Temple Tuesday: A Saddle for Shirley

In 1936’s “Stowaway,” Shirley Temple played an orphan stranded in China who eventually gets rescued by a millionaire playboy and his girlfriend (Robert Young and Alice Faye).



In between takes, Shirley posed with one of the many gifts she received during the time that she was probably the most famous person in the world.



Joseph Schenk, Chairman of the Board at Shirley’s studio, 20th Century-Fox, gave her this leather saddle to go with her Shetland pony (another recent gift!). That’s a pretty darn good likeness of Shirley carved into the leather!



This saddle ended up in the 2015 Love, Shirley Temple auction. How it looked when I saw it on display at the Santa Monica History Museum:



Almost looks brand new! Shirley’s mother sure took good care of her daughter’s possessions.



Edited from the Theriault’s catalog description:

#383 Hand-Tooled Leather Saddle Gifted to Shirley Temple by Joseph Schenk

Of superb leather workmanship, the beautifully engraved hand-tooled saddle was custom made for the young actress, featuring Shirley's hand-tooled image with smiling expression and classic curly locks on each fender, her name in raised lasso-style lettering on the seat back, and a silver plaque inscribed "Presented to Shirley Temple by Joseph M. Schenk 1935".



The saddle was custom made by the prestigious Los Angeles leather firm of Lichtenberger-Ferguson. The saddle includes all accessories including the saddle blanket, and is in excellent condition. Provenance: the saddle was gifted to Shirley by Joseph Schenk, Chairman of the Board at 20th Century Fox, on the occasion of another gift to her which was a Shetland pony. The pony was traveling to America aboard the May 1936 maiden voyage of the SS Queen Mary and then by rail to the Los Angeles train station. Shirley Temple wrote of this in her 1988 autobiography "Child Star". "Burdened with a specially-made western saddle with my face tooled into the leather skirts..., [the pony] was introduced to me in the railroad freight yards in downtown Los Angeles. A welcoming flower garland which it promptly tried to eat, was draped around the pony's neck...'Giddap!' I cried. The pony moved ahead but...the saddle started to slip sideways, me with it...A switch engine tooted just as a line of freight cars came screeching along an adjacent track. The pony whinnied, kicked and reared up, while I held on. “I'm going to call him Spunky', I shouted...'He's not afraid of anything.'”

Estimated price  was $6,000-8,000; sold for $3,200. What a value!



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

Temple Tuesday: Dimples and Romance

Actress Astrid Allwyn had supporting roles in two back-to-back Shirley Temple films, starting with “Dimples” (released October 16, 1936) and followed by “Stowaway” (released December 25, 1936). Allwyn was born Astrid Christofferson on November 27, 1905 in South Manchester, Connecticut. At age 13, she was offered a scholarship to the Boston Conservatory of Music for her singing, but declined rather than move away from home. After high school graduation, she moved to New York, hoping for a career as a concert singer, but ended up taking classes at a business college and becoming a typist on Wall Street. She studied dancing and dramatics while in New York and later gathered experience by joining a stock company. Allwyn made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Elmer Rice’s “Street Scene,” and on the strength of her second play, “Once in a Lifetime,” was brought to Hollywood in 1932. Her first husband was actor Robert Kent, who also starred in “Dimples.” Although she played the gold-digging “other woman” in “Dimples” (Delma Byron, seen below with Robert Kent and Shirley, played the romantic lead) Allwyn ended up winning the leading man in real life. Ain’t that grand?



Allwyn told the story of how she and Kent fell in love in the November 1937 issue of Hollywood Magazine:

Astrid up and got herself married about six months ago to Robert Kent, 20th Century-Fox star, and a mighty good actor in his own right and a chap who is going places in the picture business before he is through. “Frank Morgan can take credit for the start of our romance,” Astrid reveals. “We were shooting a scene in the Shirley Temple picture “Dimples” where Robert was supposed to kiss me. Whether it was because he was shy or because he scarcely knew me,  he suggested to Bill Seiter, the director, that he merely kiss my hand. Bill had some suggestions of his own—and Robert was told to kiss me the way a boy should kiss a girl. Well, the cameras began to grind and we began to kiss. Frank Morgan was supposed to interrupt the embrace with a bit of dialogue but as he said later ‘I didn’t have the heart’ so we kept it up until Bill finally yelled out. From that time on—thanks to Frank Morgan—we began a friendship that ended where we are now—happily married and deeply in love.”

The marriage took place shortly after “Stowaway” wrapped up production, when the two headed south to Tijuana for the ceremony. They married on January 10, 1937, as announced in the Hanover Evening Sun on January 18, 1937:

Astrid Allwyn and Robert Kent, film players, have disclosed they were married Sunday, January 10 in Tijuana, Mexico. The only attendant was J. Edward Bromberg, screen actor. The couple obtained their marriage licenses under their true names of Astrid Christofferson and Douglas Blackley. Their romance began last spring.



Bromberg also costarred in “Stowaway,” seen at left below with Alice Faye, Temple, and Robert Young.



Below are Allwyn and Eugene Pallette in a scene that was ultimately deleted from the final film. Once again, she played a woman with less than desirable morals, about to blackmail Robert Young for some moolah.



The scene below was also deleted from “Stowaway.” Allwyn is barely visible in the final film, hardly earning her onscreen credit.



Despite being “happily married,” Astrid and Robert were divorced in 1941. Allwyn had the distinction of appearing in three Best Picture Oscar nominated films: “The White Parade” (1934), “Love Affair” (1939), and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939). She married a second time in 1941 to businessman Charles O. Fee. After filming Hit Parade of 1943 (1943), Astrid made a decision to retire so she could focus on family and raising her children. One of her daughters, Melinda Fee, had a modestly successful career in movies and television. Astrid remained married to Charles until her death in Los Angeles on March 31, 1978 from cancer, at age 72. She is buried in Forest Lawn in Glendale, Court of Freedom, #955.



Above is a publicity shot for Fox, shot by Gene Kornman in 1936. The accompanying blurb:

Hollywood continues to smile upon the small hat and triumphantly demonstrates that size imposes no limits in either beauty or variety. Turbans are strong in the mode and imbued with exceptional charm — as witness this black velvet model by William Lambert, 20th Century-Fox stylist, and worn by lovely Astrid Allwyn, featured player of the same studio. The round crown is effectively trimmed with a black cellophane novelty. The ring worn by Miss Allwyn is one of her heirlooms from Sweden — a floral design in mosaic is set in jet and mounted in antique gold.

She may not have had a huge career, but in Shirley-world, Astrid Allwyn was the perfect villainess for “Dimples.”



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: More Deleted Shirley

Last week’s Temple Tuesday post covered a deleted scene of Shirley’s from “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938). That only covered a fraction of what was left on the cutting room floor from Shirley’s movies! Hang on as we cover a few other ones that never made it into the final film.

In “Dimples” (1936), Shirley acted out scenes from the play “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” for her friends in the Bowery (photo above). Most likely this little showcase for Shirley’s talents did nothing to move the plot along and was eliminated as a result. A second deleted scene had actress Cleo Marsh (Astrid Allwyn) getting mad at Dimples (Shirley) during a rehearsal, feeling that the little girl’s song would steal the show from her. “Stop it, you little brat!” Cleo yells at the child. “You’ve got too much in this play as it is! This play was put on for my sake! People will come to the theater to see me. They’re not coming to see the antics of a dirty little urchin!” CUT! DELETE! NOBODY talks to Shirley like that and gets away with it!



Below is a shot of a deleted scene from the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” play that Shirley’s character is performing in. Probably another instance of the story moving too slowly for Producer Darryl Zanuck’s taste.



In “Stowaway” (1936), there is the dramatic scene where Ching Ching (Shirley) is about to be sent to an orphanage, but wealthy playboy Tommy Randall (Robert Young) and already engaged Susan (Alice Faye) decide to marry each other so that they can adopt the little girl themselves...and then get a divorce so that Susan can marry her fiancé and Tommy can keep Ching Ching. Phew…there’s a lot going on there.



In this deleted scene, socialite Kay (Astrid Allwyn again!) agrees to marry Tommy so he can adopt Ching Ching, but then finds out from Tommy’s friend The Colonel (Eugene Pallette) that the wedding must happen immediately. Oops…good thing she didn’t cash that check yet…she had to get her own divorce finalized first! Too messy for a Shirley film…



In “Little Miss Broadway” (1938), Betsy’s (Shirley) adopted father, Pop Shea (Edward Ellis) is looking for her to make sure she’s doing her studies. What we don’t get to see was this filmed bit of business showing Betsy with a ventriloquist, which explains why he couldn’t find her at the time. In the finished film, a few lines remain that refer to the deleted scene. Pop’s daughter Barbara (Phyllis Brooks) asks Betsy who helped her with the arithmetic problems, as they are all incorrect. “Mr. Berdini, the magician!” “Six goes into eighteen five times…, seven goes into twenty-one four times!” Barbara replies sarcastically. “He’s a magician alright!”



Later in the film, Betsy escapes the orphanage and tries to get home to help save Pop Shea who is fighting a court battle that could mean the loss of his Hotel. There was originally a sequence between a taxi driver and a policeman over Betsy being unable to pay the fare. CUT! And don’t print that, please!



In “Just Around the Corner” (1938), if you look at the “Programme” for the benefit for Uncle Sam, you’ll see a number listed that did not make it into the final film, “Penny and Her Gang.”



The photo below is about all that remains of this deleted musical number.



This photograph of Shirley handing Arthur Treacher a playing card in “The Little Princess” (1939) is all that remains from an extended sequence of her arrival at Miss Minchin’s Boarding School. Most likely, it has something to do with Shirley’s character finding out about Treacher’s character’s past as a music hall entertainer.



“The Blue Bird” was Shirley’s second movie filmed entirely in Technicolor, other than the opening segment which was in black and white.



One of the publicity stills from the black and white portion shows Shirley praying to the Virgin Mary.



Was this from a deleted scene or Shirley praying for a hit, which she badly needed at this point in her career!



This deleted scene shows Mytyl (Shirley) playing with all of her newly acquired dolls in the Land of Luxury. Astute at the tender age of 11, Shirley rented out dolls from her personal collection to be used in the film.



Another deleted segment from the same scene showed Mr. Luxury (Nigel Bruce) cavorting around with Tyltyl (Johnny Russell). CUT!



I wonder if Shirley had to refund her doll earnings to Zanuck when this scene was removed?!?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley and Robert

Shirley Temple and Robert Young costarred together in two films, starting with the 1936 smash hit “Stowaway,” where she plays an orphan who charms a wealthy playboy, Tommy Randall, played by Young. Unable to speak Chinese, Shirley’s character (Ching Ching) steps in and assists him in buying a souvenir mask. As is so typical in Shirley movies, moments later she’s living the high life with new dresses and all the toys that Depression-era children could only dream about.

Tommy Randall is definitely a “player,” at least until he meets the lovely Susan Parker, played by Alice Faye. Unfortunately, Susan is engaged to a drip with a meddling mother-in-law.

Ching Ching’s matchmaking attempts for the two almost fail, thanks to mistakenly getting thrown in jail and then narrowly avoiding being put back into an orphanage.

But let’s face it, NOBODY says “no” to Shirley, who gets Susan to delay her marriage to the drip so that Tommy will wed Susan in order to temporarily adopt Ching Ching. You still with us?

Ching Ching works with the divorce court judge to make sure that Tommy and Susan stay married so that she can have a Merry Christmas with lots of toys and song!

Robert Young autographed this photo for his young costar inscribing it with:

To Ching-Ching, My screen daughter whom I couldn't love more if she were my very own, Uncle Tommy, Robert Young

Young was apparently a bit of a prankster, as demonstrated by this shot of him putting the sign “Exhibit 496 Cuttlefish (Extinct) Do not touch” over napping costar Arthur Treacher:

Despite the autographed photo and the pranks, Shirley had absolutely ZILCH to say about Robert Young in her autobiography Child Star.

Thirteen years later, Young again played Shirley’s father (albeit biological, this time). According to The New York Times, Melvyn Douglas was the original choice for the role. As an Episcopalian pastor in this “Meet Me In St. Louis”-esque film, Young’s character attempts to balance the gossipy judgmental community he presides over vs. the liberated views of his daughter, played by a now mature Shirley.

With a little graying at the temples, he played the part well. You could definitely see the father-daughter chemistry between the two.

The most touching scene is when he wins the dance contest with his daughter, beating out her beau (played by Shirley’s then husband, John Agar) who had temporarily dumped her for another girl. Don’t mess with Robert & Shirley!

Shirley ended her film career shortly after this one while Young found the fame that eluded him in the movies on television, beginning with “Father Knows Best” (1954-1960) followed by “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (1969-1976). And let’s not forget his Sanka Coffee commercials, like this one:

OF COURSE you can trust a man who plays a doctor on TV to give good sound medical/dietary advice!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Thank you for the use of the Hall

Poor little Shirley seemed to be a staple of the court system throughout her childhood film career! Her characters were often found charming a judge into helping her get the right adoptive family (as in 1934’s “Bright Eyes” above). Sometimes, Shirley was able to plead her case to the highest authority in the country, as she did with Abraham Lincoln (perfectly portrayed by Frank McGlynn Sr.) in 1935’s “The Littlest Rebel,” shown below. Of course he kept her on-screen father from the gallows!

In 1936’s “Stowaway,” Shirley lands in jail with co-star Robert Young who accidentally grabbed the hand of the wrong child, thinking it was Shirley. Don’t worry — they were bailed out quickly.

In the same film, Shirley’s expert (albeit coached) testimony helped keep adoptive parents (Alice Faye and Robert Young) from getting a divorce just in time for a Christmas celebration.

In “Heidi” (1937), Shirley is able to keep her grandfather (Jean Hersholt) from being locked away for kidnapping by namedropping “Herr Sessemann,” who just happened to be the wealthiest guy in town.

Shirley got creative in court in “Little Miss Broadway” (1938) by presenting a complete Broadway show as evidence to help keep her father from being evicted from the hotel that he ran.

Even in her adult career, Shirley’s characters sometimes ran afoul of the law. In “Honeymoon” (1947), an underage Shirley has trouble getting a marriage license in Mexico. Ick.

Although Shirley doesn’t appear in court in “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” (1947), her sister plays a judge. Thanks to that crucial family connection, Shirley’s underage attempt to romance an older man (Cary Grant) is kept out of the judicial system!

Finally, in “Adventure in Baltimore” (1949), Shirley lands in the klink for being part of a women’s rights protest. Father (Robert Young) has to bail her and the rest of the family out of jail.

Fortunately in real life, Shirley stayed on the right side of the law!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.