Temple Tuesday: All Dolled Up

For her 1934 starring vehicle, “Bright Eyes,” Shirley Temple’s character got to dress up in over-sized adult clothes and parade around as if she was an elegant society lady. Here is candid shot of Shirley with director David Butler, in between takes at the Pasadena location for this scene. The accompanying publicity blurb:

WHAT, NO LOLLIPOP? —Shirley Temple is positive Director David Butler will buy her that chocolate lollipop now she’s donned a feathered hat and long dress. The dimpled starlet plays at being grown-up for a scene in Fox film’s “Bright Eyes,” in which she is featured with James Dunn.

Little Shirley patiently awaits her next scene:



SMALL GIRL. IN A BIG CHAIR — Shirley Temple takes a few moments off for rest in Director David Butler’s set chair. Butler is directing Shirley in his own story, “Bright Eyes,” which will be her last picture for 1934.



In the scene, Shirley pushes a baby carriage around the property with her doll. Below is a screenshot of the house that was used for exterior locations:



How that house looks today:



Jane Withers and Shirley pushed their baby carriages up that very same driveway ninety years ago!



Shirley’s character was kind and loving to her little dolly, whereas Jane Withers’ bratty counterpart constantly swatted hers. Hey Jane, careful — that’s a very valuable Lenci doll!



You can see tensions boiling between the two; who is going to get to keep the dolls once the filming is done?



Named “Pinkie,” the 37” tall Lenci doll began the worldwide tidal wave of dolls gifted to Shirley in real life. From her autobiography Child Star:

For props we were each issued a doll, mine modest and frumpy, befitting my role, and hers a giant glorious Lenci from Italy with dangling blond curls and exquisitely costumed in ruffles and a velvet bonnet garlanded with lifelike flowers. Following her stage role, Withers became possessive, denying me even a peek, clutching it and turning away. Ultimately it developed into a quiet offstage competition for something she really did want, but I did not. Toward the end of “Bright Eyes,” Sheehan caught wind of the doll competition and offered Mother the Lenci doll in order to gain her cooperation on some other minor matter. Believing I really coveted it, Mother acepted his bribe, thinking perhaps to employ the doll in some secondary inducement with me. Her hope vanished when Sheehan publicly announced that I was starting a doll collection with the Lenci as my first. This action was tantamount to removing a finger from the dike. From all over the box-office world a thousand dolls of every type and nationality flooded in. In fact, the concept of a collection of anything beyond slingshots had no appeal whatsoever. It was a Pyrrhic victory; winning the Withers war imposed the unwelcome burden of becoming curator for an unwanted collection. 

Below is a photo I shot when the doll came up for auction in 2015.



Pinkie had a place of prominence in Shirley’s Santa Monica bedroom (photo below).



Sorry, Jane - you shouldn’t have messed with Shirley.



Shirley and Jane Withers’ December 1976 reunion at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was captured by the photographers. Note that Shirley is covering Pinkie in the photo in her left hand. Why stir up old wounds? Always the diplomat!



In a quieter moment, you can just hear Shirley: “Really Jane, if you hadn’t been such a pill, you could have had the darn doll for yourself!”



This darling costume also graced the cover of one of Saalfield’s many 1930s Shirley Temple publications:



In 2003, the Danbury Mint released a limited edition porcelain doll of Shirley recreating the same scene (minus the carriage) in honor of Shirley’s 75th birthday:



Sorry, Jane - you weren’t part of that tribute, either!

See more Shirley Temple in “Bright Eyes” photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: More Marilyn

In this publicity still for Shirley Temple’s 1935 film, “Curly Top,” her first stand-in, Marilyn Granas, can be seen standing next to Shirley on the left side of the photo. This was one of the few times that Marilyn got any actual screen time in a Shirley movie.



A year before, she posed for this still taken during the making of “Bright Eyes.”



From the accompanying caption:

FRIENDS — Shirley Temple, helmeted, and Marilyn Granas, her stand-in and playmate, about to take “Rags” out for a promenade along dressing room row at the Fox Film studio where Shirley is now engaged on “Bright Eyes.”

If Rags looks familiar, that’s because you probably recall her (yes, her) playing Toto in “The Wizard of Oz.” Shirley met him before Judy did! Below is a shot of Marilyn when I met her in 2018 at a little get together in Los Angeles commemorating what would have been Shirley Temple’s 90th birthday.



You can read more about that evening from my previous blog post.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley’s Christmas Quintet

Today for Temple Tuesday we celebrate a quintet of Shirley movies that take place during the Christmas holiday. First up is “Bright Eyes” (1934), one of my favorite Shirley films. There is a very touching Christmas Eve scene where Shirley’s widowed mother (Lois Wilson) confides in her daughter that she misses her husband. The next morning, little Shirley is celebrated by all her aviator friends who used to work with her father before he “cracked up.” She is showered with gifts and love.



Yes, that’s mistletoe in the pilot’s hand. When I attempted to look up the meaning of the branch and berries on Google, this is what it said:

Historically, mistletoe represents romance, fertility, and vitality. Because nothing says love like bird feces and poison. But seriously, the Celtic Druids valued mistletoe for its healing properties and likely were among the first to decorate with it.



Who knew Google has a sense of humor? In “Stowaway” (1936), Shirley is a little girl who must flee her home to avoid being killed, then gets robbed, stows away on a ship, befriends a rich playboy (Robert Young), runs afoul of Alice Faye’s character’s mother-in-law (Helen Westley), almost gets put in an orphanage, and then has to plea to a judge to keep her “new” parents (Young and Faye) from getting a divorce. Doesn’t sound very Christmas-y, does it? Well, that’s what happy endings are for! The final scene has Shirley singing, “That’s What I Want For Christmas,” and judging by all the toys, dolls, and trains surrounding her, she gets everything on her list.



In “Heidi” (1937), Shirley sings “Silent Night” at the Sesemann household with crippled Klara (Marcia Mae Jones), wicked governess Fräulein Rottenmeier (Mary Nash), Herr Sesemann (Sidney Blackmer), and all the household servants.



It is a touching scene as the little girl gazes in wonderment upon the tree, ornaments, and abundance of gifts in the house, followed by a cut to the townspeople, nuns, and law enforcement singing the Christmas carol as well. Pardon the colorization; it was the best clip I could find!



A vintage hand-tinted photo from the same scene in “Heidi”:



“The Blue Bird” (1940) begins on Christmas Eve, as Mytyl (Shirley) and her little brother (Johnny Russell) rush home for dinner after an afternoon of bird hunting. The merriment inside a mansion causes the poor little girl to stop and gawk, wishing she had all the riches that the people inside did. Regardless, she is too proud to accept cookies from the kind gentlemen who works there.



After a long journey in a dream sequence (or was it?), the children awake on Christmas morning to discover that the war has been called off and they can celebrate the holiday with their parents.



Note the festive garland around the door?



In “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944), the Morgan family celebrates the Christmas holiday by welcoming their niece Mary (Ginger Rogers) for a visit. Mary meets a handsome Sergeant (Joseph Cotten) on the train there. Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful romance, right? Not so fast, folks. Mary is on parole (for accidentally killing the man who tried to rape her) and Zach is on leave from a military hospital, attempting to adjust to his PTSD. Are they honest with each other? Of course not! However, Barbara Morgan (Shirley) inadvertently spills the beans to Zach about Barbara and…well, you’ll just have to watch it yourself. In this scene from the movie, Barbara is about to go on a date with Lieutenant Bruce, played by John Derek, who put the “Derek” in Bo Derek! You’ll note that in both “The Blue Bird” and “IBSY” Shirley’s mother is played by Spring Byington, who would eventually play Major Nelson’s mother in “I Dream of Jeannie.”



“I’ll Be Seeing You” may not be the happiest of holiday movies, but it is still worth a watch and guaranteed to draw a tear from the driest of ducts! 

Which Christmas Shirley movie will you watch this season?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley in Palo Alto

“Bright Eyes,” the movie that launched Shirley Temple’s signature song, “On The Goodship Lollipop,” was released just in time for Christmas on December 20, 1934. Today’s opening photo shows the Fox Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, and they could not be any prouder that they are featuring a Shirley movie! Check out all the posters, photos, and placards! And who ended up with these?!?



Based on their website, “Bright Eyes” ran from Sunday January 13, 1935 until Tuesday January 15. Not a very long run, but that seemed typical for most of their films. Besides the feature, you got to see a Charley Chase Comedy (“Chases of Wimpole Street”) AND a Technicolor cartoon (“The Discontented Canary”) AND Fox News events. What a value!



A closeup of the photo montage:



Most of these are in my collection, including this one with James “Jimmie” Dunn:



…and this one with Dunn and Judith Allen.



This one is dead center, which is a curious choice since it’s from her previous Fox film, “Baby Take A Bow.”



The theatre (which opened in 1925) is still around, but currently closed for repairs, reopening in July/August.

How the building looks today, according to Google streetview:



The drug store is no more; where can the residents of Palo Alto get their sickroom needs met now?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at the Holidays

I started this post when it was still Tuesday, so I'm keeping the title, dagnabbit! Here is a presentation of Shirley Temple Christmas photos to kick you all into the holiday spirit, starting off with a still from “Bright Eyes” (1934). Shirley’s character is ready for her Christmas party and all her aviator buddies are on hand with lots of gifts for her.



These two images are from 1935 and show her dressed as Santa. One of the most famous and oft-told Shirley quotes has to do with Father Christmas:

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.



A color shot of her wearing a velvet coat from “Heidi” (1937):



In “Heidi,” Shirley leads the singing of “Silent Night” with her friend Klara (Marcia Mae Jones) and Klara’s father, Herr Sesemann (Sidney Blackmer):



Who could resist giving to the Salvation Army when Shirley is ringing the bell?



Shirley puts the finishing touches on a very tall snowman!



On Christmas Eve, 1939, Shirley did a radio broadcast on CBS of “The Blue Bird.” Is that a mistletoe corsage?!?



For this 1939 publicity still, Shirley appears to be giving a sermon:



In the same 1939 Christmas series, Shirley comes down the stairs to discover the wonders of what might be under her tree:





In this 1941 photo, Shirley is shown celebrating Christmas at her Rockingham home:



I hope you enjoyed this chronological assortment of Shirley Christmas images. See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Don’t Mess With Shirley!

I know, that’s a lot of acronyms. This behind-the-scenes (aka BTS) shot from Shirley’s 1944 film, “Since You Went Away” (aka SYWA) shows everything the audiences WOULDN’T see when watching the film. This is truly a “Lights! Action! Camera!” image. From the accompanying publicity blurb:

A director affixes his signature of a scene from David O. Selznick’s forthcoming “Since You Went Away.” With straw hat and cigar is John Cromwell, director of the picture, who saved this scene for one of the last of the production. Standing beside him are three of the film’s stars, Jennifer Jones, Claudette Colbert, Shirley Temple. The scene will be just a flash in the finished product.



But what about the guy on the left, the actor who portrayed the hotel desk clerk? Poor Theodore von Eltz got left out of the description. Here are two publicity stills showing the scene where the Hilton family finds out that they have missed seeing their father on leave during World War II.



Von Eltz is nothing but a background blur in this one:



Shirley fans will recognize him as the snooty J. Wellington Smythe, who couldn’t wait to dump poor little orphaned Shirley into the streets in “Bright Eyes” (1934) once her Mom (played by Lois Wilson), his maid, got run over by a car.



Shirley finally got her revenge ten years later; don’t mess with our gal Shirley, or you’ll wind up doing bit parts! And if you think I’m kidding, look at his film roles after “Bright Eyes”; the majority are uncredited.

See more photos at my main website.