Temple Tuesday: On Fifth Avenue

Shirley Temple’s 20th Century-Fox swan song, “Young People” was definitely a lesser effort that did not fare so well at the box office. Still, it is an enjoyable watch and yielded one of my favorite Temple tunes, “On Fifth Avenue.” After a montage of musical clips from her past, the stage curtain is pulled aside to introduce us to teen Shirley. The hair is darker, the baby fat is gone, but the charm and star quality still remain. Dancing with Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood, who portray her screen parents, the trio are decked out in top hats and tuxes. The publicity machine made much about this Mack Gordon/Harry Warren song and dance number. From the Hollywood Reporter, March 9, 1940:

Start of ‘People’ Held; Rehearsals Go Next Wk.
Starting date on 20th’s “The Young People,” Shirley Temple starrer, was set back yesterday from March 14 to around April 1. Change is to put more musical numbers in the production. Shirley Temple, Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood start dance routine rehearsals next week under supervision of Nick Castle and Geneva Sawyer.



One month later Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky wrote this for the New York post, April 2, 1940:

Shirley Temple, Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood were in the music hall at 20th Century-Fox rehearsing a song and dance number, “Fifth Avenue,” for the picture “Young People.” The music of the song is by Harry Warren and the lyric by Mack Gordon. I stood there and listened to Shirley, Jack and Charlotte sing:

Every Joe, every Jane,
Walks along that dreamer’s lane, on Fifth Avenue,
Pricing rings, pretty things,
That they can’t afford to buy.
But they smile, they don’t care,
For everyone’s a millionaire,
When you’re strolling on Fifth Avenue.

These were the snatches of the lyric that I caught. “Okay,” said Dance Directors Nick Castle and Geneva Sawyer, “take an intermission for a while.” I talked to Jack Oakie. I hadn’t written an interview with him in years. “What are you doing in this picture?” I asked.

“I’m playing Shirley Temple’s father,” he said.

My, how the years roll by. “The last time I interviewed you, Jack, you were carrying the football for Paramount.”



Hedda Hopper entered the gabfest on Tuesday April 16, 1940, gushing about Shirley’s upcoming flick:

“The Young People” set is full of human interest these days. Of course, Shirley Temple is always human interest—and especially since she plays the adopted child of Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood. There’s Jack, whose comeback does my heart good to see. I hope he gets wise to himself and sticks to swell supporting roles. Jack’s a great feature comic, and they go on forever. On the sidelines is the only dance directing team in the business. They are Geneva Sawyer and Nick Castle—a heck of a cute pair. Geneva’s more quiet than Nick—never takes her eyes off Shirley when she’s working. She’s as attentive as Mrs. Temple.

Nick is all over the place, will talk about Shirley at the drop of a hat. I was ready to listen, so he went on. “She’s colossal—the greatest little trouper I ever saw. I’m telling you this kid—what’s her name?—” Even though he’s worked with her for months, he still calls her “What’s-her-name”. He thinks too fast to remember names. “Why, she does an Astaire in this picture that’s better than the master himself.”

When I asked Nick if she jumps over chairs and tables, he snapped, “No! Just over Oakie and Greenwood.”

So, if anyone thinks Shirley hasn’t learned her business A to Izzard, you should have seen her directing the still man how to make pictures of her routine, and I’ll be darned if he didn’t take her advice.
**



Oakie’s weight even made the news, April 17, 1940:

A MUCH LIGHTER JACK OAKIE WILL BE IN “YOUNG PEOPLE”

Although Jack Oakie is grateful to Dance Director Nick Castle and Geneva Sawyer for working 13 pounds of avoir-dupois off his midriff during three weeks of strenuous rehearsals for the seven numbers in “The Young People” the Wardrobe Department feels decidedly otherwise about the matter.

Because every one of Oakie’s 15 costume changes for the film have to be made over, thanks to the weight he has already lost and what he expects to lose before the numbers actually are shot. Oakie’s weight is down to 177 pounds now, just 20 more than his all-time low, reached in 1938 after a strenuous diet.

April 26, 1940:

Production Resumed On ‘Young People’

Actual production of “Young People” was resumed this week at 20th Century-Fox, following a two-week interval for rehearsal of the opening dance number “Fifth Avenue.” Originally, the number was scheduled to be shot a week ago, but several days’ illness of Shirley Temple, held up rehearsals. Thus far there have ben three days of shooting covering two opening numbers of the film in which Charlotte Greenwood and Jack Oakie appear without Shirley. Tunes for the seven numbers in the film were written by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. Dance Directors Nick Castle and Geneva Sawyer designed the dance numbers.

The number even gets a low-key reprise at the end of the film.



Does she rival Fred Astaire in this number? As much as it pains me, I would have to say she’s a very distant number two. However, the number is more than pleasant and the tune will stay with you (happily!) long after you first hear it. Film historian and author Jeanine Basinger summed it up best when she said that Shirley gives the appearance of a “best pupil at the local dance recital.” Had she been given the opportunity and continued coaching, there’s no doubt that Shirley could have become an incredible dancer after seeing the potential of her early years.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.