User reviews

GO WEST YOUNG MAN (Paramount, 1936) directed by Henry Hathaway, with full screenplay credit by Mae West, with Warren William and Randolph Scott as co-stars, returns the "come up and see me sometime" gal in her first full-fledge comedy since I'M NO ANGEL (1933). No villains, no accidental killings nor murder victims, no jealous ex- lovers out for revenge, just the good clean humorous fun but minus those suggestive one-liners for which West is famous. While the given title and the support by cowboy actor, Randolph Scott, might pass itself off as a western, GO WEST YOUNG MAN, is actually a contemporary comedy based on a recent Broadway play, PERSONAL APPEARANCE, that starred Gladys George. Being featured in a movie from a play originated by another is indication as to why West seems miscast in a role that might have been far better suited on screen by its originator. While West might physically act in the manner of Gladys George on some occasions, she does build up her character to suit the traditional Mae West style. Unlike her previous screen efforts giving her a some men to choose from, this time she copes with three (Warren William, Randolph Scott and Lyle Talbot), but only gets to ride off with just one, and only one.

Overlooking this somewhat misleading title for now (which could easily be confused with her 1935 fringe western, "Goin' to Town", the opening credits presenting its casting names and staff in italic lettering, and night club-style underscoring indicating a lavish scale musical, the story opens with crowds gathering in a movie theater attending the premiere of DRIFTING LADY, starring Mavis Arden (Mae West) of Superfine Pictures Inc. The initial ten minutes devotes itself to a movie within a movie, starting with Xavier Cugat and his orchestra conducting as Mavis sings "On a Typical Tropical Night," to follow with her romancing one man, betraying another, Rico (Jack LaRue), a married man whom she abandons for a third (G.P. Huntley Jr.). (This plot alone is much interesting than the actual story itself). As DRIFTING LADY comes to a climatic finish, Mavis Arden, in person, on a movie promotion, steps out on stage making her speech to her avid fans that the character on screen is not real Mavis. Before going on another tour, Mavis attempts on meeting privately with Francis X. Harrigan (Lyle Talbot), a congressman, at the Palace Roof. In order to keep her single and unavailable to men, Morgan (Warren William), her press agent, arranges for Mavis and Harrigan's evening together to be disrupted by reporters. Harrigan later arranges to meet with Mavis in Harrisburg where he intends on proposing to her. Thanks to Morgan, Mavis never makes it her destination. Her limousine breaks down, leaving the movie star, her French maid (Alice Ardell), and chauffeur (John Indrisano) stranded on the road in the middle of nowhere. Eventually ending up at The Haven, an old boarding house managed by Addie Struthers (Alice Brady), Mavis and staff become her temporary boarders. Demanding Morgan for arrangements to leave as soon as possible, Mavis changes her manner after taking notice on Bud Norton (Randolph Scott), a handsome young mechanic outside her window lifting a car on his shoulders, leaving Morgan with further schemes on breaking up that relationship entirely.

While the scenario to GO WEST YOUNG MAN has the makings of a hilarious mad-cap comedy, the finished product comes off a bit weak at times. On the whole, it's really not bad in spite the fact that it could have been better, and funnier. With an impressive cast of familiar faces, it's interesting to note that, for a Mae West comedy, it consists of more female co-stars (Brady, Elizabeth Patterson, Isabel Jewell, and Margaret Perry, the latter playing Scott's fiancée) than actors fighting for her affection. With Warren William playing a scheming press agent ("just a mouse studying to be a rat") his presence, along with Lyle Talbot and Jack LaRue, give GO WEST YOUNG MAN more of a Warner Brothers appeal, considering how these actors were under contract for that studio. Character types Maynard Holmes and Nicodemis Stewart fill in the cast, along with Etienne Girardot as the complaining boarder not wanting his eggs cooked sunny side up because, "They're looking at me!"

Regardless of some brighter moments, instrumental underscoring and faster pacing might have helped this 81 minute comedy along. Other songs were reportedly written for this production, particularly "Go West Young Man," which was underscored during the opening credits, but West gets to sing one other tune, "I Was Saying to the Moon," while with Randolph Scott. Although the production code has cleaned up Mae West's screen character, her Mavis still has her eye for the opposite sex, in this case, Bud (Randolph Scott. With this being Scott's only performance opposite West, his presence offers something to the plot but no great demands. They do share one sort-of love scene together while West lies in a pile of hay in a barn telling the young man how all this reminds her about her first movie, "The Farmer's Daughter."

GO WEST YOUNG MAN, along with other Mae West Paramount titles of the 1930s, were distributed to video cassette from MCA/ Universal in 1992-93 to commemorate the centennial of her birth. Sadly these Mae West videos have been discontinued, and the movie itself was last shown on a cable channel of Chicago's very own WGN around 1987, and hasn't been seen anywhere since. In spite that GO WEST YOUNG MAN has been labeled as one of Mae West's more quieter comedies, with a fine supporting cast such as this, it should still be enjoyable viewing. And what does the title have to do with the story? We'll never know. (***)

If you want to know who inspired Lady Gaga and Madonna, just look at Mae West. She stars and wrote the screenplay for this film vehicle of hers. She knew how to market herself in her career. In this film, she played Mavis Arden, a celebrity on her way to Los Angeles where she gets stranded in a small town in middle America. I believe it was Gettysburg. Anyway, she acts rude and offensive when her car breaks down in the small town but she comes back with an apology. Mae West characters are never really vicious or obnoxious. In this film, she is surrounded by great supporting cast of characters. While this film is about her, she doesn't forget the other characters and the storyline about her falling in love with a country aspiring inventor and mechanic. The film may have some issues with storyline and script but it's satisfactory with a surprising ending.

This movie was shown on Australian TV in the mid-'60s and never been seen here since. True, this is not an out-and-out romp like Mae's earlier films but it does have a more subtle comic line about a movie star in small-town America. The scene where Mae is lying down in the hay is surprisingly explicit: she reaches out her arms to Randolph Scott and says: "I love it." She was actually talking about the country life or something but in the context it was pretty strong stuff for 1935. I'm sure this is the movie where she is chauffeur-driven in a fantastic Rolls-Royce town car with "rattan"-work around the rear of the car, rather like Norma Desmond's in Sunset Boulevard. The car would be worth a fortune today. Also featured was the wonderful Elizabeth Patterson as the cynical granny of the house, a characterisation she made her own, and reprised it as late as 1957 in Pal Joey. It's a bit more subtle than Mae's earlier films but it has a certain maturity and a low-key humour as a gentle poke at country folks. The young Randolph Scott is quite a hunk in this too. I quite enjoyed it.

This seems a slightly different Mae West picture in that Ms. West pretends to be someone else while hiding her true personality until the right man for her comes along. Also, the females in the cast have more of a scene-stealing status than before especially when the scenes are on Elizabeth Patterson and Isabel Jewell. Because this was made after the Production Code was put into full effect, there aren't too many of those risqué lines one would associate with Ms. West but when she's around Randolph Scott, well, just hear her talk then! The plot, such as it is, has her as a movie star forced to spend some time at a farm after her car breaks down, but really, it's just an excuse for some shenanigans among the cast. No great shakes, but Go West Young Man provides some good amusement for your viewing pleasure.

A subdued Mae West plays against type to good effect as a spoiled actress dallying with hunky amateur engineer Randolph Scott when she's briefly stranded in his backwoods town. Warren Williams also scores as the long-suffering studio man tasked with ensuring she sticks to the term in her contract that states she mustn't wed for five years.

Mae West (Mavis) plays a character very much like herself. When the film begins, lots of men are watching her in a movie--much like wolves looking at a plate of pork chops! After the movie ends, Mavis makes an appearance in the theater and talks about how the image on the screen is not the real her--that she is, at heart, a simple country girl! Of course this is a lot of hooey thought up by studio man, Morgan (Warren William). In fact, he was assigned to follow her like a guard to keep her from begin her real self! And, in desperation, Morgan arranges for Mavis to go live on a farm and stay out of the sites of reporters. Of course, however, Mavis can't be too good and almost immediately notices hunky Bud (Randolph Scott). It's a frustrating job of vamping, however, as Bud is mostly interested in mechanical things and is oblivious to her wiles. Where it goes from there, you'll just need to see for yourself.

Like most of West's films, I had a hard time accepting the notion that she's THE sexiest woman alive. But I appreciate how in "Go West Young Man" for once someone ISN'T immediately smitten with her and it makes the film a lot more watchable--especially since West didn't even begin appearing in movies until she was 40. Being a very sexual 43 year-old isn't a bad role for her in this film instead of being universally adored by men (which, to put it bluntly, made no sense--especially when she continued in this role into her 80s!!). While not as good as her wonderful role in "She Done Him Wrong", it is one of her better performances and the film is worth seeing. Rather slight but quite enjoyable.

...because this film is pretty boring stuff. Mae West plays a film star called Mavis. However, everyone pronounces this as "Marvis" instead of "Mayvis" like normal and that gets pretty irritating to listen to. Anyway, it is the job of her press agent Warren William (Morgan) to make sure that she has no romantic dalliances and he does his best to scupper any opportunities that she gets. The majority of the film is set in a country house where she drools over mechanical engineer Randolph Scott (Bud). It's a Mae West vehicle so the plot is irrelevant. Just go with the flimsy story.

Unfortunately, the cast at the country house are terrible, playing for comedy and failing at every attempt. Without exception. What a shame. This film should have been a lot better. The only marks that I have awarded for this film come from a couple of Mae West scenes when she's sex-pesting Randolph Scott. She's funny. Still, she also plays a character with some unpleasant traits and that isn't funny, it's nasty. I want Mae West funny and lecherous all the time please.

Mae West is definitely a phenomenon. I don't see why more women haven't taken her lead and developed a similar sex crazed innuendo-driven character. In today's 'woke' culture, it just wouldn't be acceptable even though the majority of us would find it funny. It's a bit like the Tory Minister who has just been exposed for drunkenly groping men at a work function. His name is Mr Pincher. And it's funny. Not to the 'woke' brigade, though, who are outraged and want his blood. Chill out. It's funny. He gets a little frisky with alcohol and likes to pinch people's bottoms. Like Mae West. Unfortunately, this film isn't an overall entertaining experience. Get your bottom pinched instead.

This being a diluted Mae West vehicle (following the introduction of the Production Code in 1934, she was forced to tone down her trademark racy material), it cannot help but be much less sparkling than her earlier vehicles but, even so, it is not a bad film in itself. However, I must say that Henry Hathaway (renowned, then as now, more for his prowess at action sequences than for his comedy timing) is an odd choice for director, especially since he had just made the one-of-a-kind romantic fantasy PETER IBBETSON the previous year!

The thing starts promisingly enough with an ingenious opening sequence in which the events of a film being shown in a movie-house are intercut with the audience swooning over its leading lady (guess who?); the typically witty repartee (as usual, the work of Mae West herself) ensues when, through the efforts of her scheming manager Warren William, the movie star is stranded in the country and has to rest at a household full of simple film-struck folk. Predictably, West falls for the only handsome man around - a small-time inventor played by a rather stolid Randolph Scott – who has himself sets his sights on revolutionizing talking pictures…and West is only too willing to place her Hollywood connections – and more – at his service!

Among the other inhabitants of the household are Isabel Jewell – imitating Marlene Dietrich in THE BLUE ANGEL (1930) and, as a riposte to which, West utters some unflattering remark about the German siren; in fact, unusually for a West film, the other females in the cast (which includes Alice Brady and Elizabeth Patterson) are given rather meaty roles. Among the other guests is bad-tempered professor Etienne Girardot (who was so memorable in Howard Hawks’ TWENTIETH CENTURY [1934]), whom West also manages to win over with false promises of a Hollywood career; the cringe-inducing negro stereotype Nicodemus as would-be comic relief is regrettable, however.

In a plot reminiscent of 1933's Bombshell, Mae plays an ill-tempered conceited Hollywood diva hounded by scandal thanks to her sneaky press agent. West and Warren Williams are severely miscast and the show looks like it's going to be a major stink bomb until a fine ensemble of character actors steal the movie (and all the laughs) away from the principals.

Isabel Jewell and Elizabeth Patterson are a delight as always and it is the inimitable Nicodemus Stewart whose well-crafted antics and delivery provide the only inspired humor to be found here. The staff of the rural boarding house have real chemistry and their scenes have that breezy spontaneity viewers found so comforting in the 30s.

Although the dialogue is credited to West, she doesn't sprinkle much wit about her. Her character is sullen and irritable with no redeeming qualities. Even her gowns seem a little frumpy (that time of the month, Mae?). Warren Williams actually looks ill. His hair is a fright. He gives this comedy a manly effort and almost succeeds, but just can't muster the wise-guy mischievousness of a Lee Tracy. Neither he nor West are helped by the editing of their scenes which often look like several bad takes cobbled together.

Go West Young Man is based on a successful Broadway play, Personal Appearance which had a 501 performance run in the 1934-1935 season and made a star of Gladys George. What did Gladys do, but play a Mae West type actress stranded between Scranton and Harrisburg on a personal appearance tour.

Of course since Paramount bought the screen right and they had Mae West, why not use the real deal in the lead. So Gladys George got her screen stardom in other roles and Mae West played Marvis Arden, a film star very much like Mae West.

Mae's got a contract that says she can't marry, but being Mae she's got a healthy sexual appetite and who knows where that might lead. That's the job of Warren William, press agent assigned by her studio. He busts up all of her potential romances, but he's also got an ulterior motive.

In fact he does a very hilarious job in pouring cold water on a romance between her and a rather fatuous politician played by Lyle Talbot. But Mae gets herself stranded out in the Pennsylvania countryside and takes a real liking to young farmhand Randolph Scott.

Randy is the only weakness in the cast. I just couldn't quite accept him as the naive young farm boy. He's just played too many tough western types for me to ever buy that.

Still this is Mae West's show and she carries it off with a style that only she can employ. No ersatz Maes for the movie going public.

This was Paramount's attempt to star Mae West not as her usual sui generis self, but in a well-made B'way blvd farce. (The play ran a remarkable 501 perfs and gave its original star, Gladys George, a nice Hollywood career in standout character parts.) Unlike the Marx Bros, whose similar try @ RKO in ROOM SERVICE/'38, failed to come off, Paramount really went to bat for Mae. This is a first-class pic (megged by Henry Hathaway, well cast & richly shot by the great Karl Struss) about a famous movie star forced to spend a night amid the hoi polloi at a country inn. Randolph Scott is handsome & charming as the local Mae vamps while Warren William turns out to be about the best consort Mae would ever land. Alice Brady, Elizabeth Patterson, Isabel Jewell & the rest all get tasty character turns to play and if you can bear the racial stereotypes, it's a kick to see Nicodemus Stewart and recognize the voice of Brer Bear from SONG OF THE SOUTH. Yet, the play feels like it could have worked even better @ M-G-M for Jean Harlow & William Powell. For West, it represents something of a career capitulation.

This was another great 1930s film, but since I really like most 30s films, this one was great in a bit of a different way from others, and even other Mae West films. Mae plays an actress who's starring in a romantic thriller at the beginning of this film. Watching it includes young pretty fan (Isabel Jewel) of Mae's film character. Mae gets on stage live after the film. Can hardly imagine it now, how back then there was usually a live show right after the feature. And how audiences would stay seated enjoying the show next. Very few people today would have the patience to stay for a show immediately following a film. And how half the audiences back then usually had a few tears of joy at the end of a film, then everyone clapped. Just another of so many examples how people are so different today in every way.

Mae, after the show, wants to meet a man she's very interested in. Even though this film is post code, she still has a few sorta raunchy lines like "a thrill a day keeps the chill away". Other lines seem a little cleaned up from her lines in her pre code films like in "I'm no angel" and "Goin to town".

As Mae is getting ready for her date, her agent, Waren William tries very hard to stop her, but Mae doesn't listen. On her date, Waren pulls on sneaky act on her. He invites a truckload of press and news crew to horn in on the date. Mae's reaction is very amusing. That's another thing I love about Mae is that she never gets really angry or bent out of shape, she just gets even and seems to have a lot of fun doing so. Mae then wants to travel across country to meet a certain someone. On route, her Rolls Royce breaks down, and her driver gets a couple of locals just ahead of them to hook up to the Royce and pull it down the little country road. A quirky little scene there how the guys pulling the car shout out about a film star being in the Royce, and the passerbyers each making amusing comments back while Mae's rolling her eyes. Then they get to the quaint little country boarding house. There are Elizabeth Patterson as the slightly elderly owner, Gladys as a sweet young romantic, and Isabel Jewel, the star struck fan from the theater. Isabel is ecstatic by Mae being there. Gladys and Elizabeth try to make Mae feel very welcome. Mae doesn't want to stay there at first, until she sees strong Randolph Scott lifting the side of a car. The two of them hit it off, take a country walk together while getting more acquainted, and a nice moment of budding romance while Mae lays back into a haystack. I'll stop there. Get the film. Its hard to find a lot of old 30s and 40s films in stores now, but you can order them on a Amazon.com like I did. Or you can wait until they show it on TCM.

Go West, Young Man is a delightful screwball comedy featuring an unlikely but happily cast trio of Mae West, Warren William, and Randolph Scott. Mae is a glamorous movie star, the idol of millions, stranded in a hick boarding house when her limo breaks down in the sticks. She passes time by putting her fleshy moves on the handsome mechanic, played by Scott, who in 1936 was still very young looking and not yet principally identified as a western star. But the hayseed mechanic is more interested in tinkering with electronic inventions than in either the sultry Mae or his forlorn fiancé (Margaret Perry), while Mae's manipulative and protective press agent William and the fiancé's old maid aunt (Elizabeth Patterson) do all in their considerable conniving powers to put the romance on the skids. They get a lot of help from a herd of wacky local yokels, all ga-ga over glamor queen and all harboring their own ridiculous dreams of getting into the movies.

While Screwball comedy is a genre of elusive definition, Go West, Young Man embodies most of the common elements -- romance all out of whack, a collection of goofy but likable characters, frenetic, sometimes slap-stick action, class satire, and witty, fast-delivery dialog -- all breaking off in unexpected directions, like the baseball pitch the genre is named after. This movie also features a couple of other devices often seen in other screw-ballers -- the hoity-toity dame stranded in the boonies, and the cops being called, usually by mistake, and coming in like gangbusters. Henry Hathaway, a director better known for his outdoor action pictures, brings it all together with style and good humor.

The Mae West phenomenon seems to be rather poorly understood by the modern generation. They just can't fathom how so much fuss could have been made over a plump, middle-aged dame with no class except for low class, and not even very pretty, except in an incredibly cheap way (which, unfortunately, appeals enormously to most of us guys). How could all those men throw themselves at her feet? Well, that's pretty funny. So is sex in general. And that was her whole point! She was a grotesque parody of the sex goddess. Mae wrote most of her own material including the screen play for Go West, Young Man. She satirized everyone, playboys, politicians, country bumpkins, and most of all herself! She does it better than ever in Go West, Young Man, but in this movie it is even funnier than most of her others, because the satire is more gentle. The rubes are made to seem ridiculously funny, yet also very human and likable. And Mae, herself, gets the sharpest barbs. If for no other reason, this movie is worth watching for the hilarious scene of the sullen, portly sex goddess sauntering toward the boarding house steps escorted by a throng of adoring hayseeds and their pigs! That, as with many of the other gags, gives me a chuckle again every time I think of it. Which is the true test of whether a comedy is funny!

Code or no code, Go West, Young Man is still a Mae West movie, but it manages to be good, (almost) clean fun. Top notch Old Hollywood entertainment.

GO WEST YOUNG MAN is a good but yes, toned down comedy from Mae's pre-code days, but still fun to watch and not a waste of time at all.

Mae plays a movie star who stars in romantic drama and Warren William is her press agent who dreams up schemes to keep her from getting married, because her contract says that she cannot get married until 5 years. While they are on their way to Harrisburg Mae's custom-made car stuffed full of cold cream and shampoo breaks down. So, she is stuck in a rural colonial cottage boarding house with yummy Randolph Scott, twittering Alice Brady, and her biggest (and ditziest) fan Isabel Jewell.

While Mae West's acting and dialog was made tamer for the talkies, so was wonderful, handsome, cynical Warren William's, who was one of Warner Bros. top stars in the pre-code era. Warren William used to play ruthless bosses and all out cads, and while his role here is good and he gets to do some sleazy arguing and engineer some tricks on Mae West, GWYM was indeed a big step down for him. It was all because of that awful Satan MET A LADY (1934) which greatly hurt his career. Not to mention the awakening of the film censors by the Legion of Decency.

Elizabeth Patterson gives a great performance as the spunky Aunt Kate, and Isabel Jewell does a wonderful job as energetic, imaginative, movie-crazy Gladys. She does a funny imitation of Marlene Dietrich.

Oh yeah, and Randolph Scott was a total hunk with his "large and sinewy" muscles.