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.

Mary and Gary at The Derby

This February 1933 vintage shot shows Hollywood legends Gary Cooper and Mary Pickford out on the town one evening. From the vintage publicity blurb:

Mary and Gary

Mary Pickford and Gary Cooper arriving at the Beverly Hills Brown Derby, one of the smartest restaurants in the film capital. The close friendship of these two is traditional in Hollywood, Gary escorting Mary about when Douglas Fairbanks is off on one of his many trips. 2/6/33

Many trips? Without Mary? Sounds like code to me.



Just in case you want to see the headlines of 1933:



Fights Nurses? Kills Doctor? Sounds just as sensational as today’s “news.” See…things really haven’t changed that much.

See more Classic Movie Star photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: You Belong To Me

If the title of the Shirley Temple film “You Belong To Me” doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because it was changed before release to “Now and Forever.” Need more proof? How about this vintage still labeled as such:

The photo shows a deleted scene set in Paris between Carole Lombard’s character, Toni Day, and her husband, played by English film actor Jameson Thomas (better known as King Westley in “It Happened One Night). If you thought Gary Cooper played her husband, well…you’re kind of right. In the original treatment, which was written just as the Hays Code was being put together, Cooper and Lombard are living in sin and she still has a husband in Paris (Thomas).

Joseph Breen and company were not crazy about that and pressured Paramount to ditch the hubby and make Cooper and Lombard a respectable married couple. Breen also didn’t like Shirley’s attempt at suicide. What?!? Yup… that was in an outline from February 22, 1934:

That outline also included the original “Thelma and Louise” ending:

What the heck was Paramount thinking?!? This is one instance of where it was probably a good thing that Will Hays and Joseph Breen came along to see what the movie studios were doing. Based on the title and other things that were in the script, it would appear that the main emphasis of the film was to be the unhealthy and co-dependent relationship, between Cooper and Lombard. 

Shirley offing herself?!? Please tell me that wasn’t filmed. 

See more Shirley photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Uncle Lady and Now and Forever

Charlotte Granville played the wealthy Mrs. Crane in Shirley’s 1934 Paramount film “Now and Forever.” Not your typical Temple vehicle, it has a number of unsavory characters. Mrs. Crane takes a fancy to Shirley (as most of the older crusty characters in Temple films do) and wants to buy her from her father (Gary Cooper), a lazy get-rich-quick schemer who has recently taken custody of his daughter to spite to his father-in-law. Ick. Unlike most of the codgers that Shirley charms, this one never thaws. I affectionately refer to this very brusque character as “Uncle Lady.” Granville portrays her as all-business.

I could find very little about the British actress. She began her film career in 1917 with “The Red Woman” and was best known for “Werewolf of London” (1935). She was married to Major Robert Follett Muter Foster Millington Synge, the uncle of John Millington Synge, the Irish playwright. The two had one child together and were eventually divorced. She died on July 8, 1942 in Los Angeles at the age of 82.



And that’s about it for Charlotte. In other “Now and Forever” news, Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) recently came across this photo showing a deleted scene. Most likely it’s shortly before the ending of the film, when Penny’s (Shirley) father (Cooper) and his wife Toni (Carole Lombard) drop Penny off at the train station, giving up custody of the little girl to Mrs. Crane. Double ick.



Although Lombard and Temple are both wearing coats that cover their outfits, the hat Shirley wears is the same one Cooper has jokingly placed on his head in the deleted scene still.





The tie and jacket on Cooper matches on both, too.



While we’re on the subject of jackets: the blog Collecting Classic Hollywood reveals a blazer that Cooper wore in the film. It came from the widow of someone who worked with Cooper for many years.





Made of a sturdy wool, it wasn’t a studio or costume-company created piece. It's a one-of-a-kind made for Cooper exclusively by his tailor, Basil Durant. Durant began his career as a dancer; he later ran a tailoring business called Basil Inc. in Manhattan. His clients also included General Motors executive Harley Earl, the designer of the Chevrolet Corvette. A publicity shot from the film showing Cooper in the blazer:



Back to “Uncle Lady.” These two shots from the end of the film say it all. There is no heartfelt emotion or any kind of sympathy shown for Penny’s parents as the old dowager takes the kid away from them to board the train to Lord-knows-where.



One wonders what her plans for the curly-haired tyke are.



I think a call to Child Protective Services would have been a good idea.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.