Judy Garland: We Saw Your Face!

In the 1954 Garland film, “A Star is Born,” there are many moments of self-deprecating humor. NOBODY did that better than Judy! In this particular scene, her character (Esther Blodgett) is on set at the Oliver Niles Studio. Serving as a stand-in for the star, Esther is dressed in a luxurious mink coat, pampered over by wardrobe and makeup as she prepares for her first scene. The director coaches her just before the cameras roll: “Alright, now you know what I want, Esther. Put your arm out the window like this and you say ‘goodbye.’ It’s farewell, Esther, so give it all that you got!” Things start out well enough as Esther follows the directions to the letter:



In her excitement, Esther forgets that only the hand and arm should be visible to the camera. Her face peeks out the window and one of the crew shouts, “We saw her face!” causing filming to halt.



The director angrily admonishes her after she ruins the first take, “Just the arm and the hand; I don't want to see your face!” In the following takes, Esther cowers back in the seat to avoid being seen. Even through just the waving hand gesture, Garland conveys the despondency of her character who knows full well that this bit part will do nothing in propelling her to stardom.



In this publicity still, we see that gorgeous face that still brings joy to millions.



See more Judy Garland photos at my main website.

Bye-bye Alweg

The Monorail cruises by the it's a small world attraction, circa June 1970. Zooming in to see the bubble (another detail obsession of mine), I noticed that “Alweg” was still part of the attraction name.



Still there in August 1975:



…and the bubble, too!



But as you can see in the genuine ©FauxD image from July 1978…



Alweg had gotten the boot!



See more Disneyland Monorail photos at my main website.

The Portland Zooliner

There are probably a handful of you Disneyland geeks who wish you could have experienced one of its shortest lived attractions, The Viewliner. Good news: you can! Or, at least a reasonable facsimile of it. This 1960’s/70’s image shows the Washington and Park Zoo Railway in Portland, Oregon, aka “The Zooliner.”



This 5/8 scale narrow gauge train opened on June 7, 1958 and it appears to still be in operation (take that, Disney Corporation!). Like the Disneyland Viewliner, The Zooliner was inspired by the Aerotrain, shown in this 1957 image:



This post wouldn’t be complete without a shot of the Disneyland version:



…and the required closeup:



Anybody booking a trip to Portland now?

See more Disneyland Viewliner photos at my main website.

Hump Day at "New" Fantasyland

The attractions at Disneyland’s original Fantasyland area had Tournament Festival “Tent” façades. This was much cheaper than the original idea of Tudor façades. Here is the original Peter Pan attraction as it looked in the 1950’s. Note the mother covering up her son’s face; the little tyke was probably scared to fly through the dark ride, as many still are. 



In getting this post ready, I noticed this little design element on top of the attraction building. At first I wasn’t sure if it was a microphone, a mechanical bird, or…?



The Snow White façade from 1968:



…which also had the same doohickey on top. It seems like it was tacked on as an afterthought.



In 1982, Disneyland did a scrape and burn of the original Fantasyland, rebuilding everything with the original Tudor façade concept. Here is the area in the midst of construction, as workers feverishly attempt to finish in time for the grand re-opening, May 25, 1983.



Just in case you wondered what brand of paint was used:



Painting the new windows: 



Here are some of the black and white publicity stills that the Disney Corporation sent out in advance of the grand opening, with this one showing the “new” Snow White attraction exterior:



Oops…they weren’t quite camera ready.



The Peter Pan Tudor façade:



A shot of the little kiddies being let loose into the revamped land:



Who let this clown in?!?



See more Disneyland Fantasyland photos at my main website.

Casey Jr., July 1963

It’s July 1963 and our Disneyland Casey Jr. attraction engineer is having difficulty exiting the vehicle. For all you gearheads, I have included a closeup of the dashboard. You’re welcome.



For Chuck: Here’s a comparison shot of the dashboard from 2008. Casey doesn’t need no stinkin’ steering wheel! Ha!



And from 2012:



In the July 1963 background detail view, you can see the second Casey Jr. Circus Train lumbering uphill:



This image came from the same batch, and provides a nice overview of both Casey and the Storybook Land attractions. I love how they are interwoven.



The Storybook Land tour guide looks positively bored.



Zooming in you can see the original Fantasyland Depot, which would be torn down in 1965 to make way the new one.



See more Disneyland Casey Jr attraction photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: More Deleted Shirley

Last week’s Temple Tuesday post covered a deleted scene of Shirley’s from “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938). That only covered a fraction of what was left on the cutting room floor from Shirley’s movies! Hang on as we cover a few other ones that never made it into the final film.

In “Dimples” (1936), Shirley acted out scenes from the play “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” for her friends in the Bowery (photo above). Most likely this little showcase for Shirley’s talents did nothing to move the plot along and was eliminated as a result. A second deleted scene had actress Cleo Marsh (Astrid Allwyn) getting mad at Dimples (Shirley) during a rehearsal, feeling that the little girl’s song would steal the show from her. “Stop it, you little brat!” Cleo yells at the child. “You’ve got too much in this play as it is! This play was put on for my sake! People will come to the theater to see me. They’re not coming to see the antics of a dirty little urchin!” CUT! DELETE! NOBODY talks to Shirley like that and gets away with it!



Below is a shot of a deleted scene from the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” play that Shirley’s character is performing in. Probably another instance of the story moving too slowly for Producer Darryl Zanuck’s taste.



In “Stowaway” (1936), there is the dramatic scene where Ching Ching (Shirley) is about to be sent to an orphanage, but wealthy playboy Tommy Randall (Robert Young) and already engaged Susan (Alice Faye) decide to marry each other so that they can adopt the little girl themselves...and then get a divorce so that Susan can marry her fiancé and Tommy can keep Ching Ching. Phew…there’s a lot going on there.



In this deleted scene, socialite Kay (Astrid Allwyn again!) agrees to marry Tommy so he can adopt Ching Ching, but then finds out from Tommy’s friend The Colonel (Eugene Pallette) that the wedding must happen immediately. Oops…good thing she didn’t cash that check yet…she had to get her own divorce finalized first! Too messy for a Shirley film…



In “Little Miss Broadway” (1938), Betsy’s (Shirley) adopted father, Pop Shea (Edward Ellis) is looking for her to make sure she’s doing her studies. What we don’t get to see was this filmed bit of business showing Betsy with a ventriloquist, which explains why he couldn’t find her at the time. In the finished film, a few lines remain that refer to the deleted scene. Pop’s daughter Barbara (Phyllis Brooks) asks Betsy who helped her with the arithmetic problems, as they are all incorrect. “Mr. Berdini, the magician!” “Six goes into eighteen five times…, seven goes into twenty-one four times!” Barbara replies sarcastically. “He’s a magician alright!”



Later in the film, Betsy escapes the orphanage and tries to get home to help save Pop Shea who is fighting a court battle that could mean the loss of his Hotel. There was originally a sequence between a taxi driver and a policeman over Betsy being unable to pay the fare. CUT! And don’t print that, please!



In “Just Around the Corner” (1938), if you look at the “Programme” for the benefit for Uncle Sam, you’ll see a number listed that did not make it into the final film, “Penny and Her Gang.”



The photo below is about all that remains of this deleted musical number.



This photograph of Shirley handing Arthur Treacher a playing card in “The Little Princess” (1939) is all that remains from an extended sequence of her arrival at Miss Minchin’s Boarding School. Most likely, it has something to do with Shirley’s character finding out about Treacher’s character’s past as a music hall entertainer.



“The Blue Bird” was Shirley’s second movie filmed entirely in Technicolor, other than the opening segment which was in black and white.



One of the publicity stills from the black and white portion shows Shirley praying to the Virgin Mary.



Was this from a deleted scene or Shirley praying for a hit, which she badly needed at this point in her career!



This deleted scene shows Mytyl (Shirley) playing with all of her newly acquired dolls in the Land of Luxury. Astute at the tender age of 11, Shirley rented out dolls from her personal collection to be used in the film.



Another deleted segment from the same scene showed Mr. Luxury (Nigel Bruce) cavorting around with Tyltyl (Johnny Russell). CUT!



I wonder if Shirley had to refund her doll earnings to Zanuck when this scene was removed?!?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.