Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Lake Arrowhead

“Honor Bright” was the title of Jack Kirland and Melville Baker’s story upon which “Now and Forever” (1934) was based. Fox loaned Shirley Temple to Paramount, receiving $3,500 a week as part of a two-picture deal that began with the blockbuster hit “Little Miss Marker.” Shirley had a good rapport with costar Gary Cooper, who played her father. Henry Hathaway, the director, had worked with Shirley before in “To the Last Man” (1933), starring Randolph Scott. Shirley’s character, Penny, is introduced to us, playing by the lake. Lake Arrowhead was used for these outdoor scenes.



Cooper’s character is a con man with very little morality. To raise some much needed cash for his extravagant lifestyle with his girlfriend/wife (it’s not really clear through most of the movie), he decides to sell his rights of guardianship to his father-in-law. Once he meets darling Shirley, he changes his mind and takes her with him, attempting to form a family trio. The film is an uneven dark mess, with slight amounts of humor and quite a bit of unpleasantness to it. The review from The Hollywood Reporter, July 20, 1934:

Cooper, [Carole] Lombard and Temple form a trio that’s hard to beat for a box-office combination right at this moment. They are the sure-fire sales argument and they won’t fail. The picture itself is mild entertainment, frequently bathed in tears, that has a few moments which lift it into the “fair” picture class. It is the story of Jerry, Toni and Pennie. Jerry is the crook who wants to reform eventually, but circumstance forces him to do one more job that is literally his finish. Toni is the gal who has given up Society for Jerry and who cannot ever bring herself to give up Jerry. Pennie is Jerry’s child, who succeeds in reforming him, but at the same time is the cause of his untimely death. Of course, that’s reducing it to its essentials. The story has got its moments of grace and good cheer, but on the whole it is a vaguely motivated, rather overly-sentimental tale, with a sudden melodramatic ending, that seems to have missed its point in concentrating on childish cuteness.



Here are some behind-the-scenes shots of Cooper and Temple at Lake Arrowhead.



Director Hathaway sits on the dock, his back to Shirley:



You can see Shirley looking up adoringly at Cooper:



Shirley puts on a sweater to stay warm between takes, while drinking a glass of milk:



Below is a shot of Shirley and her mother during filming. The accompanying publicity blurb:

CHILD ACTRESS STUDIES ON LOCATION

Little Shirley Temple, sensational child film player, recites her lines to her mother before facing the camera while on location at Lake Arrowhead, southern California resort, with a motion picture company. 6/26/1934



While it is a bit of a hot mess, mainly due to a protracted battle with the censors over  the unsavory storyline, it does have its moments, thanks to the chemistry between the three leads.

See more Shirley Temple “Now and Forever” photos at my main website.