8mm Forum: Mae West on Super 8

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Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on January 16, 2016, 08:05 PM:

This one is easy:

Castle:
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I'M NO ANGEL (200 feet)

Universal 8:
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I'M NO ANGEL (400 feet)

Columbia:
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THE HEAT'S ON (400 feet)

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on January 17, 2016, 04:06 AM:

Also,trailer for "My Little Chickadee"

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on January 17, 2016, 02:57 PM:

The Castle 200' "I'm No Angel" and the Universal 8 400' "I'm No Angel" contain completely different scenes, so one could create an approximately 520' version!

Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on January 17, 2016, 08:10 PM:

That's exactly what I did.

Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on January 19, 2016, 04:56 PM:

I wonder why Castle/U8 didn't release more Mae West films, particularly SHE DONE HIM WRONG, generally regarded as her best film. MY LITTLE CHICKADEE, although disappointing, could have yielded an extract showing Mae and W.C. Fields' best scenes from that movie.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on January 19, 2016, 08:28 PM:

I have what I expect is a fairly rare trailer for SEXTETTE, although the sound isn't very good on mine.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on January 20, 2016, 08:17 AM:

I corresponded briefly with the folks at Castle back in the early 70's. They said their biggest problem with certain films was that they were committed not just to sound versions, but to silent versions as well. Consequently, Mae West films really would have suffered in silent form...and so the only reel they did of her was the more actionful segment from I'm No Angel. And I guess by the time U-8 got going, they didn't have time to delve further into the Mae West library before the video industry wiped out the film business for them.

Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on January 20, 2016, 08:36 PM:

Gary,

I've always suspected that the Castle extracts were influenced by how well they would play as silents -- this hurt the Abbott and Costello ones in particular. I guess a subtitled "Why don't you come up and see me sometime" would lose impact without Mae's inimitable voice.

For their 400 footers, I don't believe U8 issued them as silents. Your theory on them not getting around to more Mae in time is probably what happened. Also, for the older films, they tended to focus on longer versions of those already released by Castle.

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