Mae West: Die verruchte Blonde

Mae West achieved recognition across all entertainment mediums available during her lifetime, which spanned eight decades of the 20th century. She began her career as a full-time actress at age seven, performed in vaudeville at 14, became a dancing sensation at 25, wrote plays at 33, appeared as a silver screen ingénue at 40, performed as a Vegas nightclub act at 62, recorded music at 73, and became a camp icon at 85. West demonstrated creative and economic influence that was unprecedented for a female entertainer in the 1930s and remains rare today. While primarily known as a comedian, West addressed complex social issues of the 20th century, including race and class tensions, and infused even her most provocative storylines with commentary on gender conformity, societal constraints, and what she viewed as moral hypocrisy. *Mae West: Dirty Blonde* is the first major documentary film to examine West's life and career, as she "climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong" to become a writer, performer, and subversive advocate for social change.