A star is made, not born: the production and reproduction of Mae West as a screen icon

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mae West was one of the biggest stars of early Hollywood, and her influence can still be felt in the work of many contemporary performers. While numerous scholarly accounts have examined West and her star persona, few have considered the creative practices and labour that went into the creation of that persona. This essay explores the construction of Mae West’s star persona by examining West’s strategic use of secondary and background characters in her films, along with advertisements, reviews, and other press coverage that accompanied the release of those films. I argue that Mae West, along with the studios that employed her and the press that covered her, shaped her particular star image in part by offering carefully crafted representations of imagined audiences. This example reveals broader institutionalised practices used by those in power in early Hollywood to influence how the public thought about stars during the studio era. My analysis includes films released between 1933 and 1940 with West in a starring role. The analysis also examines discourse surrounding West by way of promotional images, paid advertisements, articles, and reviews in periodicals such as Time, Motion Picture Herald, and The Educational Screen.