More than most, Mae West knew what she wanted to be from the earliest of ages. Dubbed “baby vamp” when she began performing at the age of five, she developed her seductive walk as a teenager and began performing on the vaudeville stage. Then, taking advantage of the Roaring Twenties’ changing perceptions of women, she opened up a series of plays that were unanimously panned by the critics — and unanimously loved by the fans.

On this day, April 9, in 1928, Mae West’s fourth play, Diamond Lil, opened up on Broadway. Mae, already raided once for indecency and arrested under the same charges, apparently learned nothing. Her play was as racy as the previous ones.

Diamond Lil was popular enough to be made into a screenplay, if only the Motion Picture Association standard-bearers of taste (more commonly known then as the Hays Office) had not objected. After much arm-twisting by George Raft, the gangster-turned-matinee-idol, Paramount agreed to produce the movie. The final outcome was a somewhat toned-down version of the play, with the title changed to I’m No Angel.