Temple Tuesday: Mystery in Pink

In Shirley Temple’s “The Little Colonel,” she dances in the stables with Bill Robinson, wearing a cute little satin outfit trimmed with black velvet bows, frills, leather boots, and a straw hat. Shortly after the dance, the villains (Alden Chase and Sidney Blackmer) pay a call on her in an attempt to locate her father (played by John Lodge).



Little Shirley runs to her grandfather’s house to get help and alerts the cook (Geneva Williams), who tells the worried little girl that Grandpa is socializing at a neighbor’s home.



After a harrowing run through a dark wood at night, little Shirley finally reaches her Grandfather (Lionel Barrymore), who puts aside his contempt for her Yankee father to come save the day.



Naturally, a happy ending follows with father (Lodge) and mother (Evelyn Venable).



Shirley is shown wearing this costume in between takes with a visitor on the set:



From the vintage publicity blurb:

Shirley Temple entertains little Lily de Pourtales Lodge, daughter of John Lodge on the set of Shirley’s next picture. In the picture John Lodge plays the part of her father. Little Miss Lodge is the descendant of the Cabot, Lodge, Alden, and Adams families of New England.

That’s some lineage! These ladies were also photographed visiting Shirley:



Zell Hart Deming, publisher of the Warren, Ohio, Tribune-Chronicle, visits Shirley Temple on the set of “The Little Colonel” at the Fox studio. The publisher stands on Shirley’s right. The two other ladies are Mrs. Rena Wolcott and Mrs. Fred McBerty, both of Warren.

Here, Shirley relaxes between takes with costar Avonne Jackson. On the far left of the shot is Shirley’s stand-in, Marilyn Granas.



Want to see what the lady on the left has in her lap? I’m so nosy!



Many Lands was a 1935 reading and coloring book published by the Saalfield Company, who also produced Shirley Temple books and paper dolls.


Even little movie stars have to take it easy at some point!



The boots and bonnet Shirley wore were auctioned off by Theriault’s in 2015. Here’s how they looked when I saw them at the Santa Monica History Museum:



From the catalog description:

BONNET AND HIGH BUTTON BOOTS WORN BY SHIRLEY TEMPLE IN THE FILM “THE LITTLE COLONEL”

 Lot Number: 78. The porkpie-style woven bonnet has wire-framed brim to support its unique shape, and is decorated with long black velvet streamers and banding; the interior has pink taffeta lining and original inventory label 1105-H. Along with the matching pair of high button boots, each with nine pearlized buttons and having original label of Emidio Spezza of Los Angeles. Excellent condition. The bonnet and boots were worn by the young actress during the “Oh Susannah” song and dance sequence of the 1935 film “The Little Colonel.” Emidio Spezza, the Italian-born shoemaker, described in a 1936 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as “short, rotund, wears a waxed mustache and makes shoes for Hollywood people,” arrived in Hollywood about 1910 and earned a loyal clientele for his custom-made shoes ranging from Greta Garbo to Marlene Dietrich; in the 1930s this list of clientele included the specialty shoes for the young Shirley Temple. Realized Price: $2,000 Presale Estimate: 2000+

I often wondered what happened to the outfit itself? I remember in the 1980’s, when Shirley herself released a life-sized doll of herself wearing the same outfit, the publicity brochure stated that it was her very favorite outfit. Here’s a pic of that doll, currently listed on ebay. Yes, the doll itself looks a little creepy.



Later, the Danbury Mint also released a Shirley doll in this outfit, at a much more manageable size of 14":



Again…I wondered what happened to this outfit? Especially one that Shirley claimed was her favorite. Thanks to information submitted by Shirley’s Army member Connie, we now at least have some clues. In 1972, Shirley was co-host on the Mike Douglas talk show for a week.



In one episode, there were Shirley collectibles from the collection of Doris Studeman that were shown. From a vintage Shirley newsletter account:

Doris got to meet Shirley between tapings, and was greatly impressed. She would have been on the show herself if she could have been there Monday, but she did see the tapings of other shows. Her comment on the whole thing was, “It all happened so fast I couldn’t think!” Also, she says the Monday and Friday shows may be repeated during the summer, so watch your TV schedules. Esther sent a daily commentary on the show, which I don’t think I have room for this month, but I’ll give you some comments from different members: “She certainly is a beautiful woman…She was absolutely charming…Enjoyed every minute of it…Wasn’t Shirley wonderful! I could have watched her for weeks…She is so charming; I think even prettier and younger-looking than on the Dick Cavett show…She remains the same sweet, beautiful person she has always been…She looked relaxed and happy…She’s been just great!! She’s worn some of the most beautiful long dresses - it was also good to hear her sing again (Dreams Are Made for Children)…she looks so cute.” And to finish off the quotes, here is one from Esther in praise of her husband Gordon: “Just to show what a fine husband I have - he ate dinner half an hour late every night last week and we went up to the lake an hour later on Friday so I could see all Shirley’s shows!!”

Sounds like a keeper to me! Most interesting part of the newsletter to me was this:

One of Shirley’s favorite movie costumes was the fuschia one from “The Little Colonel.” It was stolen and never found.

Stolen? Who would dare steal from our gal Shirley? Or was it stolen from the Fox lot after filming was completed? If stolen ruby slippers can be found by the FBI, why not Shirley’s favorite pink satin “Colonel” ensemble? Let the search begin!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.