Temple Tuesday: Shirley, John, John, Allan, Lucy, and Sid

Shirley gently caresses the chin of her then-husband, John Agar, in this 1949 image taken on the set of “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” released by Republic Pictures on December 14, 1949. John Wayne was the star of the film. He had previously costarred with both John and Shirley in “Fort Apache” (1948):



“Iwo Jima” was directed by Allan Dwan, who also directed Shirley in “Heidi” (1937), “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938), and “Young People” (1940). Dwan is seen standing behind actress Helen Westley during the filming of “Rebecca” just out of the view of the camera:



John Wayne received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” Although he lost to Broderick Crawford (“All The King’s Men”), he DID get his footprints and handprints placed at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in conjunction with the opening of the film there. 



From the John Wayne Facebook page I found the above shot along with this info:

Duke is hoisted up by a Marine to his right and Sid Grauman, owner of TCL Chinese Theatres​ ( Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) as he imprints his foot in the courtyard of the Hollywood landmark #onthisday in 1950 [January 25]. Duke’s performance in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) earned him this piece of immortality, and the role remains a favorite of fans and critics alike. The cement was mixed with sand from the beaches of Iwo Jima.

Here’s Shirley getting her own piece of immortality at Grauman’s fifteen years before Wayne:



One of the most famous episodes of “I Love Lucy” dealt with Lucy stealing Wayne’s cement slab from Grauman’s so that she could take it home as a souvenir. In a two-episode arc, it originally aired on October 3, 1955 (“Lucy Visits Grauman’s”) and October 10 (“Lucy & John Wayne”).

 

Watching the episode, you can tell that a soundstage set stood in for the real Grauman’s, and that a prop was created in place of using the actual cement slab. The prop came up for sale at Heritage Auctions in 2016.



From the auction listing:

A John Wayne Prop 'Grauman's Chinese Theatre' Signature/Footprint Slab from "I Love Lucy." CBS Television, 1951-1957. Made of Styrofoam and fiberglass, painted gray to simulate concrete, with text reading "John Wayne" (though funnily enough, not the star's real signature) above boot footprints, with purposeful distressing on the surface and around all edges, with a cracked upper right corner; used in the hysterical 1st and 2nd Episodes of Season 5 -- titled 'Lucy Visits Grauman's' and 'Lucy & John Wayne,' original air dates October 3 and 10, 1955 -- when the Red Head steals the Duke's footprints from Grauman's only to have wackiness ensue; a number of these props were made for the two-parter, four of which are actually seen at the end of Episode 2 when Wayne walks in to the "Ricardo's" hotel room carrying what appears to be this exact one! (Please note this piece is dirtied and somewhat stained due to age.) 24" x 36".  PROVENANCE: The current owner, Ardis Lichtgarn, obtained this piece directly from Wayne's publicist, Beverly Barnett, who gave it to her at the 1955 wrap party for this two-part episode which took place at Desilu Studios. Barnett had invited Lichtgarn to the party specifically so she could meet Wayne, but the star left early so she missed him. As a consolation, Barnett gave her this prop which he said was meant for Wayne, but because he was gone, she got it instead! Included is a signed letter from Lichtgarn outlining how she obtained this piece 61 years ago. 

The prop sold for $22,500. That’s an expensive piece of styrofoam! Here’s a vintage closeup of the actual cement slab at Grauman’s from the Calisphere site:



In this previously posted shot, Wayne has a chuckle during this reunion with Shirley in 1976. George Burns and a dentally-challenged Shelley Winters are on the left.



Here’s an image of the Grauman’s entrance that I snapped in 2014:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Baby Jane Connection

The classic camp horror film “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962) has a number of Shirley connections. Who knew? At the beginning of the film, we see two little girls in a theatre back in 1917. One is Jane, a famous child star with big blonde curls (more Pickford than Temple, though); the other is her sister Blanche, the wide-eyed and not-so-inwardly jealous one with dark hair.

Julie Allred had her one and only screen appearance in this film as little Jane, apparently due to her family’s religious beliefs. On the flip side, Gina Gillespie (young Blanche), already had quite a healthy number of screen credits by the time “Baby Jane” was made, including two on “The Shirley Temple Show.” Born September 20, 1951, she is the sister of ex-Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespie.

Her first appearance on “The Shirley Temple Show” was in 1960, playing the title character in the “Madeline” episode.

Imogene Coca costarred, doing a beautiful job as Miss Clavel.

Gina’s second appearance was in the January 8, 1961 “Pippi Longstocking” episode. Gina has the distinction of being the first to play Astrid Lindgren’s character in a television or movie adaptation.

And here we have adult Blanche, played by Joan Crawford. Probably the one time you’d ever see this actress looking anything less than glamorous:

Back in 1938, Joan had visited Shirley on the set of “Little Miss Broadway,” giving the star a box of chocolates:

Anna Lee plays the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Bates in “Baby Jane”:

Back in 1948, she costarred with Shirley in the John Ford Western, “Fort Apache.” Irene Rich is the actress in the center:

And there you have it. I didn’t really see any significant connection between Shirley and Bette Davis; perhaps she had heard Vivien Leigh’s famous quote about her when she declined to replace Crawford in “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”:

“I could almost stand to look at Joan Crawford's face at 6am, but not Bette Davis.”

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley and Henry

Henry Fonda looks very pleased to be posing with Shirley on the set of “Captain January,” Shirley’s first film of 1936. Stamped April 23, 1936 (Shirley’s birthday), the publicity blurb on the back states:

HE KEPT HIS PROMISE — So Henry Fonda dropped in to see Shirley Temple work in “Captain January,” having made the promise when he left the 20th Century-Fox studios after completing a picture some time ago.

Was the promise to Shirley or Studio Execs? Inquiring minds want to know how this all came about! I was hoping Shirley would have mentioned Fonda in her autobiography, “Child Star,” but no such luck. The only mentions of him are in regards to him making a personal appearance at one of the nationwide premieres of “The Blue Bird” in 1940 and costarring with her in 1948’s “Fort Apache.”

How the two looked twelve years later in a publicity still from that famous John Ford movie, where Fonda played her father:



I was hoping that maybe there’d be a shot on the web of Shirley with Jane Fonda; instead, I came up with this info: Jane and Shirley were 11th cousins, making her and Henry 10th cousins! I wonder if Shirley knew?

See more Shirley photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Guy Goes Dress Shopping

In the 1936 movie “Captain January,” Guy Kibbee’s character takes Shirley shopping for a new dress so that she can look her best for her school examination. However, the poor guy has no money and has to borrow it from the local widow to pay for it.



How’d he do? Obviously not too bad, as you can see in this publicity still where Shirley is wearing the dress. FYI: of course she passed the exam with flying colors, too!



The dress was also copied by the Ideal Toy Company and sold with the ever popular 1930’s Shirley Temple dolls.



Six years later in “Miss Annie Rooney,” Kibbee plays Shirley’s grandfather. It’s like déjà vu all over again. Shirley needs a dress for her society debut at her boyfriend’s birthday party, and poor Guy...hardly any money. He has to pay for the dress with money from his pension fund. Was it worth it?



Of course! Shirley is a hit and lands herself a rich boyfriend who probably put Guy up in a rich folk’s retirement community!



Another six years go by and Shirley and Guy costar in a third film together: John Ford’s “Fort Apache.” I’ll just bet you there was a deleted scene where Guy took Shirley shopping for this blue striped number!



Thumbs up for Guy Kibbee; his characters may have been poor, but they were certainly rich in fashion taste!

See more Shirley photos at my main website.