Temple Tuesday: Shirley goes to Acapulco!

In November 1966, Shirley Temple Black and her husband Charles jetted off to Mexico to attend the Acapulco Film Festival. A month earlier, Shirley had caused a furor at the San Francisco Film Festival by protesting the gratuitous nudity in the film, “Night Games.” As a result, she disassociated herself from the Festival. While some applauded her stance, it also gave the press an opportunity to present Shirley as a relic of the past. Interesting that she would choose to attend the Acapulco event just one month later. The caption for the above November 16 photo reads:

Pert Mrs. Charles Black, who is also sometimes known as Shirley Temple, dons her white gloves and prepares to take off with her husband for Mexico City and Acapulco, via Western Airlines. The Woodside couple attend the Acapulco Film Festival while south of the border.



Shirley descends the plane as she arrives in Acapulco.



Even in her adulthood, Shirley was not immune to the paparazzi!



I wonder if Shirley went Skin Diving?



A shot of Shirley and Charles at the festival itself:



She wore the exact same dress for the San Francisco one in January 1965; what would Joan Rivers and the Fashion Police have said about that?



The press headlines read “Acapulco Film Festival Has Apathetic Opening” on November 16th:

The ninth annual Acapulco review of film festivals opened last night with an apathetic viewing of the Berlin festival winner “No Time for Foxes.”…Shirley Temple was in the audience but was not introduced. Delegations from 10 nations including the United States are attending the Acapulco event, which reviews the best of other festivals but does not select a winner.

Shirley herself was one of the U.S. Delegates. In December, a color Bob Hope special that was filmed at the Festival was aired on television, featuring an all-star cast. It doesn’t appear that Shirley was part of the fun.



Shirley didn’t get a lot of press for her trip, other than the reports that she was “shocked by “immoral’ presentation” and that she was robbed:

Mrs. Shirley Temple Black today said she would not prosecute a purse-snatcher who made off with her bag containing $300 if he would return the papers in the purse. As the former child star entered Fort San Diego Thursday night to attend a function of the Acapulco Film Festival, a thief snatched her purse and disappeared into the crowd.

Anticipating that you’d want to see a shot of Fort San Diego, here is one from the which museum site:



No reports as to whether the purse was returned or not; I would guess the latter.

See more Shirley Temple Black photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Where's Shirley?

This recent acquisition to my Shirley Temple collection had me baffled; I was fairly confident that it was from 1945, but had no idea where it was taken. The door behind Shirley was distinctive, but it didn’t match her Brentwood residence. The program in her hand made me think it could be a premiere or an event…but who knows without any writing showing. I turned to Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, who had the mystery solved in less than 24 hours. See the Fox Carthay Circle Theatre below, in a 1953 image from my collection?



Rita pointed out the doors that were a perfect match to the ones in the Shirley photo.



She was also able to correctly identify the event as the Look Magazine Awards that were held there on February 20, 1945. Below is a photo from that event with Director Leon Shamroy, Shirley, Bing Crosby, Margaret O’Brien, Bob Hope, and Director Leo McCarey.



The award that Shirley was given:



Auctioned off years later by Theriault’s, here is the description from the catalog:

THE LOOK ACHIEVEMENT MEDALLION AWARD PRESENTED TO SHIRLEY TEMPLE IN 1945 Lot Number:  49 1 1/2" A gilded bronze medal with raised profile of a woman symbolizing the Look Magazine award has raised lettering on the back “Shirley Temple Look 1945 Film Achievement Award.” Included is a presentation booklet for February 20, 1945 events at the Carthay Circle Theatre in which Shirley Temple is cited for her performance in the 1944 film “Since You Went Away.” Realized Price:  $650 • Presale Estimate:  500+



The auction included the presentation booklet that we saw in the first photo from this post:



This photo from my collection is most likely from the same evening, taken at Ciro’s nightclub on Sunset Boulevard. Shirley is dancing with agent Henry Willson; Bob Hope is on the far right.



While I was stumbling down this rabbit hole, I came across this shot of actress Lois Maxwell from the 1948 Golden Globes. She is holding onto the most promising newcomer award for “That Hagen Girl,” which starred Shirley and Ronald Reagan.



Here’s a shot from my collection of Reagan and Maxwell:



Mary Astor won the Oscar for “The Great Lie” (1941). This publicity still for that movie shows her wearing the very same cape that Maxwell was wearing at the Golden Globes seven years later. Who do you think wore it better?



You just never know what goodies you’ll come up with once you start digging.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Hooray for Hollywood: Pt. 3, Ciro's

Continuing with my tribute to the nostalgic novels written by Martin Turnbull set in Hollywood, today's post shows a few views of the Bullock's Wilshire Tea Room. One of Martin's websites features an A-Z list of famous Hollywood hangouts, including this description of the Bullock's Tea Room:

Opened January 30, 1940 by Billy Wilkerson (who also owned the Trocadero) on the site of the old Club Saville at 8433 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip. Much like the Trocadero, Ciro’s really put itself out for its film business clientele; publicists arranging photo op dates could count on a good table and just the right light. Like the other smart clubs on the Strip (and the speakeasies and gambling parlors before them, Ciro’s attracted the local gangster crowd, star gangsters like Tony Cornero, who owned the gambling ships anchored off of Santa Monica beach, Bugsy Siegel, and Mickey Cohen.

Here Shirley Temple cuts a rug with Rock Hudson's agent, Henry Willson, at Ciro's, with Bob Hope visible in the background, March 1945:



Ciro’s had the longest run of any of the old clubs; its original life (it closed in 1957) plus another 20 or more years as the Comedy Store. It’s not all laughs at the Store, though. According to a number of people who worked at the Store in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s, parts of the building are home to some rather unusual guys. Employees at the club have reported seeing a group of ghosts in the backstage areas. These ghosts are all men, dressed in the height of 1940′s high new-money style: wide lapels, loud ties, French-cuffed shirts and shiny wingtips. They hover in the back rooms in the early hours of the morning, after the club has closed. There are rumors that a local ‘banger, allegedly Mickey Cohen, arranged a hit on some rivals after- hours at Ciro’s. If this is true, then the shades of ‘bangers past are still very much at home.

Here are Ava Gardner and Howard Duff enjoying an evening at Ciro's:



How about a look at that Wine List; see anything you'd like?



See more vintage & current Hollywood photos from my collection on my main website.