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: Claude’s Back

Veteran character actor (and Shirley co-star) Claude Gillingwater was born in Louisiana, Missouri on August 2, 1870; interestingly enough, he shared the same birthday with Myrna Loy, movie producer Jack Warner, Peter O’Toole, and Carroll O’Connor. Not bad company! But I digress…though he studied law, Claude’s heart was not into becoming an attorney. Instead, he became a traveling salesman for a wholesale firm, selling vinegar (how ironic, considering the roles he would eventually play!). At the same time, he joined a small theatrical company and was eventually discovered by Mary Pickford who had him cast in “Little Lord Fauntleroy” (1921), which launched his film career. In addition, he was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (1927). For Shirley fans he is best known as the grouch with a heart in three of her films: “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936), “Little Miss Broadway” (1938), and “Just Around the Corner” (1938). From the website Old Movie Teams comes this:

Mr. Gillingwater was in his late 60s when, in 1936, he first shared the screen with Ms. Temple, then just beginning her adolescent years. Ms. Temple found him somewhat afflicted in the amount of activity his body could endure. His affliction was not entirely from age. He had suffered a severe back injury on the set of a movie he was making just weeks prior to commencing work with Ms. Temple. The pain from that injury, subsequently coupled in 1937 with the pain of losing his wife of nearly 32 years, gave Mr. Gillingwater ample motivation for playing quite well the old curmudgeon he portrayed. Despite his injury and personal loss, or his cranky disposition in front of the camera, behind the scenes, Ms. Temple found him to be a very sweet and gentle man.

The back injury referenced occurred in February, 1936, while filming “Florida Special” (1936) at Paramount studios, he fell from a platform, resulting in a severe back injury from which he never fully recovered. His general health began to decline, which obviously interfered with his ability to work. Knowing that the back injury occurred previous to filming with Shirley, I have to wonder what moron in the publicity department requested Gillingwater to pose for this still, as well as making the poor old guy give Shirley a piggy-back ride in the film?



In “Little Miss Broadway,” Gillingwater had a small but memorable part as the cranky judge who is more than annoyed at the inanity of case that reaches his court;; that is, until spunky little Shirley arrives and presents a few musical numbers as evidence.



What a trouper this guy must have been; during the entire title number, Gillingwater sits in position as Temple and Murphy dance around him, with improbably scenery appearing and lighting up all around him. If you watch carefully, you’ll see that not only does he sit there, but he reacts in delight to the proceedings. No stunt double for this veteran!



His most endearing (and largest) role in a Temple film came with their third and final collaboration, “Just Around the Corner.” As Samuel G. Henshaw, he is mistaken by Shirley for Uncle Sam, the national personification of the U.S. government. While the resemblance is definitely there, it’s definitely a stupid plot point that tends to weaken an already tepid (yet still enjoyable) film.



Still, the interplay between these two is pure screen magic!



A little over a year after playing “Uncle Sam,” Gillingwater found life to be too unbearable. From the Spokane Daily Chronicle, November 2, 1939:

Detectives, summoned by the kindly old fellow’s housekeeper, found the body late yesterday in a chair in a closet of Gillingwater’s quiet home, a self-inflicted bullet wound through the chest. His wife died of a heart attack in 1937. A son, Claude Jr., an actor, survives.

A suicide note stated he was worried about his failing health and the possibility of becoming an invalid. He did not want to become a burden to anyone, so he chose to take his own life. The death of the 69-year-old actor was officially ruled a suicide. His cremated remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. His final film was “Cafe Society” (1939), a romantic comedy from Paramount with Fred MacMurray.

Random fact: besides being an actor as well, his son was apparently a painter. Found this one, titled “Pottery Market - Oxaca” for sale on ebay:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Just Around The Corner

“Miss Annie Rooney” from 1942 was touted as Shirley Temple’s first screen kiss; however, 1938’s “Just Around the Corner” made a somewhat valiant attempt of giving Shirley a love interest with co-star Bennie Bartlett. His character begins the film as a snobby little schoolboy, but by the time Shirley cuts off his foppish curls and introduces him to the local hoods (resulting in a black-eye), he’s a regular kid! Just look at that shiner!



And how about that dress Shirley is wearing!?! The detailing on the bodice for just a few short scenes is really incredible. Costumer Gwen Wakeling made even the most simple costumes unique.



Venerable crusty-codger Claude Gillingwater plays Bennie’s Uncle Sam, who appreciates Shirley’s character turning his nephew into a real boy and rewards her with a buck.



Can’t take my eyes off all that detailed ruching and embroidery. I wonder what happened to that dress?



It went up on the auction block in the 2015 “Love, Shirley Temple” sale. Here’s the catalog description:

Of apple green silk crepe, the dress features an extraordinary bodice of richly detailed ruching in shades of brown, yellow and white that extends from the yoke to the hips, with matching short puffed sleeves, and with a skirt of narrow pleats. The dress has an organdy collar with embroidered edging, matching sleeve cuffs, little pearl buttons, sash, and matching panties.

But Dave, who got it? Where is it now? Settle down, readers! I have the answer!



None other than my friend Melissa, aka “The Colonel” was able to get the winning bid on this beauty, and here’s a shot of where it resides today in her Shirley Shrine:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Shirley Temple and Poor Little Rich Girl

I was recently contacted by Rosemary, whose mother had worked with Shirley Temple on a number of her childhood films, specifically 1936's "Poor Little Rich Girl." The first two photos here show Rosemary's mom, who was listed in the old red Central Casting books from that era under a couple of different names, mainly Mary Ellen Purcell, Mary Ellen Bodem, and Ellen Bodem.

Mom worked a lot for various studios starting in about probably 1932 or 1933 (when she was six or seven) and continued working in the industry until about 1949, when she finally defied her mother and joined the Navy (she was only in for 9 months, then she married my dad and they made her leave, ‘cause that’s how it was in those days).



Rosemary recounts:

My mom was in several ST movies. She loved telling the story of being at ST’s 7th birthday party at the studio and ST climbing onto the table, stamping her foot, and saying “I am Shirley Temple, I am seven years old, and I can do whatever I want.”

Rosemary was hoping I could locate a decent copy of this publicity still, which I was only able to find on Corbis images. Her mom is on the right in plaid:



Keeping a lookout for this photo, I was able to acquire this behind-the-scenes shot:



Here's the publicity blurb that accompanied it:

TELLING HIM HOW — Director Irving Cummings instructs Henry Armetta in the art of grinding an organ while Shirley Temple and her playmates admire the monkey, in a scene from the 20th Century-Fox Production of Poor Little Rich Girl.



From Rosemary: Even though you can’t really see my mom (from this angle, she is hidden behind the boy on the right and the little girl stooping next to him and only a bit of her dress and hair is showing), but it is so cool to have the cameras and so in the shot. I was actually interviewed on BBC Scotland when Shirley Temple Black died. They had asked on the website if anyone had any personal connection to Shirley and I told them the birthday story. Oh, how I wish we still had all the photographs we once had of Mom, not only in the Shirley Temple movies (she was in several), but all the others (one of her with Jimmy Stewart with his arm around her shoulders – I think that was "Destry Rides Again"), on the set of “Dark Victory” with Bette Davis (Mom isn’t actually seen in that one – they cut the shot out, but when Bette is in the garden and realizes she has gone blind and hears the children laughing, Mom was one of those kids), and so many more. Tyrone Power (Mom was in "Nightmare Alley") called her “Little Brown Eyes” and she despised Ray Milland, whom she said was very rude to her! Not long ago we got my mother’s military records, which stated that in the late 40s, she was making 70 dollars a week on contract to Universal, which was pretty darn good pay in those days. She was also Yvonne De Carlo’s stand-in and double.

Recently, this Shirley Temple costume from "Poor Little Rich Girl" was auctioned off by Bonham's for $21,250.



A publicity shot of Shirley with Claude Gillingwater, wearing the jacket:



Here's the "Military Man" sequence where she wore the majorette jacket:



For some reason, "Poor Little Rich Girl" is the only Shirley Temple film that hasn't been released on DVD yet.

See more Shirley Temple photos from my collection on my main website.