Welcome back to the Shirley Temple film location tour that Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) and I put together. In the 1934 movie “Bright Eyes,” Shirley sings her signature song “On the Goodship Lollipop.” The occasion is a Christmas party that her mother and friends put together for her. Naturally, no party would be complete without a cake. Melissa and I were determined to be as authentic as possible in re-creating a key scene from the movie where Shirley’s screen-mom bites the dust. WARNING: Melissa and I both have a VERY dark sense of humor. If you offend easily, it might be wise to move on.
Right near our destination, we came across Federico’s Bakery on Colorado Boulevard and Allen St.
Melissa and I took it as a good omen that we’d picked the right bakery as Judith ALLEN played the romantic lead in “Bright Eyes.”
Here’s the mansion Shirley lived in with her mother in the movie. Her mother was a maid for the Smythes, a snobbish rich couple who had a bratty daughter named Joy, played by Jane Withers.
Flash forward over 80 years later, and you can see that other than the landscaping and trees, the San Marino house looks virtually the same.
Shirley’s and Jane Withers’ characters were rivals in the movie. For this scene, the two play dress-up and can be seen pushing their doll carriages up the driveway.
A publicity still of the same scene at the point the two had moved around to the backyard of the house:
In this scene, Judith Allen runs out the front of the house to tell James Dunn’s character that “she's on his side.” In other words, she wants him bad.
The very same front door today.
Jane Darwell, who was in a number of other Shirley movies and also played the Bird Woman in “Mary Poppins” tells Shirley’s screen mother to “Have a good time” as she rushes off to take the cake to the Christmas party. Pronounced “PAHTY.”
The Colonel beams with excitement as she takes our Frederico’s cake to...well, maybe a Thanksgiving Pahty?
Actress Lois Wilson who plays Shirley’s mom dashing to catch the bus.
The Colonel, who has developed lazy habits and bad values from watching Woody Allen movies, goes at a much more leisurely pace.
Uh oh...
The driver of the car tries to stop!
In the movie, Lois Wilson goes off to that big Pahty in the sky.
The Colonel faithfully recreates that moment, as any diehard Shirley fan would do.
Our Frederico’s cake, decked out to match the one in the movie...only smaller:
Interesting to note: the scene where Shirley’s screen mom gets hit by a car must have been filmed a few times. You can see the skid marks in the road that follow the exact path that the death car follows:
A sneak peak of Part 3!
See more Pasadena photos at my main website.
1 comment:
I would never have guessed Darwell was the bird lady from Mary Poppins if you hadn't mentioned it. Also, never stop with the dark sense of humor. I don't know what happened to the world but "funny" is "funny". Clearly the movie itself had a pretty dark one if "Happy Landings" is on the cake after she landed on the pavement.
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