Movies: Mae West

The bold Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent need of money, she agrees to a risky new number: she'll put her head into the lion's mouth! With this attraction, the circus makes it to New York and Tira can pursue her...

While on her way by stagecoach to visit relatives out west, Flower Belle Lee is held up by a masked bandit who also takes the coach's shipment of gold. When he abducts Flower Belle and they arrive in town, Flower Belle is suspected of being in collus...

New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine. One of them is a vicious criminal who’s escaped and is on the way to see “his” girl, not realising she hasn’t exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at han...

Myron Breckinridge flies to Europe to get a sex-change operation and is transformed into the beautiful Myra. She travels to Hollywood, meets up with her rich Uncle Buck and, claiming to be Myron's widow, demands money. Instead, Buck gives Myra a job ...

On the day of her wedding to her sixth husband, a glamorous silver screen sex symbol is sought to intervene in a political dispute between nations, which leads to chaos....

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Peter Fonda host an examination of the history of decency standards for movies from the early 1920s onwards....

For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, the ultimate self-made star, explores his own screen image and what it took to create it....

A San Francisco singer flees Chinatown on murder charges and poses as a missionary in Alaska....

The first talkie was directed by Alice Guy, the first color film was produced by Lois Weber, who directed more than 300 films over 10 years. Frances Marion wrote screenplays for the Hollywood Star Mary Pickford and won two Oscars, Dorothy Arzner was ...

Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had ...

A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934....

A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers....

A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl....

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression....

Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men....

A documentary reflecting on women in film and the entertainment industry through the ages led and hosted by some of its most beloved female icons....

Compilation of lighting and costume tests from various films, most notably Sternberg's "The Devil Is a Woman" (1935)....

Mavis Arden is a sensational movie star. Her following spans the world and her personal appearance tours prove her popularity. On her way home from one such appearance, Arden's car breaks down. She orders her publicity man to find her a place to stay...

When a turn-of-century confidence trickster poses as a famous French chanteuse to avoid arrest, she manages to expose the crooked police chief and smooth the path for the reform mayoral candidate....

Mae West achieved great acclaim in every entertainment medium that existed during her lifetime, spanning eight decades of the 20th century. A full-time actress at seven, a vaudevillian at 14, a dancing sensation at 25, a playwright at 33, a silver sc...