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newyorkthegoldenage · 7 months

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Last night they were acting Moliere in Fourteenth Street; Dickens was being played through the auspices of Nigel Playfair. Further uptown, George M. Cohan was unveiling the latest George M. Cohan musical comedy. But Broadway, being eternally curious, turned out in greatest numbers at the Biltmore Theater in Forty-Seventh Street, where the result of Mae West's latest encounter with the drama was being performed. This was the exhibit—play is not precisely the word—with a vaudeville background, whose preliminary trip through the Bronx and Queens had been followed by rumors that here was something that might arouse the police to action.

So began the review by an unnamed theater critic for the Times on October 2, 1928. It appeared, not in the arts section, but following a front-page story about the police ... taking action.

The play was Pleasure Man, a reworking by Mae West of her earlier play The Drag. It dealt not with vaudeville, as the critic said, but burlesque, and finished with a lavish drag ball.

Cops were stationed at all theater exits and just as the play was ending, reserves surrounded the front. When the cast tried to leave, they were arrested—56 in all, including West, who also acted in the show.

Of course this attracted audience members (some in evening dress, the Times noted) from other theaters nearby. The presence of cabs and other cars waiting to pick up theater-goers and actors added to the chaos.

Flashlights exploded as news photographers tried to capture the actors being led into paddy wagons. The police had to make five trips to get everyone to the station house on 47th St., where they were charged with indecency.

By 2:30 in the morning, Actors Equity posted bail. West's was $500, which may have been more than the others because she was doubly guilty, having written the play as well as acted in it. The producer, director, and theater staff were not arrested.

For some reason, the cops let the next day's matinee start, but raided it halfway through and arrested everyone once more. They had their own theatrical flair.

The trial wasn't held until April of 1930, and resulted in a hung jury. By that time West was a star, having triumphed in another play of her own called Diamond Lil. The next year she went to Hollywood.

Top photo: J.D. Doyle via Digital Transgender Archive Second photo: NY Daily News

#vintage New York #1920s #J.D. Doyle #Mae West #Pleasure Man #vintage Broadway #vice squad #indecency #Broadway scandal #drag performers #drag queens #vice arrest

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possible-streetwear · 5 months

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all-rock-and-roll-is-homosexual · 2 months

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Flexipop #14/Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New (Punk then and now)

if you like my scans and want to repost them off of tumblr or crop/otherwise make edits to any of the photos contained within this post please credit my blog and the original photographer (where applicable), and if you’re feeling extra generous and want to help me out you can donate via my ko-fi donating will allow me to obtain more magazines to scan and upgrade my equipment

#punk rock #sex pistols #anti-pasti #the exploited #the slits #viv albertine #vice squad #flexipop #80s #magazine scans #my scans

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trash-fuckyou · 1 year

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Wings Hauser in VICE SQUAD

#the goat #wings hauser #vice squad

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american-tabloid · 2 months

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Vice Raid (1960) trailer

#vice raid #mamie van doren #richard coogan #b movie #prostitution racket #vice squad #tommy gun

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yetihideout · 11 months

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Vice Squad, 1982 🖇️

#vice squad #1982 #paper clips

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karlatrece · 2 years

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Title :Beki Bondage of Vice Squad In Chicago 1982

Artist: Marie Kanger-Born

#punx #punk #im gonna riot #riot #punksnotdead #vice squad #vice squad punk

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newyorkthegoldenage · 1 year

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Mae West, star and playwright of Sex, as she left the West Side court, February 10, 1927. She had been held on $1,000 bail for a further hearing on her play, which was deemed "unfit for public showing." Sex and two other plays on Broadway had been raided by the cops the night before and the principals hailed (and some hauled) into night court.

Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images/Fine Art America

#vintage New York #1920s #Mae West #vice squad #Feb. 10 #February 10 #vintage Broadway #vintage theater #indecency #arrest #celebrity arrest

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possible-streetwear · 2 months

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 7 months

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"72 TAKEN BY POLICE SENT TO WAR JOBS," Toronto Star. September 30, 1943. Page 7. --- Hundreds Said To Be Reporting to Avoid Dragnet --- Seventy-two men rounded up in Wednesday night's police roundup of draft dodgers and selective service evaders were placed in war work today. While no accurate figures are available. officials believe hundreds have rushed to recruiting offices or to selective service for jobs to avoid the dragnet. J. W. Temple, manager of the Toronto office of selective service, said a report is being prepared to show the number picked up by police and placed in employment.

Hundreds have voluntarily reported changes of address to the authorities since the raids on pool-rooms, beverage rooms, restaurants and street corners were started.

#toronto #draft dodgers #work or fight #selective service #national selective service act #refusal to serve #conscription in canada #national resources mobilization act #canada during world war 2 #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #police raids #vice squad

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gotankgo · 11 months

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