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Personal Appearance (1934) is a stagecomedy by the Americanplaywright andscreenwriterLawrence Riley (1896–1974), which was aBroadway smash and the basis for the classicMae West filmGo West, Young Man (1936).
Personal Appearance was produced by the legendaryBrock Pemberton (founder of theTony Awards) and staged byAntoinette Perry (in whose memory Pemberton named theTonys). It opened in 1934 at New York's Henry Miller Theatre starring the famed stage and screen actressGladys George (now remembered especially for her role as Miles Archer's spouse in the filmThe Maltese Falcon). Her comic performance contributed to makingPersonal Appearance a Broadway hit that lasted for 501 performances. It launched Riley's career as aplaywright and remains his most famous play.
The New York Times characterizedPersonal Appearance in an October 18, 1934, review's headline as a "Satire of theHollywood Dementia." The play is set in thePennsylvania backcountry, where Riley was originally from and where he long resided. It is the story of a movie star anddiva, Carole Arden, who is on a tour giving personal appearances to promote her latest film,Drifting Lady. Her car breaks down, which leads to her encounter with a young and handsome gas station attendant, Chester Norton, played byPhilip Ober. His fiancée's parents put Arden up for the night and Arden falls for Norton. But her down-to-earth press agent, Gene Tuttle, played byOtto Hulett, foils her plans to bring Norton to Hollywood with her.
This frothy and satirical entertainment epitomizes Pemberton's productions at the time: He was among those who advocated such escapist fare as needed psychological relief during theGreat Depression. This was in opposition to socially relevant stage productions, such asMarc Blitzstein'smusicalThe Cradle Will Rock (1937).Personal Appearance's huge success only reinforced Pemberton in his opinion.
In 1935,Samuel French (the English-speaking world's leading theatrical publisher) produced both a hardcover and a softcover edition ofPersonal Appearance: a New Comedy in Three Acts in Los Angeles and New York.
Personal Appearance was adapted for the screen by Mae West asGo West, Young Man. It was directed byHenry Hathaway and released byParamount in1936. In it, West reprises George's role but with a more callous and cynical slant. It was one of the rare instances, perhaps the first, in which West starred in a role not originally conceived for her. After launchingRandolph Scott's career as a cowboy star four years earlier inHeritage of the Desert, Hathaway cast him uncharacteristically as West's love interest inGo West, Young Man. The film's success led to Riley's second successful career as a screenwriter—a somewhat ironical outcome, givenPersonal Appearance's criticism of Hollywood.