Temple Tuesday: Shirley and H2O

With Southern California experiencing high temps in October, the thought of a cool dip in water sounded like the perfect idea for a Temple Tuesday post. Strangely enough, I have very few images of Shirley actually IN a swimming pool, which is why I expanded the theme to H2O overall! In the 1934 film, “Now and Forever,” Shirley meets her biological father at Lake Arrowhead. This image was shot between takes on location, with Shirley Temple and Gary Cooper.



There IS a scene at a pool in the film, with Carole Lombard and Gary, but…



Shirley doesn’t go IN the pool; she just plays nearby with a little boy.



In “The Little Colonel” (1935), Shirley actually gets wet, in this baptismal scene with Nyanza Potts and Avonne Jackson.



By the time of “Curly Top” (1935), the studio liked to have their biggest star in controlled environments, like this phony beach backdrop, accomplished with rear projection:



Can’t get the star wet; that might mean having to create an additional copy of Shirley’s outfit, or cause a time delay for filming. With René Hubert as the costume designer for “Curly Top,” that could really rack up the costs! Esther Dale reads the Sunday “Funnies” to Shirley’s character, but rest assured, the child stays dry.



In “Captain January” (1936), Shirley lives in a lighthouse and hangs out in the nearby coastal town wth Buddy Ebsen, but manages to stay out of the water.



This deleted Hula scene was filmed in a nice, controlled, studio soundstage at Fox.





A scene of Shirley in a bathtub for “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936) was cut before release. Note that her curls are still perfectly set and moisture free!



“Dimples” (1936) has Shirley at the edge of a lake fishing, but as always, not allowed IN the water. No wonder she looks a bit gloomy.



Finally, in “Just Around the Corner” (1938) Shirley gets access to a pool! Only Franklin Pangborn gets wet.



In Shirley’s private life, the cameras never seemed to catch her IN the water, just nearby, like these images of her on a Hawaiian trip, circa 1937:



…and 1939:



This series of images from her Rockingham pool, circa 1937, show a fully-clothed little girl playing with a sailboat:



Doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable!





It appears that Shirley had her own sailboat to safely keep her dry while floating in the pool:





This 1944 shoot at home with Guy Madison is about as close to “cheesecake” as Shirley would let the photographers get:



The two made the tepid “Honeymoon” (1946), which had Shirley appear in a bathing costume, displaying a two-piece suit for a few seconds.



This publicity still below shows Shirley in the water with Franchot Tone after she (aka the stunt double) dives into the pool. The final film doesn't show the two in the pool together.



Shirley DOES get a pool scene with Guy Madison in “Honeymoon,” but she is fully clothed:



Final H2O image of the day is from August 1957. Shirley is at her Atherton home with son Charlie and daughter Lori. Even a blowup pool like this would be heaven on a day like today!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Paramount Set Stills: Now and Forever, Pt. 1

Paramount’s 1934 production, “Now and Forever” (originally titled “Honor Bright” and then “You Belong to Me”) starred Carole Lombard, Shirley Temple, and Gary Cooper. Lombard and Cooper were already big stars; Temple had just exploded onto the scene with her captivating performance in “Little Miss Marker,” also a Paramount production. I am always amazed at the care and detail that went into creating the sets for these films from the golden age of Hollywood. The first production still shows the Sino Manor Hotel lobby located in Shanghai:



As you can see by the board, the film was still being referred to as “You Belong to Me”:



This screenshot reveals that the black area was used for a rear projection effect, thus eliminating having to build the rest of the set. Smart!



Another view of the lobby desk:



Look at all the branded materials on the desk, created just for this brief scene:



The hallway of the hotel, which does not appear in the final film:




This detailed exterior shows the shop where Cooper prints some bogus business cards:



This publicity still shows way more of the set than we see in the final film:



In this office, Cooper sets up shop to milk hotel customers for their outstanding hotel bills so that he can use the money to fund his extravagant trips with Lombard.



How it looked in the film:





The Stateroom occupied by Cooper and Lombard:



This area is barely seen in the final film:



…and yet someone had to go to the trouble of putting together Lombard’s luggage. Note her hat on the couch:



In a 1930s movie to get by with the recently created production code, separate beds were a necessity!



This is all we get to see of the room where “the magic” happens! The status of the relationship between Lombard and Cooper had to be solidified as a marriage, rather than just lovers, in order to appease the censors.



In France, Lombard returns to her hotel and receives a wire from Cooper: 



The corresponding production still:



A detail of the signs on the wall, that probably not a single movie-goer would notice back in 1934:



This little cafe is not in the final film:



It was used for an ultimately deleted scene between Jameson Thomas and Carole Lombard, who were in a relationship before she met Cooper.



More set stills from “Now and Forever” to come!

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Lake Arrowhead

“Honor Bright” was the title of Jack Kirland and Melville Baker’s story upon which “Now and Forever” (1934) was based. Fox loaned Shirley Temple to Paramount, receiving $3,500 a week as part of a two-picture deal that began with the blockbuster hit “Little Miss Marker.” Shirley had a good rapport with costar Gary Cooper, who played her father. Henry Hathaway, the director, had worked with Shirley before in “To the Last Man” (1933), starring Randolph Scott. Shirley’s character, Penny, is introduced to us, playing by the lake. Lake Arrowhead was used for these outdoor scenes.



Cooper’s character is a con man with very little morality. To raise some much needed cash for his extravagant lifestyle with his girlfriend/wife (it’s not really clear through most of the movie), he decides to sell his rights of guardianship to his father-in-law. Once he meets darling Shirley, he changes his mind and takes her with him, attempting to form a family trio. The film is an uneven dark mess, with slight amounts of humor and quite a bit of unpleasantness to it. The review from The Hollywood Reporter, July 20, 1934:

Cooper, [Carole] Lombard and Temple form a trio that’s hard to beat for a box-office combination right at this moment. They are the sure-fire sales argument and they won’t fail. The picture itself is mild entertainment, frequently bathed in tears, that has a few moments which lift it into the “fair” picture class. It is the story of Jerry, Toni and Pennie. Jerry is the crook who wants to reform eventually, but circumstance forces him to do one more job that is literally his finish. Toni is the gal who has given up Society for Jerry and who cannot ever bring herself to give up Jerry. Pennie is Jerry’s child, who succeeds in reforming him, but at the same time is the cause of his untimely death. Of course, that’s reducing it to its essentials. The story has got its moments of grace and good cheer, but on the whole it is a vaguely motivated, rather overly-sentimental tale, with a sudden melodramatic ending, that seems to have missed its point in concentrating on childish cuteness.



Here are some behind-the-scenes shots of Cooper and Temple at Lake Arrowhead.



Director Hathaway sits on the dock, his back to Shirley:



You can see Shirley looking up adoringly at Cooper:



Shirley puts on a sweater to stay warm between takes, while drinking a glass of milk:



Below is a shot of Shirley and her mother during filming. The accompanying publicity blurb:

CHILD ACTRESS STUDIES ON LOCATION

Little Shirley Temple, sensational child film player, recites her lines to her mother before facing the camera while on location at Lake Arrowhead, southern California resort, with a motion picture company. 6/26/1934



While it is a bit of a hot mess, mainly due to a protracted battle with the censors over  the unsavory storyline, it does have its moments, thanks to the chemistry between the three leads.

See more Shirley Temple “Now and Forever” photos at my main website.