Temple Tuesday: Shirley the Tomboy

Shirley Temple was the most popular movie star of the 1930s, but that didn’t keep 20th Century-Fox mogul Darryl Zanuck from worrying about retaining those audiences. In order to appeal to little boys,  her innate tomboy characteristics were brought out in “Captain January” (1936). Set at a seaside lighthouse, Shirley gets to wear boyish naval attire through most of the movie, and is even taught how to properly spit!



In this still from a deleted scene, Shirley almost gets a tattoo from John Carradine. Spitting is fine, but no tattoos for Shirley!



The dance sequences focused on athletic and daring routines, including a memorable one staged on this spiral staircase. This closeup of Shirley and costar Guy Kibbee is also from a deleted scene:



Shirley later recalled the scene where she learned her multiplication tables while doing a tap dance routine down the lighthouse spiral staircase. From her autobiography Child Star:

Learning my solo tap dance descending a forty-five-foot-high spiral staircase in a lonely lighthouse taught me not only the routine, but also how to multiply. It was all tight steps, like a ballet, a devilishly complicated task. There were three things to do at once: the taps, move down the spiral staircase a step at a time, and synchronize multiplication tables with both taps and movements.

Shirley’s character was still a bit of a helpful Hannah, but thanks to pairing her with a thoroughly unlikeable counterpart, ably played by Jerry Tucker, the audience naturally roots for Shirley! In a deleted sequence, Shirley is shown below with Tucker, selling lobsters. The prissy little brat is obviously appalled!



In one of my favorite scenes, Tucker and Temple’s characters are tested together for their scholastic aptitude. You can see the tension building between the two before the test begins:



Motion Picture magazine reported professional jealousy on Shirley’s part:

Jerry Tucker, ten-year old ‘Captain January’ juvenile, had her attention for almost a day. That was because his line-remembering agility was a slight thorn in Shirley’s side. She learned her two pages of dialogue and leapt into it like a gazelle, not permitting Director David Butler to break it into smaller scenes and thus lessen the tax upon her memory. She’d show that Jerry Tucker (who had done his scene in only two takes) that women had good memories, too!



Below, June Lang is at right, playing the part of the pretty schoolteacher:



A detailed view of Tucker and Temple. Tucker was born Jerome Harold Schatz, and garnered his first taste of fame with the “Our Gang” comedies. His movie career ended in 1941, and he went on to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War. Tucker followed his years of service with a successful career as an RCA electrical engineer, living on to the ripe old age of 91.



So as to continue the appeal for little girls, Shirley gets a cute little frock for her aptitude test, which was also sold as an outfit for the popular Ideal Toy Company Shirley Temple doll of the 1930s:



The movie also used the “Captain January” sets and costars Slim Summerville and Buddy Ebsen to promote the RCA Victor Magic Brain. Maybe this is what inspired Tucker’s later career?



From the publicity blurb on back:

Slim Summerville and Buddy Ebsen, featured players in 20th Century-Fox “Captain January” starring Shirley Temple, are seen discussing the qualities of the RCA Magic Brain Radio. Summerville and Ebsen are seafaring men in this great picture and they depend upon R.C.A. Victor Radio for their news and entertainment.

Magic Brain…sounds a bit like a pre-cursor to AI!



What a 1936 RCA Victor Magic Brain radio looks like, as seen in this photo from Facebook:



Here’s a view of what the Cunningham Radio Tubes, shown in the window, look like in color, from the Tube World Express website:



In other Shirley news, Shirley Temple expert supreme, Rita Dubas, has just released another thoroughly detailed video with EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know about the famous Shirley Temple soft drink, of which Shirley herself could not stand!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Disneyland Transportation Cutbacks: The Keel Boats

One last part to my Disneyland Transportation Cutbacks series; how could I leave out the Keel Boats? Appearing on the Rivers of America, the 38' Bertha Mae and Gullywhumper Keel Boats were based on two episodes of the Davy Crockett miniseries from the 1955 Disneyland TV show: "Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race" (November 16, 1955) and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14, 1955). The attraction was named after Mike Fink, the "King of the River" who lost the keel boat race. Once again, Walt showed his genius in reusing items already available to him by putting the props from the show into the Park. Over in Tomorrowland, it was the 20K Under the Seas exhibit. But I digress…below are Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen, who appeared in the Davy Crockett episodes as Davy and George “Georgie” Russell:



It would appear that the show also featured a third boat, the Monogahela Belle:



A close-up with Ebsen and Parker:



Some of my earliest shots of the Keel Boats at the Park are from August 1956, both featuring the Bertha Mae:





This October 1956 shows the Gullywhumper, which was much plainer in the decor department:



March 1957:



A June 1957 overhead shot taken from the Mark Twain (or the Columbia!) showing the Bertha Mae docked in Fowler’s Harbor:



This August 1958 image shows a Mike Fink popgun that was found on the deck of the Gullywhumper:



Undated 1950s:



LOVE those early Disneyland Paper Hats!



June 1965:



Some marvelous hairdos and glasses:



June 1967:



From July 17, 1977, the most recent shot in my collection of a Keel Boat still in action:



The Bertha Mae was removed in May 1997 after it capsized; shortly after that the entire attraction was 86'ed. The Bertha Mae was auctioned off on ebay for $15k and the Gullywhumper sat permanently docked in the Rivers of America. From December 2006:



May 2008:



By April 2010, the Gullywhumper got a bit of a reprieve. It was cleaned up, restored back to how it looked in the 1955 shows, and put in front of the former Burning Cabin, which was turned into Mike Fink’s home:



How it looked in May 2015:



Were they comfortable? Probably not. Did they have a high guest capacity? No. Did they add to the flavor and movement of Frontierland? DEFINITELY YES! Slowly but surely, the budget cuts have removed the energy and excitement of what Walt originally created.

See more Disneyland Keel Boat photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley's Hula Gets Cut!

In the 1936 film, “Captain January,” Shirley Temple is typically seen wearing a sailor outfit, as this Italian Booklet of the era shows. In the behind-the-scenes still shot below though, an outfit that didn’t make it into the final film was deleted for being too racy! In the first version of this outfit, Shirley wears a black bra for the hula dance she was to perform in the film:



The scene was reshot with a more modest outfit. Below is a behind-the-scenes shot showing the set on a 20th Century-Fox soundstage:



Zooming in, you can see Shirley and co-star Buddy Ebsen:



This detailed view shows where the dance was performed:



This time around, Shirley wore an undershirt beneath the combo seaweed skirt and bra/lei:



This publicity still shows the exterior of the lighthouse as it appeared in the movie. This scene was not cut, as Shirley is appropriately clothed!



 See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Happy 64th Anniversary, Disneyland!

In honor of the 64th Anniversary of Disneyland’s Grand Opening Gala, I will present a few memorable images of that historic day starting off with the christening of the Mark Twain. Art Linkletter mugs while actress Irene Dunne smashes the bottle of water from various American Rivers against the Twain.

Here Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen (aka Davy Crockett & George Russel) ride down Main Street in the Opening Day Parade:



The Mouseketeers, with Annette Funicello in the second row:



Walt Disney himself:



Walt was a busy man that day, running back and forth from Parades, the Disneyland Railroad:



to Town Square for the official opening ceremony:



to the Sleeping Beauty Castle with drawbridge being lowered for the first time to the public:



and hob-nobbing with celebrites Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher on Main Street, U.S.A.:



Congrats on your Anniversary, Disneyland - and thanks to Walt Disney for his creative vision and making this American Institution a reality!

See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Captain January

Today’s headlining Shirley Temple photo is from the 1936 film “Captain January” and shows Shirley between takes of an intricate tap number performed effortlessly on a spiral staircase. Seeing the 6 year old perform this number on film is one of the many reasons audiences embraced her. She was 100% natural without any artifice, and put a smile on the faces of those overwhelmed by the Great Depression of the 1930s. From the publicity blurb on the back of the photo:

“CAPTAIN JANUARY’S” LIGHTHOUSE - Midway on the spiral stairway are Guy Kibbee in the title role and Shirley Temple, the star, in Darryl F. Zanuck’s production of “Captain January,” for 20th Century-Fox, on a set especially built for the picture. The stairway is 31 feet high and weighs 6,000 pounds. It is used for a dance which Shirley performs descending the steps as she recites the multiplication table.



As is typical with any Shirley movie, there’s a villain. In this one, Sara Haden plays a truant officer who is hellbent on taking Shirley away from her guardian, Captain January (Guy Kibbee). Actors Slim Summerville and Kibbee are on the left; meanie Sara is on the right.



What to do? How does the poor Lighthouse keeper fight the villain?



Never fear; in a Temple movie, just when things seem darkest, a happy ending emerges, as seen here with a young and lanky Buddy Ebsen at right.



In the 2015 Love, Shirley Temple auction, four costumes from the film surfaced. The top of this sailor suit was worn during the "Codfish Ball” number and the pants were worn in the staircase sequence featured here:



The dress that belonged to her character’s mother, tailored to fit her for a comic opera trio with Summerville and Kibbee:



Shirley wears this during an exam that the truant officer has her take in the hopes that she can be proved to be dumb enough to warrant being taken away from Captain January. No such luck! Of course Shirley passes the exam with flying colors!



This beautiful dress is worn when Shirley strikes it rich, getting adopted by her wealthy Aunt:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.