Temple Tuesday: Shirley the Tomboy

Shirley Temple was the most popular movie star of the 1930s, but that didn’t keep 20th Century-Fox mogul Darryl Zanuck from worrying about retaining those audiences. In order to appeal to little boys,  her innate tomboy characteristics were brought out in “Captain January” (1936). Set at a seaside lighthouse, Shirley gets to wear boyish naval attire through most of the movie, and is even taught how to properly spit!



In this still from a deleted scene, Shirley almost gets a tattoo from John Carradine. Spitting is fine, but no tattoos for Shirley!



The dance sequences focused on athletic and daring routines, including a memorable one staged on this spiral staircase. This closeup of Shirley and costar Guy Kibbee is also from a deleted scene:



Shirley later recalled the scene where she learned her multiplication tables while doing a tap dance routine down the lighthouse spiral staircase. From her autobiography Child Star:

Learning my solo tap dance descending a forty-five-foot-high spiral staircase in a lonely lighthouse taught me not only the routine, but also how to multiply. It was all tight steps, like a ballet, a devilishly complicated task. There were three things to do at once: the taps, move down the spiral staircase a step at a time, and synchronize multiplication tables with both taps and movements.

Shirley’s character was still a bit of a helpful Hannah, but thanks to pairing her with a thoroughly unlikeable counterpart, ably played by Jerry Tucker, the audience naturally roots for Shirley! In a deleted sequence, Shirley is shown below with Tucker, selling lobsters. The prissy little brat is obviously appalled!



In one of my favorite scenes, Tucker and Temple’s characters are tested together for their scholastic aptitude. You can see the tension building between the two before the test begins:



Motion Picture magazine reported professional jealousy on Shirley’s part:

Jerry Tucker, ten-year old ‘Captain January’ juvenile, had her attention for almost a day. That was because his line-remembering agility was a slight thorn in Shirley’s side. She learned her two pages of dialogue and leapt into it like a gazelle, not permitting Director David Butler to break it into smaller scenes and thus lessen the tax upon her memory. She’d show that Jerry Tucker (who had done his scene in only two takes) that women had good memories, too!



Below, June Lang is at right, playing the part of the pretty schoolteacher:



A detailed view of Tucker and Temple. Tucker was born Jerome Harold Schatz, and garnered his first taste of fame with the “Our Gang” comedies. His movie career ended in 1941, and he went on to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War. Tucker followed his years of service with a successful career as an RCA electrical engineer, living on to the ripe old age of 91.



So as to continue the appeal for little girls, Shirley gets a cute little frock for her aptitude test, which was also sold as an outfit for the popular Ideal Toy Company Shirley Temple doll of the 1930s:



The movie also used the “Captain January” sets and costars Slim Summerville and Buddy Ebsen to promote the RCA Victor Magic Brain. Maybe this is what inspired Tucker’s later career?



From the publicity blurb on back:

Slim Summerville and Buddy Ebsen, featured players in 20th Century-Fox “Captain January” starring Shirley Temple, are seen discussing the qualities of the RCA Magic Brain Radio. Summerville and Ebsen are seafaring men in this great picture and they depend upon R.C.A. Victor Radio for their news and entertainment.

Magic Brain…sounds a bit like a pre-cursor to AI!



What a 1936 RCA Victor Magic Brain radio looks like, as seen in this photo from Facebook:



Here’s a view of what the Cunningham Radio Tubes, shown in the window, look like in color, from the Tube World Express website:



In other Shirley news, Shirley Temple expert supreme, Rita Dubas, has just released another thoroughly detailed video with EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know about the famous Shirley Temple soft drink, of which Shirley herself could not stand!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley's Hula Gets Cut!

In the 1936 film, “Captain January,” Shirley Temple is typically seen wearing a sailor outfit, as this Italian Booklet of the era shows. In the behind-the-scenes still shot below though, an outfit that didn’t make it into the final film was deleted for being too racy! In the first version of this outfit, Shirley wears a black bra for the hula dance she was to perform in the film:



The scene was reshot with a more modest outfit. Below is a behind-the-scenes shot showing the set on a 20th Century-Fox soundstage:



Zooming in, you can see Shirley and co-star Buddy Ebsen:



This detailed view shows where the dance was performed:



This time around, Shirley wore an undershirt beneath the combo seaweed skirt and bra/lei:



This publicity still shows the exterior of the lighthouse as it appeared in the movie. This scene was not cut, as Shirley is appropriately clothed!



 See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: “Mother” Survives!

In the 1936 film “Captain January,” one of orphaned Star’s (Shirley Temple) beloved possessions is a doll that represents her mother, who was killed in a shipwreck. Here’s a closeup of the prop that 20th Century-Fox created just for this movie:



Star knows very little about her dead mother, other than what she sees in a scrapbook found in a trunk from the wreck.



Apparently mama was an opera singer. Star covets the dress that she once wore on stage, which gets altered to fit the young girl for a comic musical number with costars Guy Kibbee and Slim Summerville.



In a miracle of survival, this fragile prop survived, thanks to a prop man who was allowed to take it home with him. Now you can see what the doll looks like in color:




The beloved doll (known as “Mother”) that was key to the plot in “Captain January” now resides in the hands of an avid Shirley fan.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley (almost) gets a tattoo!

In the 1936 Shirley Temple film, “Captain January,” Shirley ALMOST got a tattoo! Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) summarized the deleted scene for me, which she came across when reading the original script. The scene that ended up on the cutting room floor would have followed the one where Captain January (Guy Kibbee) asks the Widow Croft (Jane Darwell) for a loan (shown above).

At that point, Jan asks Mrs. Croft for the money, and the next scene has Star walking along a side street, where she spies a tattoo shop.



She goes in and the “East Indian” man asks her if she has money. He shows her some tattoo samples, including a sea serpent. She asks “Can I make it wiggle?” and he responds that it would wiggle fine on her back. She decides to get it on her arm, and the man begins heating a needle in a flame.



He is just about to begin when Jan and Nazro pass by and burst into the shop. Jan swats Star and sends her home, then slams the basket of lobsters over the tattoo artist’s head. Nazro holds him down while Jan takes the tattoo needle and jabs it into the seat of the “East Indian” man’s pants!



These two publicity stills show that the scene was filmed, but obviously deleted before release. John Carradine was cast as the “East Indian Man” mentioned in the script. I can only surmise that the scene was deleted due to it being slightly unsavory for a Shirley Temple movie!



In an earlier sequence that survived the editor’s shears, Shirley watches with delight while January and Nazro (Slim Summerville) show off their tattoos and are able to make them dance and wiggle! This would have been the setup for Shirley’s character wanting to get a tattoo. Poor John Carradine was the loser, as he was completely removed from the film. Instead, he made it into the Temple film “Dimples” playing Richards. His character is one of the con men who get The Professor (Frank Morgan) to buy a cheap pocket watch by convincing him it once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte.



Con men in a Temple film? No problem. A tattoo artist? No way!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Once Is Not Enough

For many of Shirley’s costars, one movie was just not enough! This post just covers the headliners, not the supporting players. That would be a post waaaaaaay too long for how much time I have today to put this together. Let’s begin with James Dunn, who played opposite Shirley in her breakthrough film “Stand Up and Cheer” (1934). The two did so well together that Fox put them together again not just once, but twice! “Baby Take a Bow” (1934):

…and again in “Bright Eyes” (1934):

For John Boles, twice was enough, with “Curly Top” (1935):

…and “The Littlest Rebel” (1935):

Guy Kibbee was one of the few to span both childhood and teenage films for Shirley, with a whopping three films. “Captain January” (1936); here’s a behind-the-scenes shot with Shirley and Kibbee’s daughter:

“Miss Annie Rooney” (1942):

…and “Fort Apache” (1948):

Michael Whalen was apparently satisfied with two; “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936):

…and “Wee Willie Winkie” (1937):

It wasn’t just the men who were part of the repeat pairing process; songstress Alice Faye was in two of Temple’s hits. “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936):

…and the romantic female lead in “Stowaway” (1936), where she came close to stealing the movie away from Shirley:

Gloria Stuart of “Titanic” fame was content with two; she was not happy about being cast in bland roles that supported the curly haired tot until studio chief Darryl Zanuck pointed out that millions would see her, vs. a juicy lead role in a non-Temple film that would most likely be soon forgotten. Here she is in “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936):

…and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938), which also starred Randolph Scott:

…who played again with Temple in 1939’s “Susannah of the Mounties”:

Last one for today is Phyllis Brooks, who had back-to-back roles with Shirley in “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938):

…and “Little Miss Broadway” (1938):

See more Shirley Temple 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.