Miss West in "Heat" - publicity for "The Heat's On", 1943

 

Some - but I'm certain not all - of these photographs are the work of Hurrell.

These last two, at least, are certainly by the great George Hurrell.

Mae West was forty-nine when she filmed "The Heat's On", her first film in three years. Tired of years of fighting the film industry's censorship - the infamous Production Code came after her with particular vengeance after the great success of her first three Pre-Code films - and after being one of those star actors labeled "Box Office Poison" in 1938, she had to be talked into taking the role by her friend, the film's director, Gregory Ratoff. She was once again stifled by the studio and the Production Code, and had no part in the screenplay, or in her customary rewriting of her character's dialogue. The film opened to poor reviews and weak performance at the box office. After this last disappointment, West gladly bid Hollywood goodbye and went on to enjoy great success playing on Broadway and in London, as well as performing a celebrated nightclub act in Las Vegas and New York, all vehicles of her own creation. Although apparently offered roles in "Sunset Boulevard" and "Pal Joey", among others, she did not return to the screen for a full twenty-seven years, with "Myra Breckinridge" in 1970, followed by "Sextette" eight years later.

West's co-stars in the film were William Gaxton and Victor Moore, a popular comedic theatrical team of the 1930s and 1940s.

Though Gaxton and Moore both worked frequently in Hollywood, aside from a 1932 short, this was the only film they appeared in together.

Costume sketch and the finished design, the work of Walter Plunkett.