When I first acquired the image above, I “assumed” it had something to do with “Shirley Temple’s Storybook,” the 1950s television series narrated (and sometimes starring) Shirley herself. Upon further examination, I realized the puppets didn’t match any of the episodes from that show. Frequent readers know the next step…contact Rita Dubas, Shirley expert supreme! It didn’t take long for Rita to send multiple articles clearing up the mystery that this was from an episode of the NBC Chevy (as in Chevrolet) Show, which aired March 1, 1959.
Broadcast in color from 9–10pm, here’s the description of the show:
Dinah Shore turns the Chevy Show over to four people while she vacations. Shirley Temple, Art Carney, Alfred Drake and Janis Paige take a tour through comic-strip land as the gimmick of the night. Daddy Warbucks and Orphan Annie, Harold Teen, Prince Valiant, Peanuts, Barney Google, Alley Oop and Buster Brown are among the characters involved. Songs include “How High the Moon” and “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.”
The Steve Allen Show was the lead-in; not bad, but not as good as having Ed Sullivan, which was broadcast over on CBS. From another online source:
After Art Carney, Shirley Temple, Alfred Drake, and Janis Paige sing "Just Like That," each solos to "How High the Moon" in his or her own fashion. There's a take-off on westerns by Carney and Drake, and a comic-strip sequence by the whole cast.
The Oakland Tribune’s review the next day had this to say:
THE CHEVY SHOW last night was one of a whole flock of “specials” Art Carney has just signed to appear in. In coming months his face will be as familiar as Arthur Godfrey’s on TV. Last night’s show was a happy field trip through the comic pages of U.S. newspapers taken by Carney, Shirley Temple, Alfred Drake and Janis Paige. Carney played Daddy Warbucks in one sketch and Shirley Temple was Little Orphan Annie, but she wasn’t very realistic. Her eyes were dotted.
Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) supplied this download from her files, showing Art Carney as Daddy Warbucks and Shirley as Little Orphan Annie:
From The Independent in Richmond, CA:
This variety program had everything from slapstick comedy to serious singing, topped by a spoof at the comic strips that was not only entertaining, but was at the same time a technical marvel.…Miss Paige carried the heaviest part of the comic strip number and it came off as does anything Miss Paige does—very well.…Miss Temple was along for the ride, is pretty, had charm and obviously will travel. If NBC can keep coming up with productions of this caliber, it bodes well for the rating future of the network, and for the long-suffering audience.
Another listing about the show Rita sent said, “There’s Shirley Temple doing “Shim Sham” the way Bill Robinson taught her in her “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” Although it appears that the episode no longer exists, one Shirley Temple fan snapped this photo off the TV when it was originally broadcast!
Another image in my collection shows puppeteers Alton Wood and Bob Baker laboring above Shirley:
This closeup of Shirley is similar but slightly different from the first photo in this post. Yes, I obsess over these details.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what part these marionettes played in the final episode, but these sure are great photos! I found another Bob Baker and Shirley connection at the LA Magazine website from Baker’s 2014 obituary:
Bob Baker’s world was intertwined with the icons of 20th century popular culture, from his performances in the films of Elvis Presley and Judy Garland, to puppeteering for Steven Spielberg. A handshake deal with Walt Disney in the 1950s led to his marionettes being sold at Disneyland. I've known Bob for years, and anytime I had a question about everyday life in Los Angeles from the jazz age forward, I’d call Bob. Every time I needed to know what was once on the corner of so-and-so and such-and-such street, I’d call Bob. He was always there to help me paint a picture of old Los Angeles because he was old Los Angeles. He worked at Bullocks Wilshire, he entertained at Shirley Temple’s birthday party, and he knew where all the good downtown loft parties were held – during WWII! He was a tremendous resource and a good friend.
From The Bob Baker website, here’s some background on Bob and Alton:
In 1930, Bob Baker saw his first puppet show in his native Los Angeles and shortly thereafter established his own “Petit Theatre” in the backyard of his home on New Hampshire Avenue.
By age eight, Bob had trained with several different Los Angeles-based companies before giving his first professional performance for legendary Hollywood director Mervyn Leroy. While attending Hollywood High School, Bob began manufacturing toy marionettes that sold both in Europe and the United States. Following graduation, he began an apprenticeship at George Pal Animation Studios that resulted in a promotion to head animator of Puppetoons, a landmark studio that produced animated stop-motion puppet films.
In 1963, Bob Baker and partner Alton Wood transformed a run-down scenic shop near downtown Los Angeles into a family entertainment institution: Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Named an official Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2009, the Theater has served over ONE MILLION children with original shows ranging from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker to a musical journey through the history of Los Angeles. After Bob’s passing in 2014 at the age of 90, the puppeteers and staff had to transition to being the stewards of both the past and the future of Bob’s beloved Theater. Each box that was packed and moved from our historic home at 1345 W. 1st Street to our new Theater in Highland Park carried a story of a puppeteer or fabricator who had contributed to the fabric of the Theater. From Morton Haack to John Leland, Tina Gainsboro to Ursula Heine… our Theater family numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands.
If you’re a Bob Baker fan, visit The Bob Baker Marionette Theatre in Los Angeles, which has plenty of events.
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
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