Temple Tuesday: Leading Men and the Couch

In this publicity shot from 1939, Shirley is shown in her 20th Century-Fox bungalow with her future costar, Martin Good Rider. From the accompanying blurb:

HOLLYWOOD, JAN. 26 — SHIRLEY GETS HER FIRST LEADING MAN - Shirley Temple gets her first leading man in her screen career in her new picture (Susannah of the Mounties). He’s 13-year-old Martin Goodrider, full-blooded Blackfoot Indian boy. Shirley and Martin are shown after their first meeting at Miss Temple’s dressing room in a studio here.

As so often happens with publicity stories, this one is not entirely true. Just a year before, Shirley had her first on-screen romantic pairing with Bennie Bartlett in “Just Around the Corner.” Shirley’s character uses her womanly wiles to get the young boy to cut off his curls and adopt a more sophisticated hairdo. Ah, young love. No, I don’t count the “Baby Burlesks” as far as a “leading man” for Shirley goes. At the tender age of four, that ventures into “ick” territory.



Always looking at the details, I noticed the fabric on the couch that Shirley and Martin are sitting in. I immediately contacted Melissa, aka “The Colonel” for the 411. She filled in the deets on the decor for Shirley’s Fox Bungalow, where the young girl held court for a plethora of celebrities, dignitaries, and politicians. “The wallpaper in the living/reception room was originally ivory with a conventional tree design in jade green,” Melissa told me. “The couch was described as a ‘small davenport upholstered in linen printed in bright colors with a kindergarten design.’” The couch print looks like it was inspired by the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg, which had finished restoration in the late 1920s.



Of course “The Colonel” had more! “At some point between April and September 1936, the kindergarten print couch was reupholstered in a striped velvet fabric - the wallpaper remained the same.” The striped couch is visible in the corner of the photo below:



“Both the living/reception room and schoolroom were updated some time in 1937, possibly when the Temples were vacationing in Hawaii. The living room wallpaper was changed to the leaf pattern seen below in the image with J. Edgar Hoover, as well as the first image with Good Rider. The couch was redone a third time (flowers and bow pattern). The curtains in that room were changed as was the lamp.”



And there you have it; yet another Shirley rabbit hole to enjoy! See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley Gets A Shiner

On June 5th, 1937, Shirley had an accident on the set of “Heidi” at 20th Century-Fox that caused a flurry of headlines! Although the times were much more innocent than now, Hollywood gossip was still the rage, as seen in this collection of “news” stories (thanks Melissa, aka “The Colonel,” for digging these up!).

Shirley Temple Acquires Real “Shiner”

HOLLYWOOD, June 7. (U.P.)—Shirley Temple had a black eye today. The child star tripped on an electric wire at 20th Century-Fox studio Saturday and fell head-first. She was cut over her left eye and a first-class ‘shiner’ began to develop. Make-up experts patched up the damage and Shirley bravely finished her day’s work before the cameras.

Look at that set! It’s no wonder little Shirley tripped. That long cord is an accident just waiting to happen!



More “news” clips of the day documenting Shirley’s fall:

Shirley Temple has a black eye but, like the older movie stars, she cleverly hides it with a pair of dark glasses. She got the shiner tripping over a light cord in the studio.
**
Pain-in-the-neck Publicity “Cheers from her fellow workers greeted Shirley Temple’s return to the set of ‘Heidi’ at 20th-Fox the day after she fell down and acquired a black eye.”
**
Guess Who?
The curls are a dead giveaway and, in spite of the black glasses, you know it is Shirley Temple. Shirley tripped over a lamp cord on a set in Hollywood and sports the glasses to cover a lovely shiner which developed from the bump. Now she’s “one of the gang.”
**
Shirley Is Proud Of First Black Eye
Shirley Temple has a shiner! It’s a real mouse, of the old-fashioned plum-colored variety, and little Miss Temple is as proud of her darkened optic as any child could be. The curly-headed star acquired her black eye when she tripped on a light cable on the set of “Heidi,” her new picture at 20th Century-Fox, and fell against a wall. For the next week, until the eye resumes its normal color, she will make no closeups.

In this photo, Shirley removed her glasses for the press:



Want to see the bike brand? It appears to be a Skippy Racer, which debuted in 1933. From the Online Bicycle Museum website:

Skippy was an American comic strip written and drawn by Percy Crosby and published from 1923 to 1945. A highly popular, acclaimed and influential feature about rambunctious fifth-grader Skippy Skinner, his friends and his enemies, it was adapted into films, a novel and a radio show. Skippy’s creator, Percy Crosby, retained the copyright to his character, which was unusual at the time. Such was the popularity of the comic strip that at one point he was earning around $2,500 a week …more than the US President. The novel was published in 1929, and there were also Skippy dolls, toys, board games, commemorative plates and product endorsements. Jackie Cooper starred in the 1931 Skippy film, which was nominated for four Academy Awards. From 1933, American National Co used the Skippy name for a complete range of their products, including bicycles, tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, coaster wagons and sleds. Rosefield Packing Co also used the Skippy trademark for its peanut butter in 1933, but this was a blatant copyright infringement. In 1922, Joseph Rosefield had developed a process to hydrogenate peanut oil. This kept oil from separating from peanuts, which meant that peanut butter could be fresh for months. Rosefield licensed his process to Swift & Co. who in turn had a hit with its ‘Peter Pan peanut butter.’ In 1933, Rosefield Packing Co cashed in on the Skippy popularity by using the name. Rosefield even replicated the fence image used for the comic’s titles as a key part of their branding. Although Crosby’s lawyers litigated and won, the food company ignored the ruling and continued to use the Skippy label.



In case you missed it, Shirley points to her shine, as she poses on her front porch:



Want to see that spot today? I knew you did.



From black eyes to bicycles to peanut butter; you just never know what you’ll discover on Temple Tuesday!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: No Parking at the Bungalow

This adorable shot was taken in 1936. From the publicity caption:

SHIRLEY TEMPLE PROUDLY DISPLAYS HER OWN CAR — before her bungalow on the 20th Century-Fox lot, the famous child actress is enjoying many thrills with her midget speedster, a birthday gift from the Knickerbocker automobile works of New York and Bill Robinson, the famous tap dancer. The car is powered by single cylinder motorcycle engine with a top speed of ten miles an hour. Shirley conquered its mechanism in a single trip around the block.

In this 1940’s shot, it appears that the hood ornament had bit the dust; maybe Shirley figured out how to increase the speed over 10 mph.

When the car came up for auction in 2015, it came with a hood ornament. Looks better with it, don’t you think? Whether Shirley had a replica made or not is unknown.

What IS known is that the car survived in better shape over the years than Shirley’s Fox Bungalow.

Yikes.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: 93rd Birthday Anniversary Blowout!

Last Friday (April 23rd) was the 93rd Anniversary of Shirley Temple’s birthday; I think that deserves a photo blowout supreme, don’t you? Shirley’s birthday was an annual event to top all events, both personally and in the movies. In 1934’s “Baby Take A Bow,” she received a coveted ballet dress AND performed for her guests. So giving! Shirley was also on hand for her friends’ birthdays, too, including Bill Robinson, who was celebrating at Fox circa May 1935 in what is now known as the Shirley Room:

In “Captain January,” Shirley received a cherished hand-carved doll from Cap (Guy Kibbee); unfortunately the birthday fun was temporarily dampened by an unplanned visit from the mean old truant officer (Sara Haden). How dare she!

On her eighth birthday (which she still thought was only her seventh) in 1937, British actress and music hall star Gracie Fields stopped by Shirley’s Brentwood home for a piece of cake. Looks delish, Shirley!

If you don’t think Shirley’s birthdays were a big deal, get a load of these pics showing her birthday parties at Fox. From 1938:

Here’s what the invite looked like:

And like every polite well-mannered girl of the time, Shirley wrote thank-you notes!

From April 1939:

Zooming in for a closer look at Shirley:

The Fox Studio Chef himself wishes Shirley a happy birthday in 1939:

One of Shirley’s most famous movie birthdays was in “The Little Princess.” Moments afterward, she learns her dad is dead and that she’s penniless. Happy Birthday, indeed!

On her eleventh birthday (which was actually her 12th), Shirley serves up her own birthday cake in between takes on the set of “Young People,” April 23, 1940:

Like the rest of us, the birthdays kept on rolling for Shirley, like her sweet sixteen which was held during the filming of “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Here she is allowing her stand-in Mary Lou Isleib to take a whiff of the perfume she received:

On the set of “Honeymoon,” Shirley cuts the cake with her then husband, John Agar:

Many of Shirley’s former costars/coworkers stopped by to celebrate with her, including Adolphe Menjou and James Dunn:

Shirley turned legal on the set of her 1949 film, “The Story of Seabiscuit”:

The last birthday photo of Shirley in my collection is from the Red Skelton show, which was in 1963:

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Shirley! I hope it was a good one!

See more Shirley photos at my main website.