Temple Tuesday: Shirley's Lullaby

In this photo stamped September 22, 1936, Shirley Temple meets Rosa Ponselle. From the accompanying caption:

TWO PRIMA DONNAS MEET AND PLAY

Shirley Temple, star of motion pictures, and Rosa Ponselle, famous grand opera star rehearsing an Italian lullaby in Miss Temple’s bungalow at the 20th Century-Fox studios. The two great artists entertained each other with their favorite songs and when Miss Ponselle sang the lullaby to Shirley she immediately wanted to learn it to sing to her dolls. Now it is one of her favorite numbers.

Ponselle attempted a career in Hollywood, making screen tests for MGM and Paramount, but that was as far as things went. She retired about one year after the above photo was taken, settling down with her husband Carle Jackson at her estate, Villa Pace, located near Baltimore.

Since one photo for Temple Tuesday would not be enough, here are a few other shots of Shirley at the piano, starting with a behind-the-scenes image from “Young People” (1940) with Charlotte Greenwood:



Shirley with an unidentified woman, circa 1940:



Also 1940:



At her home on Rockingham, 1943:



The songs on her piano included “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca” and “I’ll Be Seeing You.”



An alternate shot from the same shoot:



Last but most important of all, the image that began it all. The very first time I ever saw Shirley Temple was in this scene from “Curly Top” (1935), where she danced on top of a white piano being played by John Boles. The rest is history!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley and the Fools

In honor of April Fools’ Day, today’s post shows Shirley getting fooled or her costars portraying a fool, beginning with “Just Around the Corner” (1938). In the plot of this musical comedy, Shirley mistakes wealthy businessman Samuel G. Henshaw (Claude Gillingwater) for the beleagured Depression-weary Uncle Sam.



In order to help poor old “Uncle Sam,” Shirley stages a benefit in his honor, making him the laughing stock of New York City.



When all is figured out, the benefit goes on as planned and Henshaw single-handedly saves the world from the Depression. Sound far-fetched and stretched? It sure is, but somehow Shirley makes it all work out. She may have been fooled, but she was definitely no fool!



In “The Little Princess” (1939), Shirley Temple’s costar, Arthur Treacher, portrays the Court Jester/Fool in a dream sequence.



It is fairly hilarious to see the typically dignifed-butler-portraying Teacher in satin and tights, prancing around with his jester puppet.



He may have portrayed stiffs, but Treacher knew how to do a good turnout, as seen by his pose below!



Treacher’s faded tunic came up for sale in the Debbie Reynolds auction:

Arthur Treacher court-jester tunic designed by Gwen Wakeling from the Shirley Temple movie, "The Little Princess," 1939. SOLD FOR $650. Veteran British character actor Arthur Treacher plays a frustrated ex-vaudevillian forced into subservience to his cruel sister running the girls boarding school which Shirley Temple attends. This humorous split-color satin jester’s outfit by Gwen Wakeling is worn by Treacher to great effect in Shirley’s dream fantasy number in The Little Princess. United Costumers label inside reads, “ARTHUR TREACHER B931”. The special blue dye for costumes in 3-strip Technicolor films is one of the most fragile, and has here faded to aubergine; else, with minor handling and aging, Very Good overall.



His tights appeared at a later date. Hard to believe they survived all this time!



A few screenshots from the lavish Technicolor© production:



My favorite Treacher line from this dream sequence referring to Mary Nash’s evil character:

Listen to the old grand-mommy,
You’re a nasty peeping tommy!



In “Young People” (1940), as Shirley’s father, Jack Oakie portrays the biggest fool of them all.



Blustery and a bit full of himself, he is the butt of every joke. Below, daughter (Shirley) and wife (Charlotte Greenwood) have to remind him that their dressing room is in the opposite direction of where he is heading.



When the family retires from showbiz to settle down in a hick farming community, they are not readily accepted by the conservative townfolk, who appoint Oakie is a one-man-chamber-of-commerce as a joke. The problem is, Oakie thinks it’s for real.



When Oakie’s character helps the kids stage a somewhat raunchy musical number for the townsfolk, the joke is revealed and the town spinster reveals to him exactly what everyone thinks of him.



Sad to find out that her dad has been made out to be a fool, Shirley drowns her sorrows in multiple sodas. 



Fear not, as Shirley never stays down for long. Dad saves the kids from certain death during a hurricane and is hailed a hero. The family ends the film on a high note by entertaining a more receptive community with a musical number.



Remember any other fools from Shirley’s films?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley Returns to Fox

In November 1948, Darryl F. Zanuck and 20th Century Fox had a little “Welcome Home, Shirley” party at the Commissary, in honor of Shirley returning to the lot after an eight-year absence. She was about to begin filming “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College.” Here, Zanuck pins an orchid on Shirley, and then welcomes her co-star Clifton Webb:



Jane Withers, who played Shirley’s bratty nemesis in “Bright Eyes” showed up with husband William Moss:



...and how the two girls looked fourteen years earlier. My how they have grown!



In her autobiography Child Star, Shirley wrote that her mother elected to skip the party for a visit to the doctor, but as you can see from this photo, both her parents attended, despite the differences they had with Zanuck towards the end of Shirley’s contract at Fox.



No idea who these folks are, and from the look on Shirley’s face, she probably ducked away soon after this photo was shot.



Shirley examines a box of roses with former co-star George Murphy; not sure who the other young lady is, but it doesn’t appear to be the woman he was married to at the time.



George and Shirley a decade beforehand (note Claude Gillingwater, who played the judge) in “Little Miss Broadway”:



Former costars Charlotte Greenwood and C. Aubrey Smith gave Shirley a warm welcome:



Jack Oakie, Shirley, and Charlotte Greenwood from eight years before in “Young People”:



Shirley and Smith in 1937’s “Wee Willie Winkie”:



Shirley and her stand-in, Mary Lou Isleib, surround their former schoolteacher, Frances Klamt:



Shirley and Mary Lou back in 1938 on the set of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm”:



The uncomfortable shot of the evening goes to…Richard Widmark and Shirley!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Evoking A Ghost

In the 1940 Shirley Temple movie, “Young People,” Darryl Zanuck wanted to bring back the ghost of little Shirley by inserting clips from her earlier movies. Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood play Joe and Kit Ballantine, two vaudevillians who end up adopting little Wendy (Shirley), a tot left to them by very dear friends who had recently gone to that great stage up in the sky.

Once Wendy is old enough, she joins the act, beginning with this hula number.



For the long shot, a double was used quite convincingly. Sadly, I could not find out who played little Shirley. IMDB has just about every unbilled extra listed save for this one.



When the camera cuts in closer, the audience is treated to a clip of Shirley from the 1935 movie “Curly Top.” The production team did a very nice job of making the new footage blend seamlessly with the old.



Not so much with the next number.



The Ballantines satirize Shirley’s hit “Baby Take A Bow” by singing how much they can’t stand each other. Their number is mildly comical...and I’m being kind here.



Note the dancing ladies that are part of the curtain:



Kit dances off the stage and Shirley’s double enters stage right:



The closeup takes us back to 1934 Shirley, when she first wowed audiences in “Stand Up And Cheer”:



Back to the dancing ladies on the curtain...this was Fox’s way of attempting to simulate the real dancing girls that were part of the background in the original scene. Even as a little kid, I wasn’t fooled by this cheap shenanigan!



For the next number which brings us up to present day (circa 1940), Shirley is all grown up!



See more Shirley Temple in “Young People” photos at my main website.