Temple Tuesday: All Dolled Up

For her 1934 starring vehicle, “Bright Eyes,” Shirley Temple’s character got to dress up in over-sized adult clothes and parade around as if she was an elegant society lady. Here is candid shot of Shirley with director David Butler, in between takes at the Pasadena location for this scene. The accompanying publicity blurb:

WHAT, NO LOLLIPOP? —Shirley Temple is positive Director David Butler will buy her that chocolate lollipop now she’s donned a feathered hat and long dress. The dimpled starlet plays at being grown-up for a scene in Fox film’s “Bright Eyes,” in which she is featured with James Dunn.

Little Shirley patiently awaits her next scene:



SMALL GIRL. IN A BIG CHAIR — Shirley Temple takes a few moments off for rest in Director David Butler’s set chair. Butler is directing Shirley in his own story, “Bright Eyes,” which will be her last picture for 1934.



In the scene, Shirley pushes a baby carriage around the property with her doll. Below is a screenshot of the house that was used for exterior locations:



How that house looks today:



Jane Withers and Shirley pushed their baby carriages up that very same driveway ninety years ago!



Shirley’s character was kind and loving to her little dolly, whereas Jane Withers’ bratty counterpart constantly swatted hers. Hey Jane, careful — that’s a very valuable Lenci doll!



You can see tensions boiling between the two; who is going to get to keep the dolls once the filming is done?



Named “Pinkie,” the 37” tall Lenci doll began the worldwide tidal wave of dolls gifted to Shirley in real life. From her autobiography Child Star:

For props we were each issued a doll, mine modest and frumpy, befitting my role, and hers a giant glorious Lenci from Italy with dangling blond curls and exquisitely costumed in ruffles and a velvet bonnet garlanded with lifelike flowers. Following her stage role, Withers became possessive, denying me even a peek, clutching it and turning away. Ultimately it developed into a quiet offstage competition for something she really did want, but I did not. Toward the end of “Bright Eyes,” Sheehan caught wind of the doll competition and offered Mother the Lenci doll in order to gain her cooperation on some other minor matter. Believing I really coveted it, Mother acepted his bribe, thinking perhaps to employ the doll in some secondary inducement with me. Her hope vanished when Sheehan publicly announced that I was starting a doll collection with the Lenci as my first. This action was tantamount to removing a finger from the dike. From all over the box-office world a thousand dolls of every type and nationality flooded in. In fact, the concept of a collection of anything beyond slingshots had no appeal whatsoever. It was a Pyrrhic victory; winning the Withers war imposed the unwelcome burden of becoming curator for an unwanted collection. 

Below is a photo I shot when the doll came up for auction in 2015.



Pinkie had a place of prominence in Shirley’s Santa Monica bedroom (photo below).



Sorry, Jane - you shouldn’t have messed with Shirley.



Shirley and Jane Withers’ December 1976 reunion at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was captured by the photographers. Note that Shirley is covering Pinkie in the photo in her left hand. Why stir up old wounds? Always the diplomat!



In a quieter moment, you can just hear Shirley: “Really Jane, if you hadn’t been such a pill, you could have had the darn doll for yourself!”



This darling costume also graced the cover of one of Saalfield’s many 1930s Shirley Temple publications:



In 2003, the Danbury Mint released a limited edition porcelain doll of Shirley recreating the same scene (minus the carriage) in honor of Shirley’s 75th birthday:



Sorry, Jane - you weren’t part of that tribute, either!

See more Shirley Temple in “Bright Eyes” photos at my main website.

Rose Parade Medley and Memories

Let’s take a visual journey through some memorable moments from the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Who better to begin with than my fave, Shirley Temple? The year she was first Grand Marshal (1939), the parade was held on January 2. You can see her father in the float with her, somewhat obscured by the roses that surround him.



On January 2, 1964, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and wife Mamie presided over the parade.



A closer look at the Grand Marshal car:



Walt Disney served as Grand Marshal on January 1, 1966 alongside Mickey Mouse:



Frank Sinatra was the Grand Marshal for the 1980 parade; here is the float that portrayed him with flowers:



Sinatra and wife Barbara Marx waving to onlookers along the Pasadena parade route:



Disney celebrated their 25th anniversary with this caravan which included Cinderella and her coach and a train that released balloons:



If the boxes and train look familiar, you might have remembered them from the Park back in 1980; a good use of economy!



The Firehouse Five Plus Two traveled down Colorado Boulevard in the parade that year atop a gigantic fire engine. Western Airlines was the sponsor of this particular float:



It does appear that legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ward Kimball were performing that day:



A vintage September 1964 shot of the band playing at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Saloon:



Of course, the most famous participant in the parade that year was…ME! Yes, I marched in the parade that day with my alto saxophone and the other members of the Conestoga Senior High School band.



I’m the saxophonist in the middle:



I stumbled upon a detailed account of the parade that day. Apparently we were the “114th unit” in the parade, having raised approximately $115,000 to pay for the trip that allowed our entire band (and chaperones!) to fly from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. We also had side trips to Knott’s Berry Farm, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market on Fairfax, Universal Studios, and…Tijuana! While most of my memories of the trip are a bit hazy, I can still remember the thrill of that first turn onto Colorado Boulevard when we all knew that the TV cameras would be on us. From the online account:

Before dawn on the morning of December 26th the group left from the parking lot of Conestoga High School for the airport. Its six busses were escorted by vehicles from the Tredyffrin Township police and the Berwyn Fire Company, their red lights flashing and sirens sounding. For some of the members of the group it was to be their first airplane flight. To prepare for the five and a half mile long march on New Year's Day, in early December a two-hour practice at that distance was held on Devon State Road. And to be sure that the length of the march would have only a minimal effect on the quality of the music it was also decided to play just one tune, "March America", over and over during the entire parade route, Dr. Kiehner [our band director] noting that "it's not terribly high for the horns to play and they will be able to sound just as strong at the end of the parade as at the beginning". Everyone in the group survived the five and a half mile march -- "as fresh at the end as at the beginning", according to Kiehner. (While this may have been a slight exaggeration, for a finishing flourish the band played "March America" "one more time" after the parade route had been completed, before getting ready to go to the Rose Bowl game and then taking part in a "New Year's Eve Party" -- one day late -- that night!)

We did not play “March America” continuously; in between to give most of the band a rest, the percussion would play our peppy drill cadence. Just like your typical California traffic jam, we would often march and then have to stop, as the floats ahead tended to take more time than allotted. I remember our director being extremely proud that not one member had to drop out; although it was chilly when we started, the temperatures were much higher by the time we finished. Those uniforms were HOT!!! The thrill of being on camera evaporated quickly and the rest of the parade route became increasingly arduous as the sweat drenched our bodies. I do remember playing our “encore” and thinking “Get me outta’ here!” The game that day was between USC and Ohio State, with USC taking home the victory. And if you thought “Tijuana” was a typo, you would be incorrect.

Second in excitement only to the Rose Bowl Parade itself, however, was an "instant parade" the preceding Saturday in Tijuana, across the border in Mexico. Upon its arrival, the band lined up and marched down the main street, with cheering native boys and girls running along with it and following it to City Hall. There it gave an impromptu concert of football songs and other numbers, and was officially greeted and thanked by various public officials, including the alcalde or mayor, who presented the group with a key to the city. After a lunch of "the works in Mexican food" ("Do try everything," the ten-page outline had suggested, but added "no extra beverages -- they will ask you if you want them and you say NO!") everyone was free for three hours of sightseeing and shopping ("Keep your wallets and purses secure") before returning to the United States and dinner at McDonalds', five busses arriving all at once.

I had forgotten that we marched in Tijuana; I do remember buying a blanket there (your typical tourist trap purchase) and being excited that I was able to haggle the price down. Can you imagine allowing a group of high school students to run free for three hours in Tijuana? Nope…neither can I. On the trip back, our caravan of buses were to be inspected by a border agent. On my bus, there was a foreign exchange student from Switzerland who played trumpet. I remember Dr. Kiehner instructed him very carefully: “If you get asked, you are an American citizen!” The agent came down the aisle and all went just fine, with the student responding as he had been instructed. Next thing we knew the caravan proceeded back across the border safely (and quickly) into California. Yes, times have changed.

See more Pasadena photos at my main website.

McFly Monday

I recently added another “Back to the Future” filming location to my list: Whittier High School, aka Hill Valley High School in the “BTTF” franchise. Both John Lasseter (of Pixar fame) and Richard Nixon (37th President of the U.S.) attended the hallowed halls of this school.



A fence surrounds the entire complex, so it was impossible to get any decent closeup shots or spend a lot of time trying to figure out what was filmed where.



It would appear that the Administration section of the complex…



is the section that is featured in these frames:







The building retains its Art Deco charm, with plenty of interesting details:



The Vic Lopez auditorium was constructed in 1946:



Previous blog posts covered my visits to the Gamble House in Pasadena:



…aka Doc Brown’s home:



The Blacker House:



…used for interiors of Doc Brown’s:



The First Methodist Church in Hollywood:



…where the Enchantment Under the Sea dance was held:



The most iconic building is the Courthouse set from the Universal lot, which has been built and rebuilt so many times I have doubts that anything from 1985 is still left of it. Here’s what it looked like in 2004:





During my 2004 visit to Universal, the DeLorean was rusting outdoors for all to paw at:



There are still a few filming locations for “BTTF” for me to visit. Stay tuned!

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Balboa Park: Back to the Future

This spring, imagine my amazement when I saw a group of DeLoreans parked in the lot near the Balboa Park Automotive museum. What’s a DeLorean you ask? It was a rear-engine two-passenger car manufactured by DMC (DeLorean Motor Company) from 1981-1983. It was known for looking cool but poor performance. The company went belly up. Why would anyone care about this car today? How about this shot from the blockbuster film “Back to the Future”? That might ring a bell for you. Yup…Doc Brown’s time machine used a DeLorean.



NOW maybe you can understand my amazement at seeing five DeLoreans at Balboa Park last March.



A frequent Daveland reader/commenter (who shall remain anonymous) identified the guy in the green shirt as Alexander Wolfgang Tietz:



He’s a local DeLorean owner; I think he’s also a cameraman for some news agency, a field guy that hefts around the big shoulder mounted rigs. I’ve met him at numerous car shows. He embraces “Back to the Future” but will never convert his DeLorean into a time machine. It doesn’t stop him from doing birthday parties dressed as Doc Brown, though.

Hey…a guy’s gotta’ make a buck, right? Based on his Instagram page, it looks like his car was part of a St. Patrick’s Parade in San Diego. Here’s one of the original DeLoreans used in the “Back to the Future” movie when I saw it back in 2004 parked at Universal Studios in Hollywood.



In a previous post, I also showed the Gamble House in Pasadena, which was used for the exteriors of Doc Brown’s house in the movie:



See more photos at my main website.