one would assume that there are men (and women for that matter) that still pick up on that sex appeal today?

I mean, I would certainly do a young Robert Montgomery as he appears in The Divorcee, or even John Wayne circa The Big Trail. Is the consensus among the straighties here on this board really that Mae West is the epitome of un-fuckability?
:-k

To be clear, I didn’t say attractive, I said sexy. Plenty of beautiful people are unsexy, and it is only relevant here because West’s appeals and her entire persona are wrapped around her insatiability and sexual appeal to others in her films (and contemporary audiences)

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:20 pm**

domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:55 pm
Marwood wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:32 pm
domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:10 pm come-ons from the least sexy woman imaginable.
I may be revealing my homosexuality here but that seems a bit harsh, no?

Surely she had straight male fans, at least in the 30s, who found her attractive, and one would assume that there are men (and women for that matter) that still pick up on that sex appeal today?

I mean, I would certainly do a young Robert Montgomery as he appears in The Divorcee, or even John Wayne circa The Big Trail. Is the consensus among the straighties here on this board really that Mae West is the epitome of un-fuckability?
:-k
To be clear, I didn’t say attractive, I said sexy. Plenty of beautiful people are unsexy, and it is only relevant here because West’s appeals and her entire persona are wrapped around her insatiability and sexual appeal to others in her films (and contemporary audiences)

Mae West= The farce that launched a thousand drag queens.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:25 pm**

MichaelB wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:15 am Is there even an HD master of that?

In any case, Myra Breckinridge was obviously impossible thanks to Disney owning it now, so absolute completism was never going to happen.

Disney owns Myra Breckinridge?

Mind blown, man.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:32 pm**

Only because it was Fox

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:48 pm**

Even though I'm not region free yet, I'd still get this if I liked more than just She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:57 pm**

In one of his commentaries, Roger Corman has a good chuckle about the MGM lion at the start, because the film certainly wasn’t an MGM production when it was made.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:18 pm**

Mae West = Wally Beery cosplaying Marlene Dietrich. The only entertainment is in seeing a succession of leading men method acting unquenchable desire for her.

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 7:47 pm**

Thanks for the feedbacks. Looks like I'm going to have a lot of fun with those !

Posted: **Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:24 pm**

soundchaser wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:38 pm Without necessarily commenting on her physical appearance: her singing alone is unbearable.

The one film in this set I've seen lives or dies on her being some kind of goddess (it's the only narrative beat), and the incongruity is probably a tough hurdle for most to overcome.

Isn't that the joke?

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250-255 Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943

250-255 Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943

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Re: 250-255 Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943

Re: 250-255 Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943

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