Actress/vocalist Mae West, expertly accompanied by Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, introduced Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow’s number “My Old Flame” in the 1934 motion picture Belle of the Nineties. West’s career had begun in vaudeville, continued onto the Broadway stage, and then into films. She was riding on the crest of a popularity wave from her film appearances when production began in 1934 for the Paramount Studios picture It Ain’t a Sin. In addition to acting and singing in the film, West contributed the story and was heavily involved in casting, direction, and production duties (although she was not officially given credit for any of these). At that time she was one of the few actresses to be given such wide artistic control.

West’s brand of sexual innuendo was her stock-in-trade, and the initial version of the film was deemed morally unacceptable by a representative from the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (known as the Hays office for its chief, Will Hays). After a title change and a rewrite, the film was released as Belle of the Nineties.

West had long been a fan of Duke Ellington, insisting that Ellington and his orchestra appear in the film. Although Paramount executives lamely balked that he was too expensive, West got her way. Duke and company expertly accompanied West on several numbers in the film. Employed as house composers for Paramount, Coslow and Johnston had written a number of excellent songs for Bing Crosby films and had scored another hit in 1934 with the tune “Cocktails for Two,” written for the film Murder at the Vanities which also featured the Ellington ensemble.

West was no great vocalist, but, as was the case with many ex-vaudevillians and Broadway stars, she knew how to “put a song over.” Variety magazine praised her performance, commenting that Ellington’s accompaniment was a “natural for Mae West.” One of West’s biographers, Maurice Leonard in his book Mae West: Empress of Sex, commented, “She sings the best she ever did on film.”

Unfortunately Ellington’s soundtrack version is much abbreviated when compared to the rendition he recorded for Victor in May, 1934. Yet the film undoubtedly helped sales of Duke’s recording.

The tune never really caught on in a big way with the public and never hit the charts. But a 1947 recording by musical funster Spike Jones and his City Slickers was certainly popular, and, like many of his recordings, sold well and continues to be available in reissue packages.