Sunday with Shirley: Temple for Easter

When it came to publicity shots, number one Box Office Star Shirley Temple posed for every occasion! Easter 1935 had Shirley wearing this Renè Hubert designed outfit that was most likely intended for the movie “Our Little Girl,” released in May 1935. The accompanying caption:

AGAIN the stars of Hollywood are rebels in the world of fashion. Their Spring hats are new and novel inspirations—not copies of a dictated vogue. Even petite Shirley Temple has a very definite idea about her Easter bonnet—and a bonnet she has—fashioned of piquet, which actually ties in a pert white bow under her chin!

The outfit was not seen in the finished film. Another shot from the same photo session was used in Photoplay magazine, May 1935:



Not to let a good outfit go to waste, it was repurposed with a different hat and a fur capelet and worn by Shirley at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre ceremony where she immortalized her signature in cement on March 14, 1935:



Back to Easter, and “Our Little Girl”! Shirley took time between takes to pose with this darling little bunny in a basket for a few Easter-theme photos:





The Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News featured Shirley in an Easter fashion bit on April 22, 1935, wearing the same outfit from “Our Little Girl”:



As reported by the Progress Bulletin on April 19, 1935, children could celebrate WITH Shirley at an Easter Egg Hunt:

Children’s Matinee Features Egg Hunt And Shirley Temple

An Easter egg hunt and the showing of a Shirley Temple picture will be the major attractions at the Fox Saturday Morning Children’s club matinee at 10 a.m. tomorrow in the Fox Pomona theatre, according to plans announced today. Shirley Temple, whose tremendous popularity extends to both children and adults, will be seen at this morning matinee only in her feature picture “Stand Up and Cheer,” in which she made on of her greatest hits. The other featured attraction, the Easter egg hunt, is expected to be one of the most popular events ever arranged for the club. There will be lots of Easter eggs hidden away, for the boys and girls to find.

The cynic in me believes the above story was intentionally misleading people into thinking that Shirley herself would be at the matinee on Easter Morning. I highly doubt the Temple family traveled to Pomona for Easter morning…but I could be wrong.

For Easter 1938, Shirley Temple posed at an altar, clutching a hymnal, while looking heavenward. 



The accompanying caption:

There is a definite spirit of sanctity in this Easter picture of Shirley Temple, the Nation’s No. 1 box office star, whose latest 20th Century-Fox starring picture is “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” Even to a child like Shirley, Easter means more than colored eggs, and soft-eared bunnies, and the peaceful wisdom in Shirley’s expression tells the whole story.

For Easter 1939, Shirley posed with what appears to be the same hymnal. It must have been a popular edition at 20th Century-Fox! The accompanying caption:

EASTER HYMN — The screen’s number one star makes a lovely looking choir boy against the background of stained-glass windows. But to Shirley Temple, as to every other youngster, Easter symbolizes more than hymns and the Sunday service - it means Easter vacation from school and painted easter-eggs as well as all the other paraphernalia that makes this one of the happiest seasons of the year. Her latest picture is “Susannah of the Mounties.”



This alternate pose came with a different caption:

CHOIR BOY — The robes of a choir-boy ideally suit Shirley Temple’s innocence and childhood charm. The tenth birthday of the 20th Century-Fox number one star of the screen comes shortly after Easter and that for Shirley is all the more reason for celebrating the holiday. Her latest picture is “Susannah of the Mounties.”



Just before the end of her 20th Century-Fox contract in 1940, Shirley posed with some Easter lilies in this gorgeous Kodachrome image:



For those that celebrate Easter, I hope it is a happy one!

See more Shirley Temple holiday photos at my main website.