Temple Tuesday: No Jitterbug for Shirley

As soon as she hit the silver screen, Shirley Temple was known for both singing and dancing, as seen above in “War Babies” (1932). In “Miss Annie Rooney” (1942), her first teenage romantic role, it was only natural that Shirley’s footwork kept up with the times. Below, she can be seen getting coached by choreographer Nick Castle and costar Dickie Moore.



Fortunately for Dickie, for this jitterbug dance sequence he was able to get by with just standing still while Shirley did all the work.



Later in the film, wrong-side-of-the-tracks Annie (Shirley) finds favor with the rich kids by teaching them how to cut a rug. “Drizzlepuss” Stella Bainbridge (June Lockhard) refuses to join the fun and stands off to the right. 



When Shirley returned to the screen a little over a year later in David Selznick’s “Since You Went Away” (1944), the producer was adamant against Shirley doing any singing or dancing. According to publicity of the time, the movie “…definitely is not ‘another Temple picture.’ It is based on a series of letters written by Margaret Buell Wilder, Dayton, Ohio, newspaper-woman and mother of two teenaged daughters, to her husband in the Army. It is the every-day story of their problems and efforts to make ends meet by taking in boarders. And it is definitely not another Temple role. Shirley plays a straight dramatic part. No dancing and no singing.” In one of his famous memos, Selznick wrote, “I’m anxious to get the accent off this as a Temple vehicle and start hammering away at its tremendous cast.” Selznick would even go so far as to admonish Shirley against singing and dancing on her War Bond Tours. What a fink! Below is Shirley with costar Claudette Colbert who played her mother, Anne Hilton.



As in Selznick’s “Gone with the Wind,” a military dance plays a central part to the story of the film. Here, Jennifer Jones (playing Shirley’s older sister) arrives to the thrill of the soldiers who get a temporary break from World War II to dance with some pretty girls.



Shirley is not even in this scene at all; instead, the focus is on the romantic leads (Robert Walker and Jones) and their chaperones, Colbert and Joseph Cotten, who plays a close friend of the Hilton family.



According to the AFI website, the hangar dance was shot in a reproduction of an Army aviation hangar that encompassed two sound stages, over 20,000 sq. ft. of floor space and utilized 100 electricians. Below, director John Cromwell coaches Cotten and Colbert as they dance and recite their dramatic dialogue.



Colbert and Cotten rest between takes:



With Cromwell watching at right, Jones and Walker (married at the time the film was being made) perform their scene:



Silver Screen Magazine shot a series of dance photos during filming of the movie. From their publicity blurbs:

Jitterbugs Elsie Peritz and Jack Arkin warm up their motors, so to speak for an aerial take-off in the hangar dance sequence of “Since You Went Away,” first picture made by David O. Selznick since his Academy Award winning “Gone with the Wind” and “Rebecca.”



Peritz also had an uncredited role in the Robert Benchley Paramount Technicolor short, “Boogie Woogie” (1945). Arkin had a few small uncredited roles, including the Judy Garland film, “The Clock” (1945) and “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944) where he also danced the Jitterbug.

Below: Jack gives a spin and—oops!—we got something in our eye, so we didn’t see that.



Now Elsie is really getting up in Hollywood. The lady in the background, if she had it to do over again, would never learn how to knit but would concentrate on jitterbugging, as Elsie has, so that she too could be the life of the party.



Don’t feel bad for Shirley; she continued to dance for her fans, including in Central Park with former dance partner and close friend, Bill Robinson, Summer 1944:



She gave Franchot Tone Jitterbug lessons in “Honeymoon” (1947):



In the 1970’s, Shirley performed the Jitterbug with talk show host Mike Douglas. I have yet to find a clip of it on YouTube. From what I recall she was magnificent!

See more “Since You Went Away” photos at my main website.

Wizard Wednesday, Part 2

Today’s post has more questions/answers from William Stillman, author of The Road to Oz: The Evolution, Creation, and Legacy of a Motion Picture Masterpiece

1. Your book covers the multitude of initial cast choices/changes that occurred with the filming of “The Wizard of Oz.” Shown above is the original casting choice for the witch, Gale Sondergaard. What would YOUR ideal backup cast be if you weren't allowed to choose from anyone that ended up in the film: Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion, Wizard, Witch, Glinda, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry?

A: What an intriguing question! Hmmmm…Well, I’ve always thought Virginia Weidler was a very competent little actress who could have played Dorothy quite well (and would’ve been much closer to the age of the character than Judy Garland). Despite costarring with Garland and Mickey Rooney in “Babes on Broadway,” Weidler was not a prime vocalist, however, and her would-be musical numbers for “Oz” would have to have been dubbed. Fun fact: Weidler starred in 1939’s “Bad Little Angel” with Terry, the Cairn terrier who portrayed Toto, as her pet. In one scene, she even carries the basket used by Judy Garland throughout “The Wizard of Oz”!

For the Tin Man and Scarecrow—from MGM’s roster—I could see Allan Jones (primarily a singer) or George Murphy (an actor/dancer). An interesting choice for the Tin Man might’ve been Nelson Eddy from the perspective of someone who could sing and dance, and was associated with romance in the public eye. For the Cowardly Lion, perhaps Cliff Edwards (aka “Ukulele Ike”), a Broadway comedian and singer then under contract to Metro; Ted Healy; or maybe Eddie Collins who played a similar part with Shirley Temple in “The Blue Bird.”

For the Wizard, I think Mervyn LeRoy’s original selection of Ed Wynn would’ve been an interesting choice for his befuddled schtick. If not Wynn, then maybe Guy Kibbee might’ve filled the role ably.

For the Wicked Witch I could see Renie Riano who, like Margaret Hamilton, was known as a stage and screen comedienne. Both actresses played similar movie roles as sarcastic maids and housekeepers.

Billie Burke brought a sense of quiet wisdom and spiritual tranquility to the part of Glinda, perhaps owing to her maturity—watch carefully how she deals with the Wicked Witch, smiling at her theatrics, dismissing her threats, and being firm when warranted. As is true of an ethereal being, it’s difficult to pinpoint her age. Outside of Burke, probably a starlet on the MGM roster would’ve been chosen to project youth and sweetness, such as Rita Johnson, Virginia Bruce or Virginia Grey.

For Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, how about Jessie Ralph and Lionel Barrymore!



2. You mention Jack Haley's adopted/unadopted child who is pictured above, wearing his uniform from the Black-Foxe Military Institute while Haley reads “The Wizard of Oz.” Looks like there is no information about what happened to him after he left Haley’s guardianship. Seems baffling as to why the adoption occurred in the first place...as if some other piece of information is missing. Any thoughts?

A: Jay Scarfone and I did our darndest to trace the whereabouts of Haley’s adopted son but to no avail. As we intimate in “The Road to Oz,” outside of any insider information between Haley and his wife, it’s possible that the adoption was arranged because it was the trendy, philanthropic thing to do in Hollywood at that time. It doesn’t make sense, though, that Haley would’ve added an historically “unplaceable” child to his brood on top of his taxing professional commitments and, as it happened, the adoption was short-lived.



3. Under Richard Thorpe’s direction, Dorothy/Judy was blonde and glamorous. It doesn't appear that the transformation/beauty shop Dorothy at the Wash & Brush up was in the script for that version, or was it? At what point was that added?

A: There was always intended to be a sequence in which Dorothy and her friends are primped and refurbished before their audience with the Wizard. Dorothy’s hair was to be brushed and curled, and she was to change into a green dress as she does in the book, and as she does in the recent Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production of MGM’s “Oz.”



4. In the Professor Marvel trailer, he finds a picture of Dorothy and Aunt Em. It always fascinated me to see Dorothy in a different dress. I also notice that she is wearing Mary Janes. Any idea what happened to that dress? I am also guessing those are the Mary Janes that you mention Judy wearing originally before Cukor changed things.

A: Yes, the patent-leather Mary Jane shoes we see Dorothy wearing in the portrait with Aunt Em are the shoes Judy Garland would have worn in Kansas originally, and did wear in preliminary tests. There’s no telling what became of the dress, and we can only speculate that if it wasn’t worn in other pictures, it was sold during the 1970 liquidation of MGM’s property. Perhaps it was inked with Judy Garland’s name in the lining and is floating around out there to the unawares of its owner. Stranger things have happened!



5. What do you think the fate of the movie would have been if Richard Thorpe had been allowed to complete direction of it?

A: If Richard Thorpe had been the director of record for "The Wizard of Oz," I think its legacy would be similar to that of the 1933 "Alice in Wonderland" or Shirley Temple's "The Blue Bird." That is, it probably would be remembered as a quaint fantasy film very much of its era and primarily recalled by movie buffs and film historians but otherwise considered unremarkable. It might have also been a bit of a career setback for Judy Garland in terms of public popularity but under the old contract system, that would've readily been rectified with her next picture.



6. You talk about Bobbie Koshay wearing the blonde Thorpe wig in the Rose Parade. In photos, it does have more of a brown color. I also ask because the supposed blonde test wig came up for auction recently. Are these all one and the same?

Koshay wears a blonde wig as we own color footage of the float. There were likely two wigs. They will look light or dark depending upon lighting (as Judy's blonde wig looks dark/light in various Thorpe stills). The float can be seen here:



and here:



7. It seems like both Jitterbug and the bees sequence at the Tinman's cottage were filmed, animated, and completely finished. Have ANY of the animation drawings survived, or any kind of test shot surfaced showing either the jitterbug or the bees?

A: So far we have not heard of or seen any animations for WOZ.

See more “Wizard of Oz” photos at my main website.

Wizard of Oz 75th Tribute Interview

"The Wizard of Oz" is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year (seems like just yesterday I was excited about the beloved classic's 50th!), and authors William Stillman and Jay Scarfone have published the book "The Wizard of Oz: The Official 75th Anniversary Companion." When the authors saw that I had mentioned their book in my blog, they graciously contacted me and agreed to do an interview. They quickly responded to the questions that I sent to them and allowed me to use some of the rare images from their book in today's post.

Q. One of the most fascinating things from your book is seeing the color Lilly test shots with the stars in somewhat candid poses while wearing their costumes. Could you maybe explain those a bit and how you happened to find them to use in the book? At one time, did footage actually exist for these?

A. William: As it was explained to us, and as reported in "The Wizard of Oz: The Official 75th Anniversary Companion," the Lilly was a hand-held card with a white portion and a color-chart portion. This was used to test the “correctness” of the make-up, wardrobe and set hues for the appropriate translation to Technicolor film. After each scene, the actors would hold their mark as an assistant ran in and held up the Lilly while a few extra feet of film was taken. If, when developed, the white portion of the Lilly remained white, the footage was undistorted and good to print. After its intended use, this test footage was cut up into clips three-frames in length and distributed to the crew as souvenirs. So, yes, while the test footage would’ve actually existed for a brief time during production, I am unaware of actual uncut footage of said tests existing today. Jay Scarfone and I are the keepers of the Wizard of Oz Technicolor clip archives of M-G-M make-up artist Charles Schram (a gift from Mr. Schram) and Technicolor cameraman Allen Davey (acquired by us at great expense from an individual who purchased them at a Midwest estate sale a few years ago).



Q. What are the chances of finding the Renovation or Jitterbug sequences (besides the rehearsal footage everyone has seen)? Are they really buried under a freeway? Or were they destroyed? Any possibility a studio employee has a print?

A. William: One never knows. We are aware of publicly unseen special effects tests so who knows what certain individuals possess, perhaps unaware. What’s more likely to surface might be Technicolor film-frame outtakes from those scenes in the manner that we discovered clips from Ray Bolger’s deleted Scarecrow dance, two of which are reproduced in the book. There’s also the original 1939 theatrical trailer which was longer than the re-release versions and featured additional outtake footage. We have over three dozen Technicolor clips of the Wizard’s head being tested, a few samples of which are published in the book, so we could conceivably assemble a film sequence if we ever got ambitious enough to do it.



Q. I have read about the deleted sequence where the bees come out of the tin man's mouth; just how far along was that sequence developed? Was the animation done, or was it deleted before the effect was added?

A. William: Yes, apparently the animation was completed and included in a rough cut of the film as the subsequent scene (“You’re the best friends anybody ever had.”) required some creative editing once the bee scene was deleted in order to match the actors’ positions pre-animated bees. M-G-M had 95 cartoonists in its animation department at the time and other special effects for Oz were animated as well including the jitterbug insect and tests for the Winged Monkeys, flying Witch, and Wizard’s floating head.



Q. What are your thoughts on the deleted sequences? Do you think all of the trims made were correct?

A. William: Yes, for the most part, I concur with the choices that were made with one exception: I wish they had retained the triumphal return to the Emerald City for the magnificence of its pageantry and for the addition of some music to the latter part of the film; it only lasted a few moments but in the editing process, anything that wasn’t necessary to the plot was cut for time. From the surviving stills and brief snippet in the film trailer, it looks gorgeous, though. Judy’s reprise of “Over the Rainbow” in the Witch’s castle would be great to see but, by today’s standards, might possibly be interpreted as a bit too contrived or over-the-top manipulative.

Jay: I agree with Bill that the “Triumphal Return” sequence could have remained in the film (were it not for the need to trim the running time), thereby helping to balance the musicality of the latter part of the movie with respect to the first half. I do think that Judy’s brief “Over the Rainbow” reprise might have stayed, giving audiences yet another chance to hear her sing as well as amplifying the poignancy and drama of Dorothy’s predicament at that point in the story. I also think it would have been nice to have kept the entire montage of images originally included during Dorothy’s transition back to Kansas (“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home . . .”) rather than those of just the ruby slippers and the house crashing to the ground. Even as a young person, before I knew that these other images had at one time existed, I sensed that this scene (and accompanying music) seemed somewhat abrupt and choppy.



Q. What is your favorite song in the movie?

A. William: Believe it or not, I’ve always liked “Optimistic Voices” best. That’s the brief musical interlude sung by a disembodied female trio as Dorothy and her friends emerge from the poppy field.

Jay: I’ve always enjoyed all the choruses of “You’re/We’re Off to See the Wizard,” with its catchy lyrics and spirited tempo. I have to also admit that I rather like “The Jitterbug” as sung by Judy Garland. That song, of course, was right in the zone of jazzy numbers for which she particularly excelled in her youth.



Q. BESIDES the ruby slippers, what costume or prop would be a Holy Grail to you if you had the opportunity to acquire it?

A. William: I’d like the Wicked Witch’s Golden Cap, the one she intended to use to call the Winged Monkeys (as in the L. Frank Baum book) to retrieve the ruby slippers from the unconscious Dorothy in the poppy field. It is seen briefly on film as Nikko, the Witch’s monkey familiar, brings it to her and she throws it across the room after being foiled by Glinda’s snowstorm.

Jay: If we’re strictly talking about wish-list type items, I think it would be thrilling to locate Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch broom, Billie Burke’s Glinda wand, or Jack Haley’s Tin Man ax. Not only are all of these items very distinct in their design, I believe their existence (or lack thereof) remains unknown.



Q. Even today, some sources publish the story that the only reason Shirley Temple didn't get into the movie was because of Jean Harlow's death. Any idea where this rumor came from? Also - are there many details known about Roger Edens' audition of Shirley Temple for the movie?

A. William: In our research, we discovered that most long-standing rumors about The Wizard of Oz almost always contain a grain of truth. Since 1935, Shirley Temple had been the critical and editorial favorite to play Dorothy in a modern talkie version of Oz. We have found evidence of a brief window of time in 1937, and preceding Harlow’s death, when a proposed deal involving Temple for Oz in exchange for M-G-M’s loan of Gable and Harlow to Fox would’ve been quite feasible. This is in keeping with the general timeframe as Temple recalled it in her book, Child Star, and would’ve certainly been a different Oz project than what ultimately transpired (i.e. one with only Temple’s name attached to it for the moment). So what’s likely happened over time is that the alleged events of 1937 have become blurred with the 1938 Oz project for which Judy Garland was cast and for which there was cursory interest in Temple’s availability. I have no further details about Edens auditioning Temple other than what’s been previously published.



Q. Can you give one teaser of a tidbit or fact that you had to leave out of this volume for size/space purposes?

A. William: There was an extraordinary amount of research we uncovered over the course of the five years we spent compiling this project, much of which was cut from the book. We are setting it all aside for future use; but one tidbit we can share concerns a posed, close-up still of Jack Haley reading The Wizard of Oz to his son, Jack Jr. It is a photograph that is familiar to many Oz fans and has been published before. But in the true Hollywood tradition of saving face, what people don’t realize is that the original photo was tightly cropped to edit out Jack Haley’s previously-unknown “other” son—a boy who was reportedly adopted by the Haleys but allegedly “returned” after a brief period. He was said to have been a hellion and is wearing a military academy uniform in the picture. But we’ll save the details about that for another time!

Jay: We did find a particularly specific 1939 quote from Jack Dawn, head of M-G-M’s makeup department, that detailed the various “flaws” of young Judy’s facial attributes—and what he did to “correct” (or at least compensate for) them. While not necessarily intended to be mean, Mr. Dawn’s comments were nonetheless blunt and insensitive at best. It is no doubt that such pointed comments by M-G-M makeup and wardrobe personnel, not to mention the Hollywood press, would have had a strong impact on the fragile psyche of Garland—the same as any other girl her age. Warner Bros., however, was reluctant to approve the inclusion of any such commentary about Judy in our manuscript (including reference to her self-admitted weight struggles), so that information was ultimately excised from the book.

Many many thanks to William and Jay for taking the time to share their vast knowledge of "The Wizard of Oz" at Daveland. I suggest if you are an Oz fan that you pick up a copy of their book today!

See more Judy Garland "Wizard of Oz" photos on my main website.