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: “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: 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: 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: 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.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at the Opera

Today, it’s back to “Captain January,” where Shirley’s character, Helen “Star” Mason, took a stab at Opera. The photo above shows her with the widow Croft (Jane Darwell), who has just finished altering the gown to fit Star. Found in a trunk when Star was rescued at sea as a baby by Captain January (Guy Kibbee), it is AMAZING how it fits Shirley perfectly! Designed by Gwen Wakeling, the detail on this costume is truly incredible.

Star dons the gown and proceeds to join January and Captain Nazro (Slim Summervile) in song. Doing their own version of the sextet from “Lucia di Lammermoor,” it is a comic masterpiece. Both Summerville and Kibbee were dubbed, but Shirley did her own vocals. While the song was written as a sextet by Gaetano Donizetti, I don’t think anybody missed the other three voices in Shirley’s version! In the original opera, the sextet occurs in Act 2; the full title of the song is “Chi mi frena in tal momento.” You can see the actual song being performed here:



I think I prefer Shirley’s version. Does that make me lowbrow?

Even movie critic Frank S. Nugent couldn’t resist the comic scene, as witnessed by his N.Y. Times column from April 25, 1936:

As a footnote to the operatic cycle, it must be recorded that Shirley Temple sings the sextet from "Lucia" in her latest picture, "Captain January," which was trundled into the Capitol yesterday after a preliminary brush with the law. It is an abridged version, of course, cut down to trio dimensions to suit the screen's favorite actress and her associates, Guy Kibbee and Slim Summerville. Mistress Temple skips the high notes but makes up for that later by tap-dancing the multiplication table when she runs—à la Bill Robinson—down a flight of steps. There is added compensation, too, in the rhythmic routine she steps with Buddy Ebsen, who yet may be her Fred Astaire when she has grown up to become a later-day Ginger Rogers.

Shirley’s rehearsal sheet music from the film was sold in the 2015 “Love, Shirley Temple” auction:



From the auction description:

Five accordion-folded sheets of music and lyrics from the 1934 film include "At the Codfish Ball" (labeled Shirley Temple's key), "Sextette from Lucia", "The Right Somebody to Love" (labeled Shirley Temple's key). "Malihini Mele" (which was written in 1934 by R. Alex Anderson, but was deleted from the final film), and "Early Bird". Circa 1936.

Presale Estimate: 200+ • Realized Price: $800

Below is the watercolor costume sketch done for this gown back in 1936:



Want to see how Shirley’s dress looks now? Here it is on display at the Santa Monica History Museum:





The back of the dress; just as beautiful!



After Shirley’s passing, Tim Smith from the Baltimore Sun recalled the Child Star and one of his favorite Temple scenes:

I do not hesitate to confess that some of my favorite times as a kid -- and, yes, in later years, too -- were spent watching her childhood movies. I didn't care how cornball or contrived the plots. I just loved her smile, her voice, her unpretentious talent. Not to mention the songs and the many vibrant actors who worked with her, helping to make even the silliest of the movies enjoyable and often quite touching.

Thanks to my pal Sebastian in Miami for reminding me this morning of a fabulous scene of Shirley Temple singing opera in the the 1936 film "Captain January." It's the well known "La La La" Trio from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." OK, so it's supposed to be a sextet and have a whole lot of very serious words, but who needs 'em when you get a performance this delerious?

I couldn’t have said it more beautifully myself!

I’ll end the post with the clip of Shirley, Guy, and Slim performing the sextet. Sorry for the (incorrect) colorization!



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Sea

From the publicity still of Shirley’s 1936 film “Captain January”:

NO MINIATURES HERE — These two boats, an act duplicate of a coast guard cruiser and a heavy fishing smack, were moved onto a specially constructed tank, holding thousands of tons of water to film sea sequences in Darryl F. Zanuck’s new production “Captain January” in which Shirley Temple is the star with Guy Kibbee, Buddy Ebsen, Slim Summerville and June Lang in supporting parts.

Zooming in, you can see little Shirley...or is it? Something about the face doesn’t look right, meaning it could be Mary Lou Isleib, Shirley’s stand-in. Hard to tell though; since it’s a long-exposure night shot, that could be what makes the face seem a little off.



In this closeup, you can see screen-meanie Sara Haden, who plays the truant officer hell-bent on making Shirley a ward of the state.



Here’s one of the scenes where Haden threatens to take Shirley away from her guardians, played by Slim Summerville and Guy Kibbee.



Don’t fret folks; it’s a Shirley movie. Just look at this still from the finale; do you actually think Haden was victorious?!?



See more Shirley photos at my main website.