>So under that dumb blonde exterior, Mae West knew her classics! Ah, the
> irony of the paraphrase: Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy
> to see me?
Neither Mae West nor most of the characters she played had a dumb blonde exterior. More of a "smart" blonde exterior - tough, wise-cracking, agressive.
Other classic lines:
Would be lover -- "Ah those shoulders, those lips, those eyes..."
Mae West - "Are you making love, or taking an inventory?"
... Naive galpal "Goodness, where did you get those diamonds?" Mae West "Goodness had nothing to do with it."
....;
Mae: "When I'm good, I'm very, very good. And when I'm bad, I'm better!"
I've always thought that the character Mae West created was an exception
in American sexual fantasy - a sexually agressive woman who was neither a victim or a villain. I'll bet somewhere there is a really good feminist analysis of Mae.