Temple Tuesday: When I Grow Up

In what can only be called a musical tour de force, Shirley Temple performs “When I Grow Up” in 1935’s “Curly Top.” Ray Henderson, Ted Koehler, Edward Heyman, and Irving Caesar created the song specifically for the little star. Yes…four people collaborated on this number for Shirley! In the film, Elizabeth (Shirley) has been adopted by a wealthy gentleman; as a result of her good fortune, she decides to hold a benefit for her former orphanage.



Shirley arrives on stage wearing a yellow dress with daisies, designed by René Hubert. How do I know it was yellow when the film was shot in black and white?



Because it still survives today and is in the hands of a private collector. From the Theriault's auction catalog:

Of delicately textured fine silk in pale daffodil-yellow color, the dress features wide pleats falling from the fitted yoke with V-shaped edging that is repeated on the short puffed sleeves. The dress is trimmed with applique white velvet daisies and leaves. The studio label "4982" is inside the dress.



The dress was also part of a paper doll set from the 1930s printed by the Saalfield Publishing Company.



The Ideal Toy Company produced dolls wearing a modified version of the dress in multiple colors. Shirley was a merchandising bonanza during the Great Depression!



The next stage represented by Shirley in this number is Sweet Sixteen. Cute close-ups abound!





I was able to view this dress in person when it was on display at the Santa Monica History museum in 2015, just before it was auctioned off:



At the tender age of seven, Shirley made a very charming bride! Here she is with director Irving Cummings and some poor sap who had nothing else to do but hold up Shirley’s train!



This outfit also survived and was auctioned off. From Theriault’s:

The ivory satin gown has padded bodice, very wide collar with pleated ruffle at the edge, full short sleeves with pleated edging, flared bias cut full-length skirt with pleated ruffle at the hem. Included is the original wedding veil with elaborate embroidery, designed to fit the head in cap-like manner, and a pair of fingerless lace gloves. The gown and gloves are in excellent condition, the veil is extremely frail. The gown has studio label of "4993".







Shirley’s final incarnation is an old grandmother. Her performance in this segment is incredible; the subtle nuances of both her movements and voice show that she had a gift for mimicry.





The makeup crew aged both her forehead and hands, visible in this detailed view:





While the outfit didn’t surface, the spectacles did! From Theriault’s:

The owl-eyed gold rim spectacles are presented in their original black leather case bearing the label of Dr. Bartle Tallman, Optometrist, Beverly Hills, along with a handwritten note "Shirley's specs worn in Curly Top".



Just when you think the number is winding down, Shirley bounces out of the chair, lifts her skirt, and does a lively tap number for the ages, choreographed by Jack Donohue.



Granny exits, and Shirley returns in the daisy dress again, doing more taps WHILE she jumps rope! If it sounds like it’s over the top, well…it completely is, but Shirley manages to pull it off.



Here’s the number in case you haven’t seen it for yourself. Unfortunately, it’s a colorized version!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley and the Duck Dress

In the 1935 film, “Curly Top,” Shirley Temple has a brief sequence where her character exits the orphanage and is whisked away to a seaside cottage where she will lead a life of luxury with her sister, played by Rochelle Hudson. Costume designer René Hubert created the outfit known as “The Duck Dress” (because of the embroidery detail on the velvet bolero top) for Shirley and the chic outfit that Hudson models. As with anything Shirley did, photographers were on the spot to capture every detail. In the shot below, according to the blurb that accompanied it…

Shirley Temple and her pet pony, “Spunk,” are shown in an affectionate pose. Shirley is being starred in the Winfield Sheehan production, “Curly Top,” at Fox Film studio.



In the film, she refers to the pony as “Spunky.”



In between takes, Shirley and Hudson take a breather with director Irving Cummings. Note the track for a dolly shot at left, and the shot as it appears in the final film (below). The orphanage they are leaving was located on the backlot at Fox.



Zooming in, we can see all the details of Shirley’s adorable outfit, including the purse that appears to be made out of corduroy with a felt and fur Scottie dog attached.



The highlight of the sequence is when Shirley arrives at the cottage, she sashays up to the front door with her hand on her hip, demonstrating that she is now part of high society!



The outfit came up for auction, but the only original part that survived was the velvet bolero top. The skirt belonged to Shirley, but the pleating is different from the one used in the film. The tam hat and purse do not appear to have survived.



From the Theriault’s Catalog:

A short black velvet bolero top is embroidered with yellow ducklings on the bodice and sleeves, with a border of green leaves and flowers, and has a black silk lining. The bolero is worn over a sleeveless dress with pleated skirt. The bolero has studio tag 5943 and the dress has studio tag 4759. The costume was worn by Shirley Temple in the 1935 film "Curly Top" upon leaving the orphanage and arriving at her new home. In various studio promotional photographs of the film, the under-dress appears to have a collar and different pleats, suggesting that this dress was likely an alternate.



In fact, the dress was one used in “Our Little Girl” (1935, pictured above) which also had costumes designed by René Hubert. A detail of the embroidered ducks:



Shirley typically had visitors to the sets of her film. For any dignitaries visiting Hollywood, Shirley was at the top of the “must see” list. From the caption:

Mayor Frank Hague, of Jersey City, N.J., and prominent in Democratic party councils, with Mrs. Hague and Peggy Ann Hague visit with Shirley Temple and Mrs. Temple at Fox Film Movietone City, where “Curly Top,” Shirley’s latest picture, is now in production.



Hague supported F.D.R., who in turn not only supported the Mayor, but helped keep him out of scandal for many years. It was amazing at his lowly salary how he was able to amass quite a bit of wealth during his political career! At his funeral, one lady held a sign that read, “God have mercy on his sinful, greedy soul.” From his January 1956 obituary:

The blustery master-politician, whose temper often was as quick as his speech was ungrammatical, was called by his intimates an efficient executive and a friend of the poor. Some referred to him as a benevolent despot. But others termed him a “machine boss,” an “absolute monarch,” and a dictator.…During his reign, Boss Hague did a lot for the 300,000-population city at New York’s back door. He gave the poor a magnificent medical center and modernized the police and fire departments. He also gave them the highest tax rate in the nation and made a fortune for himself.…Trouble followed him…into his big mansion on his estate at Deal and his place at Miami Beach. Twin final blows were a $15,000,000 suit to make him repay alleged kickbacks from city employees and the death of his nephew and heir-apparent, Frank Hague Eggers, both in 1954.

Back to Shirley, with this color image of her in the duck outfit:



Shirley has a quick chat with beloved humorist Will Rogers, also working on the Fox lot:



Another close-up of Shirley’s purse:



A publicity shot of Shirley in the duck dress, sans hat:



This image served many purposes; anything could be added to the blank wall behind her:



Ideal produced a composition doll wearing a matching outfit; here Shirley poses with a 27" high version:



The designs on the bolero for the dolls varied, as seen here:



Some of them had flowers instead of ducks (the purse and gloves were additions; the rest is all original):



The Danbury Mint put out its own version for a vinyl doll:



It would appear that Shirley (or at least her parents) truly liked this outfit, as she wore it in public on her first visit to Hawaii in 1935, specifically at the Royal Iolani Palace on Saturday, August 10. Below, she sings “On The Good Ship Lollipop” to her throng of fans, which numbered more than 15,000! The dress she wore here matched the one in “Curly Top;” it had not been paired up with the “Our Little Girl” skirt just yet.



In the montage below, you can see middle left, Shirley makes her first salute to the throng. At right she is shown with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Temple. Bottom left, a view of mauka steps of the palace where Shirley held “court.” Center, Miss Helen Poindexter places a lei on Shirley’s father while at lower right Shirley is shown selling a ticket to Governor Poindexter, after her public appearance, for the army benefit ball game for war veterans.



By May 1945, the bolero had been mismatched with the “Our Little Girl” dress, as seen in this LIFE magazine photo when Shirley was sorting through her collection to see what she was going to give away for a clothing drive.



And that’s it today for the duck dress!

See more Shirley Temple “Curly Top” photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Colonel’s Costumes

The 1935 Shirley Temple film, “The Little Colonel,” has a number of iconic costumes that the curly haired child star wore. The first one we see is this military-themed dress that Shirley wears in the opening scene and a Sunday baptism-by-the-river scene. When Shirley’s film costumes came up for auction in 2015, this one did not surface.



The costume was significant enough for the Ideal Toy Company to reproduce it for its best selling 1930s Shirley Temple composition doll (larger versions came with a hat, too!).



According to the story in the movie, Shirley’s family did not have much money, thus, there are a number of her dresses that are very simple. None of them came up for auction, either. Below, she is shown sneaking some cookies while Evelyn Venable watches.



Shirley pelts her grumpy but wealthy grandfather (Lionel Barrymore) with mud. The same dress, which was also worn in her legendary staircase dance with Bill Robinson. The Danbury Mint released a doll set commemorating that scene.



Another basic dress that did not surface and apparently not doll-worthy!



The wardrobe department definitely saved some money on these outfits! Below, Shirley is with John Davis Lodge and Evelyn Venable, wearing a third basic cotton dress.



The Southern Belle costume that Shirley wears is arguably the most famous costume from the film.



The outfit came up for auction in 2015 and its current owner went to great lengths to preserve the delicate silk taffeta for future generations to enjoy.



This pink satin outfit “disappeared” (story in a previous post).



Only the boots and hat surfaced during the 2015 auction.



The elaborate pink ruffled party dress shown below was seen in Shirley’s first Technicolor sequence, tacked on to the end of the film:





Both the dress…



and the boots came up for auction in 2015, looking darn good, considering their age!



The costume is in the collection of the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, hidden away with the rest of the Shirley Temple treasures that they are too cowardly to display.

See more Shirley Temple “The Little Colonel” photos at my main website.