Temple Tuesday: Rebecca Restored!

Very quietly, it was revealed that Shirley Temple’s 1938 musical comedy, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” has been restored. Those that live near the Orinda Theatre can view it on the “big” screen on September 5 at 1pm, according to the theatre’s website:

A new chapter unfolds for cinema enthusiasts: We have secured an extraordinary partnership to showcase a Disney Restorations Series. Starting in 2026, the first Saturday of each month will bring an amazing opportunity to experience some of cinema's most treasured classics on the big screen, right here at the Historic Orinda Theatre. This series celebrates a milestone in film preservation, with the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures' Restoration and Library Management Department sharing their remarkable work, including restored classics from Disney, Selznick International, 20th Century-Fox, Fox Film Corp., and 20th Century Pictures. Many of these cinematic gems have been absent from theaters for years, making this year-long showcase a groundbreaking event for Northern California, with numerous premiere presentations of these restored masterpieces. We will be opening the series with the 1950 Animated Classic, Cinderella! Hosted by Film Critic, Matias Bombal

The Orinda, just under seventeen miles outside of San Francisco, was designed by architect Alexander Aimwell Cantin, are right up my alley. If only it were closer! Photos below were found online:



From the exterior signage:

The Orinda Theatre opened its doors in 1941 and is the city’s most prominent visual landmark with its signature dorsal fin marquee. It is a textbook example of Streamlined Moderne Architecture, a late type of Art Deco design inspired by structures built for the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. The building includes Carrara glass and stainless steel finishes, with the interior theatre walls and foyer ceiling painted in classic murals.

Back to Shirley…I was curious what “restoration” meant in this case. No information was given as to whether the efforts sourced the original negative, a vintage print, or…? Due to “vault fires” and the natural aging of nitrate film, many of Shirley’s early films don’t look so good. “Rebecca” has always looked pretty decent in its VHS and DVD releases, so for this one to be the first chosen for a restoration effort seems like Disney (who now owns her childhood catalog) was seeking some low hanging fruit, or perhaps because it is one of Shirley’s least controversial movies. Whatever the reasoning is, I am very happy that Disney is actually doing something positive with Shirley, who has been buried since they took over the 20th Century-Fox classic catalog of films. Below, Shirley helps “Titanic” dish Gloria Stuart bake some cookies in “Rebecca”:



Kevin Schaeffer, the current Director of Restoration & Library Management for the Walt Disney Corporation, posted this on his LinkedIn account:

Incredibly proud and excited that our restoration of the Shirley Temple classic "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938) is premiering at the Venice International Film Festival today. Congratulations to our Restoration Manager Nikki Jee, Natalie Altounian, our partners at The Film Foundation, and the artists at Cineric Inc and Audio Mechanics for their great work.

When using AI to find more information, I learned just how faulty it can be. It apparently mixed up information for the Mary Pickford version, and also freely takes information about negative restoration and haphazardly paired it with “Rebecca.” One should ALWAYS check the sources for AI and follow-up with more questions. Below, Shirley’s “Rebecca” costars Randolph Scott and Jack Haley (best known as the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz”) have a discussion:



Franklin Pangborn (below) has a memorable bit towards the end of the film. Few played the prissy/fussy comedic characters like he did; he was often a foil for W. C. Fields (“International House,” “The Bank Dick,” and “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break”).



Below is a still from a deleted musical number with Shirley, Slim Summerville, Bill Robinson, and some of the other fieldhands from Sunnybrook Farm. If only this sequence survived!



In other Shirley news, it appears that the rest of her autobiography might finally see the light of day. Hollywood gossipy Deadline, quietly broke this story last October (which was briefly regurgitated this March on the official Shirley Temple website):

Marty Tudor has been working with the family estate of Shirley Temple and will have access to the rights of the child actress-turned Ghana and Czechoslovakia ambassador across streaming, film, stage and more. There are also two unpublished autobiographies by Temple which Tudor is helping the estate get published. Tudor is an industry vet, who managed the careers of Paula Abdul and Jon Cryer, and of late has been behind a series of Hologram concert shows starting in 2018 with performances by the late Maria Callas, Roy Orbison, and Whitney Houston. His Orbison-Buddy Holly hologram tour was booked for 58 dates while Houston’s was a 36-date tour in Europe. Tudor’s credits include the Cryer movie Hiding Out, the 1995 TV movie Sahara, the 2004 TV special Carol Burnett: Let’s Bump Up the Lights, and the 2005 Disney TV movie, Once Upon a Mattress starring Burnett, Zooey Deschanel and Tracey Ullman. “There’s so much more to American icon Shirley Temple’s life that people aren’t aware of. She was the U.S. delegate in the United Nations, a female Ambassador to Ghana and Czechslovakia, she was a breast cancer survivor, she fought sexism as the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol. What appeals to me, as a father of a daughter, is that Shirley continues to be an amazing inspiration and role model for young girls. We see a lot of kid actors who go the wrong way, she did not. There’s an amazing human being here with a big story who gave back as opposed to a pop star in it for the glory,” Tudor tells Deadline. The Temple Black family tells Deadline in a statement: “As the 100th anniversary of our Mom’s birthday approaches, we are so pleased at the idea of sharing with the world the lesser-known second half of her incredible life story. She often observed that ‘the Little Girl opened the door’, but then our Mom stepped through it, confident, courageous, authentic – all grown up.”

This is a curious story as Disney/Fox owns the rights to most of Shirley’s well-known childhood titles. Most likely the movies the story refers to are her Baby Burlesks and the 1950s/1960s Storybook anthology television series. Below, a 32 year old Shirley plays a little girl magically transformed into a boy in “The Land of Oz” (1960) segment of “The Shirley Temple Show.” She is shown with Jonathan Winters:



A brave Shirley even tackled the role of “The Little Mermaid” on her series. In a bad blonde wig, Shirley was very miscast in this part. Below, Shirley and costar Torin Thatcher: 



The one comment left on the Deadline story was hilarious:

They’re gonna AI Shirley age 10.

A hologram concert with Shirley? Oh my…

See more photos at my main website.

Wasn’t I a dish?

In the 1997 blockbuster, “Titanic,” Gloria Stuart portrayed Rose, a centenarian who survived the sinking disaster of the luxury liner in the title of the film. Stuart was 86 when she filmed the role. As her character looks at a sketch that was drawn of her aboard the ship, she exclaims, “Wasn’t I a dish?”



Why yes, Gloria; you really were! In the 1936 film “Poor Little Rich Girl,” Stuart was given the thankless task of playing the romantic lead in this Shirley Temple musical. She wasn’t given much to do except look pretty in the few scenes that she had.



Above she is shown with Michael Whalen, who portrayed Shirley’s father in the film. Below, with Claude Gillingwater and Shirley.



In a 1996 interview Gloria had this to say about working with Shirley:

“My agent called me one day and said, ‘You’re going to make a Shirley Temple film!’ I said, ‘Oh no!’ He said, ‘Gloria, it’s wonderful!’ I said ‘What’s wonderful about it?’ W.C. Fields said never be in a movie or on the stage with dogs or children. It’s a losing battle. So I asked to see Darryl Zanuck and I said, ‘Mr. Zanuck, I’m a dramatic actress. It’s not for me.’ He said, ‘Gloria, you could be in film for the next ten years or on the stage and nobody would ever see you or hear about you, but if you’re in a Shirley Temple film, millions of people will see you.’ She was really a get-away girl. You watched her and she was so completely composed and happy and talented and up up up. She was a real tonic. She was a miracle. Indescribable. It’s impossible that one child was all those wonderful things but she was.”



Stuart reconnected with Shirley sixty years later at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. “I was sitting at the banquet afterwards and she came up and put her arms around me,” Stuart recalled. “I was the only one left that she worked with.”



Perhaps in a nod to her less-than-enthusiastic response to playing alongside Temple, studio head Darryl Zanuck had the publicity machine crank out some fashion shots of Stuart. This caption accompanied the below image:

Three high fashion notes of the spring season, a strictly tailored suit, men’s wear fabric, and the newly favored shade of grey striped in chalk white, are incorporated in this costume worn by Gloria Stuart playing in “The Poor Little Rich Girl” for 20th Century-Fox. Horizontal bands of the material finish the seams of the skirt and the slot pockets, evidence of the meticulous tailoring of this suit. The blouse of white pique has a pleated frill for collar and closing. A grey felt hat and grey suede accessories complete the outfit.



Neither one of these outfits were visible in the final film.



Stuart co-starred with Temple again in 1938’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” alongside Randolph Scott. At least she was given more to do in this film and a number of comic zingers which she delivered perfectly.



Yes Gloria - you were a dish!

See more photos at my main website.

Temple's Turkeys

Temple Tuesday is two days late, but these photos go perfectly with today’s celebration of Thanksgiving. Whether you get riled up about the origins of the celebration or not, EVERYONE would benefit from slowing down and taking at least one day to focus on what they can be thankful for. Just getting the disclaimer out of the way first, folks, cause that’s how I operate.

Photo #1 is from 1935 and shows Shirley in the duds that she wore during the orphanage sequences from “Curly Top.” Even though the film was shot from May 25, 1935 through July 10, 1935, the publicity department was thinking ahead by shooting photos that could be used during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. From the accompanying (now) gruesome caption:

“You eat now, and I’ll eat Thanksgiving Day,” seems to be the idea Shirley Temple, little Fox Film star, has as she watches one of her turkeys go after the corn supply.



One of Shirley’s semi-notorious stories from her childhood film career took place during the filming of “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” Early in the film, Rebecca (Shirley) goes to visit neighbor Tony Kent (Randolph Scott). Her cousin Gwen (Gloria Stuart) eventually joins the two as Rebecca dines on some turkey that Tony’s butler (Slim Summerville) has served the little girl. The photos above and below were taken during the filming of this sequence.



Shirley’s brother Jack was hired as third assistant director, to which she would later say, he “spent time thinking up things to take care of, one of which was me.” Director Allan Dwan fired him after a dispute over a roasted turkey prop. The turkey had been sprayed with insecticide and Jack loudly ordered her not to eat it, which she had no intention of doing. Out of spite, she popped the turkey in her mouth, prompting her brother to shake her to dislodge it. “Despite a slightly bitter taste, it was good turkey and my disobedience was immensely satsisfying.” Below, Shirley calms down between takes of the sequence by doing a little crafting:



In the 1938 film “Just Around the Corner,” Shirley and Bennie Bartlett share some turkey in the kitchen as their characters play matchmakers for their family. Do their attempts work? Of course they do!



The film was released just in time for Thanksgiving, on November 11, 1938. From the Sunday, November 20, 1938 Milwaukee Sunday News-Sentinel:

Hollywood’s little dream-girl-come-true (Shirley Temple, of course) is pictured having a dream of and for herself…and Shirley’s vision should come true Thanksgiving Day. As for the forthcoming holiday, seems to us Shirley has quite a few things for which to be thankful. Only 9 1/2 years old, she has earned a sizable fortune…should be able to enjoy a bright and bountiful future. On the other hand, millions of moviegoers might well remember to be appreciative of the happiness and cheer she has given them from the screen. Then there are the thousands outside the motion picture industry for whom her fame has been a source of livelihood…employees of doll manufacturers and children’s clothing concerns, etc. Doesn’t the title of her next picture, “The Little Princess,” fit Shirley to a ‘T’? The film a 20th Century-Fox production, will be her first full-length Technicolor vehicle.



The dress Shirley wears while carving the turkey was seen in “Just Around the Corner” and is known as the Lucky Penny dress, named after her character in the film, Penny Hale.



“The Blue Bird” (1940) was shot from September to October of 1939, so it stands to reason that Shirley would be photographed carving yet another turkey, wearing her peasant garb from the movie.

After a brief retirement in 1940, Shirley was back in the kitchen with a turkey again in 1941 during the filming of MGM’s “Kathleen.” These publicity shots were taken in Shirley’s Brentwood kitchen.











In the above and below shots, you can see the Morgantown Ruby Red goblets on the top shelf, as Shirley happily pretends to munch on her Flintstone-sized turkey leg.



I hope you all have a joyous, reflective, and relaxing day. I’ll be out this morning running the Turkey Trot, attempting to earn whatever calories I take in! And while I’m at it, I’d like to wish a VERY happy birthday to faithful Daveland reader and stellar Shirley’s Army member, SJR!!
 
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Tales from Rebecca

I am a behind-the-scenes info nut, as it adds an extra dimension of fun when re-watching my favorite movies (which I tend to do). Here are a few fun tidbits from the set of Shirley’s 1938 film, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Apparently, the Quaker Oats Company objected when they learned that there was to be a song in the film about “crackly corn flakes” since Shirley was under contract to them to advertise their product, Quaker’s Puffed Wheat.



The company felt that if the song were included, they would look ridiculous, as Temple would seem to be promoting the competition, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Because of this, Producer Darryl Zanuck ordered the title changed to “Crackly Grain Flakes.”



In another scene, Aunt Miranda (Helen Westley) asks Rebecca (Shirley) if she has had anything to eat. The girl says that her uncle bought her a candy bar, to which Aunt Miranda replies, “Candy bar! Gwen, take the child into the kitchen and get her something decent to eat.” The National Confectioners’ Association filed a $500,000 libel suit against 20th Century-Fox, claiming this scene did members of the association irreparable damage, and that it “libels a bar of candy and holds up the candy profession to ridicule and shame.” The suit was eventually dropped.



For the “Toy Trumpet” grand finale, Bill Robinson joined Shirley and her mother Gertrude at the Palm Springs Desert Inn to rehearse the number.



Temple was first made aware of racism when she learned Robinson was forced to sleep in the chauffeurs’ quarters. “But you’re not a chauffeur,” Shirley said to him when she found out. “I was unknowledgeable of the reality that racial prejudice was part of a complicated and powerful social system that enshrined such inequity,” she later wrote in her autobiography, Child Star.



A drum sequence was also to be included where Shirley would play along with the musicians on the set. She befriended studio drummer Johnny Williams, who taught her how to play. Dwan noticed her aptitude and ordered another drum set for her. However, Gertrude was against it, believing Shirley sitting with legs apart was unladylike. As Shirley recalled, “The film sequence was scrubbed, and drumsticks and traps disappeared, a donation to the local boys’ club.”



Shirley’s brother Jack was hired as third assistant director, to which she would later say, he “spent time thinking up things to take care of, one of which was me.” Dwan fired him after a dispute over a roasted turkey prop, used in a scene where Rebecca joins Tony (Randolph Scott) for lunch.



The turkey had been sprayed with insecticide and Jack loudly ordered her not to eat it, which she had no intention of doing. Out of spite, she popped the turkey in her mouth, prompting her brother to shake her to dislodge it. “Despite a slightly bitter taste, it was good turkey and my disobedience was immensely satsisfying.”

Are you ready to watch “Rebecca” again? See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Anatomy of a Deleted Scene

Since the advent of home media, the ability to watch deleted scenes from contemporary movies has become commonplace. Most DVDs/Blu Rays have a few deleted scenes as extras, often with director commentary explaining why it was decided to remove that particular scene before the film’s release. Classic Hollywood enthusiasts classify deleted scenes as some of the most coveted pieces of “lost film,” turning the search for them into something akin to the Holy Grail. While the actual scenes may never be found again (due to the film studios literally trashing them or because of the flammability of nitrate film), it is often easy to find little remnants of these never before seen gems. Today’s post presents an example from Shirley Temple’s 1938 film, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” As always, The Colonel (aka Melissa) has done the majority of the legwork in piecing together what this deleted scene may have included. 

According to the script dated October 2, 1937, the day after she arrives at the farm, Rebecca wanders into the farmyard to explore and spies a hen with her brood. Delighted, she picks up two of the chicks and turns to the mother hen, who is protesting violently. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hen, I won’t hurt your babies.” She rubs the chicks against her cheek before setting them down on the ground. At that point, she hears a squeal and the script continues with the pig-caught-in-the-fence scene. 

Often, promotional photos taken during the filming of a movie are used even if the scene that they represent was removed before release. The still shown above goes along with the scene Melissa has described. The photo below was taken from the trailer for “Rebecca.” Back in the day, it was commonplace to find little snippets of deleted footage used in those promotional trailers.



Based on the studio numbering of their stills, this shot of Shirley with costar Gloria Stuart would have been next.



Back to the script:

When Rebecca chases after the pig, she encounters Homer and Aloysius dancing together and introduces herself. Homer describes himself as a caretaker and Rebecca isn’t sure what that is. He says he’s practically the boss but he can do a week’s worth of work in one day and then spend the other six resting and playing his kazoo. She asks Aloysius if he’s a caretaker and he says he’s a hired hand but he can dance too. Homer starts playing “Old Straw Hat” on the kazoo and Aloysius starts to dance. 



Here is another frame of film from the trailer showing Bill Robinson from this deleted sequence:



This leads to a production number with twelve scarecrows. They disappear by the end of the number and the three are left to dance alone.

This is a bit of a mystery. For the actual deleted sequence, perhaps the twelve scarecrows were replaced with four farmhands, as seen in the publicity stills shown below:







Aunt Miranda comes out and tells Rebecca she should be ashamed of singing “trashy songs.” Homer tells Aunt Miranda that it wasn’t Rebecca’s fault that they were singing. 



Below is another frame from the trailer, illustrating Aunt Miranda’s arrival on the scene:



Fingers crossed that some of these classic gems will reappear one day!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Coat & Beanie Craze, Pt. 1

One acquisition can end up being the equivalent of a match to a powder keg, like this 1938 autographed photo of Shirley Temple. I have always associated the wearing of matching coat and beanie hats with Shirley’s 1938 era.

I also assumed the photo was taken on the Fox lot during the filming of this scene from “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” when Rebecca (Shirley) is unceremoniously taken away from her Aunt Miranda’s farm when her money-grubbing stepfather realizes her singing can make him a fortune.



Thanks to research by Melissa (aka “The Colonel”), I learned I was wrong on both counts. In the film, this is the dress Shirley (with costar Gloria Stuart) is wearing under her coat in the scene shown above:



The dress Shirley is actually wearing under the coat in my autographed photo can be seen in this rehearsal photo with Shirley, choreographer Nick Castle, and co-star George Murphy during the making of “Little Miss Broadway,” the film Shirley made AFTER doing “Rebecca.” Thanks to Shirley expert supreme Rita Dubas for that tidbit!



Since Shirley kept all of her movie costumes, her personal and movie wardrobe often blended together. The child star was photographed in public wearing outfits that had been seen in her movies, thus making it all the more amazing when the oft-worn dresses came to auction in 2015 looking brand new!

At first glance, one might think that this dress that came up for auction is the same dress Shirley wore in my autographed shot and the dance rehearsal shot. In comparing the two, the polka dot pattern is spaced wider here:



…than what is visible in this detailed view from the autographed photo where the dress is peeking out underneath the coat:



From the auction description of the 1937 auctioned dress:

SILK DRESS WORN BY SHIRLEY TEMPLE ON FAMILY TRIP TO HAWAII
Lot Number: 299



Of robin’s egg blue with pale blue polka dots, the dress has full-length vertical pleats, and is trimmed with an unusual diamond-point edging in cream silk, along with matching sash and with matching panties. The costume has original label of Miss L. Brogan New Orleans. A favorite dress of Shirley Temple, worn on a number of publicity occasions, such as that shown in the accompanying photograph in which Shirley (holding “Jimmie”, #300) is shown with her mother and father arriving for vacation in Hawaii.



Here’s a publicity shot of Shirley with her dog Ching Ching wearing the tighter-pattern polka dot dress:



Perhaps Shirley liked this dress so much that costumer Gwen Wakeling made a copy of it with a different fabric. Snooping around the web, I found a listing on etsy for another “Miss L. Brogan” creation:



According to the listing:

This dress belonged to a lovely lady who was from a wealthy family. She wore it in the 1930s and said it was a gift from her 4 maiden aunts. The dress is custom made by "Miss L Brogan New Orleans" (labeled) and is totally hand sewn. Miss Brogan was apparently a male who made custom children's clothing in the first half of the 20th century and charged a lot for doing it!



These are the details that keep us obsessive nutz in bizness!

As for the rest of the coat and beanie tale, you’ll need to come back next week!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.