Temple Tuesday: A Great Day for Transportation

In a previous post, Shirley Temple’s 1937 “christening” of the Los Angeles Railway Company’s street car was detailed. A recent acquisition has made necessary a follow-up!

From the L.A. Times on March 22, 1937:

Standing at the prow of the ultra-modern Los Angeles Railway streamlined street car, Shirley Temple, tiny screen star, yesterday accepted the first fare from Mayor Shaw. Photo shows christening at Hollenbeck Park during preview of noiseless car. City Attorney Chesebro, Byron Hanna, Chamber of Commerce president, Lucius Storrs, line chief, and others were present.…This new vehicle is public transportation’s real challenge to the competition of the private automobile.

The caption for the included photo below:

COMFORT DOMINANT NOTE IN CAR INTERIORS

Deep leather cushioned seats assure a new standard of passenger comfort in the new streamlined street cars. Overhead straps are replaced by stainless steel handholds. Other improvements include brilliant but glareless illumination. The seating capacity of the cars has been greatly increased.



Shirley was not the only star celebrating “a new era of transportation for Los Angeles” that day. Actress Olivia de Havilland, who would go on to play Melanie in “Gone with the Wind” (1939), was also very busy that day. According to another Los Angeles paper:

The Los Angeles area was entering a new era of rail transportation today. Film actresses figured yesterday in ceremonies which inaugurated shorter service in a Southern Pacific streamlined train between here and San Francisco and presented a preview of the Los Angeles Railway Company’s new streamlined street car.

Olivia De Havilland helped send the new Southern Pacific train northward. It left at 8:15 A.M. and arrived at 6 P.M. Another was run from San Francisco here.

Shirley Temple raced up and down the rubber-cushioned corridor of the new street car, of which more like it are promised. It is comparatively noiseless and carries sixty-one passengers. The car was to be exhibited further today and “unveiled” in front of the City Hall.

From the X account of Eric Dunn comes this photo of Olivia getting ready to christen the train:



From the Los Angeles Times:

More than 1000 spectators witnessed the departure, which was preceded by colorful ceremonies. The streamliner was christened by Olivia D. Havilland, film actress, and formal wishes for a safe journey were offered by Reverend Father Joachim de Prada, C.M.F., of San Gabriel Mission. Others participating included Vice-President Felix S. McGinnis of the Southern Pacific, General Passenger Agent Henry P. Monahan, Supt. C.F. Donnatin, Engineer W.W. Judy and Conductor Alfred Meredith. Simultaneous ceremonies were held in San Francisco as the companion streamliner departed for Los Angeles. On its arrival at 6 p.m., the incoming train was greeted by Miss Lorene Dyer, daughter of J.H. Dyer, vice-president, after President A.D. McDonald, who headed a heavy passenger list, had dedicated the rail flyer to intercoastal service.

The Daily News reported:

Olivia de Havilland, film star, broke a bottle of California champagne over the giant locomotive in the inauguration ceremonies. At the same time similar ceremonies at San Francisco sent the other “Daylight” speeding south. At 9 p.m. the Lark left on a new 12-hour schedule to San Francisco and the Sunset Limited left at 8 p.m. for a new 12-hour 10-minute run.

And now, back to the reason for this follow-up post. I recently acquired this color image of the 3002, the same streetcar that Shirley christened. Dated March 29, 1963, it was taken as these cars were experiencing their final journeys just before being “retired.”



If you look below the “ENTER FRONT” sign, you can see “Shirley Temple 1937.”



From the Press-Telegram, March 22, 1963:

March 31 is the day the last of the big yellow streetcars will come clickety-clacking, twanging its power pole, into the Metropolitan Transit Authority yards on Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles.…Even the almost noiseless,  harmless-seeing trackless trolleys-buses that run on overhead electricity—will disappear. They and the streetcar have received the verdict: Not efficient, not flexible.…The bus slipped in its opening wedge in 1940, when a new type of 45-passenger diesel became available.…What will become of the retiring 164 streetcars and 89 trackless trolleys? A spokesman said that by law the Metropolitan Transit Authority, as a public corporation of the state,  must put them up for bid. The streetcars are narrow-gauge rather than standard, and only three places in the world have tracks that will accommodate them — Mexico City, Korea and Spain. If these places don’t buy the, the spokesman said, they’ll probably be sold as junk.



The “Crying Trolley” that Shirley christened was the one featured in photos, but strangely enough, the actress was not mentioned in any of the accompanying stories, such as this one from the Lincoln Heights Bulletin-News on March 28, 1963:

MAKING WAY FOR PROGRESS—Los Angeles’ “Crying Trolley” is leading 163 other streetcars, plus 89 trolley coaches, on their final week of service for area commuters. Singing a final swan song to a closing era, the “Crying Trolley” — Streamliner 3002 — was the first modern streetcar to operate in the area, making its first Los Angeles run in March 1937. For its final routing the “Crying Trolley” bears tears streaming from its eyes and the sentiment: “Goodbye forever old sweethearts and pals.” The farewell on the rear reads, merely “So long.”



Waving goodbye in the photo below is Barbra Julian, Miss Greater Los Angeles Press Club, while George Goehler, MTA superintendent of transportation, wipes away the tears. The Press Club will stage a “Trolley Wake” March 30 as a final tribute to the streetcars and trolley coaches and as a welcome to 300 new SilverLiners going into service on the five MTA streetcar lines and two trolley coach lines, including the P and R lines.



I think it’s fairly safe now to deduce that Shirley’s name on the bus was not written by her, but rather a tribute by someone who remembered that she was part of the original ride back in 1937, and added at the same time as the eyes, tears, and farewell messages.

On March 31, the Times reported this:

Wake Held at Press Club for Streetcar

More than 200 mourners gathered at the Greater Los Angeles Press Club Saturday night to observe solemn last rites for the streetcar. A part of the Los Angeles transportation system for 90 years, streetcars, and their first cousins, trolly busses, were to be off the streets by 6 a.m. today. Their heirs will be a modern fleet of busses dubbed “Silverliners” by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Saturday night’s rites were simple. After a cocktail party “wake,” the mourners assembled at a buffet dinner. A eulogy to the noble streetcar was delivered by veteran actor Reginald Denny. Denny said he had come to bury Trolley, not to praise him. But he went on to laud his old friend and describe him as a “victim of progress because he was taking up too much room.” A lily was tearfully placed on a streetcar model and the mourners took a last sentimental journey from the club to the old Georgia St. car barn. They returned by bus.

While looking for info about Shirley and the 3002, I happened upon this little tidbit about her mother, Gertrude, from the same time period:




March 24, 1937:

Mother of Shirley Goes to Hospital

HOLLYWOOD, March 24 — For the first time in her life, Shirley Temple, child film star, today will be separated from her mother, Mrs. Gertrude Temple.

Mrs. Temple is to enter a hospital for an abdominal operation, described by doctors as “necessary but not serious.” She is expected to be in the hospital for two weeks.

March 25, 1937:

UNDERGOES OPERATION

Santa Monica, March 25 — Mrs. Gertrude Temple, mother of Shirley Temple, child film star, underwent an abdominal operation today in the Santa Monica Hospital. Her surgeon, Dr. Leo Madsen, said she should be able to leave for Palm Springs in about two weeks for convalescence.

Shirley touchingly shared her mother’s illness in her autobiography, Child Star:

Her typical optimism had been shaken by whatever her medical prognosis was. Either swept up in the drama of illness, or worse, death, she laid careful plans for transfer of her maternal responsibilities. As for my professional career, the studio would have to look after that phase, she wrote. “It’s Shirley as a human entity that worries me…how extraordinarily patient she is…her well-developed sense of justice…a joyous spirit, full of pranks and teasing. Tenderness, warmth, and sensitivity, these are the qualities I want to see guarded and developed.” Dwelling at length on the probability that I would continue to be making films, she expressed grave concern. “Unless surrounded by love and loyalty, any career child is at a tremendous disadvantage. She has to develop extraordinary resources within herself against greed, selfishness, and flattery. I’ve done my best to lay a foundation but the process must go on.” Candidates as proxy mother included grandmother Maude, but this Mother rejected on two counts: first, Maude was already growing too introspective and morose, vivid contrasts to my outgoing personality. Secondly, she was entitled to the serenity of old age, unlikely with me in her custody. The final choice was an old and intimate friend, Fay Ferguson, wife of Father‘s colleague years before at the bank. Unfailingly feisty ad ebullient, Fay shared with mother a catlike wisdom about life. Both were self-contained, watchful, and patient. The evening before Mother was to be admitted to Santa Monica Hospital, I stole beside her as she stood staring up at some books on our library shelf. Slipping my small hand into hers, I asked what was wrong. Nothing, she replied, tightening her lips in a thin smile, but pointing at her stomach, a gesture both nonspecific and ominous. “Don’t be afraid, Mummy,” I told her. “God will take care of you.” For the next two weeks gloom settled on my shoulders. Shooting went on as usual, with Fay doing her best to fill in for Mother, but around home everyone spoke in subdued voices.…After two weeks in the hospital she returned, wan and weak, but apparently repaired from something found to be benign. Once again we exchanged our good-night kiss, this time at her bedside instead of mine. I cried harder and longer than on the night she left. In every way the dominant pillar of my young life, she merits and receives my lifelong adoration, deep and indestructible.

Below is a shot of Shirley and her parents at the “Wee Willie Winkie” premiere on June 29, 1937:



From transportation to the illness of her mother, another rabbit-hole has been completed.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Evolution of a Pin

Every year, the Shirley’s Army Facebook Group (headed by Melissa, aka “The Colonel”) produces a pin and sells them with proceeds going towards a charity that would be representative of its inspiration, Shirley Temple Black. This year seemed like an easy choice; with all the unrest in the world, a donation to the National Museum of American Diplomacy immediately came to mind. Even as a little girl, Shirley was taught through her studies about many cultures since she was often introduced to foreign dignitaries and international celebrities. This skill came in very handy during her adulthood career as a diplomat (Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia to name a few of the positions she held). Once that was decided, the artwork needed to be produced. The fans usually prefer an image of little Shirley; “Wee Willie Winkie” (1937) was the first Shirley film that popped into my head as the happy ending is brought about by Shirley’s character bringing together two warring factions. This publicity still with costar Cesar Romero conveyed discussion, but the expression and the leg of meat were not very charming!



I also realized that for a small pin, having two characters on it would not be ideal. It’s important to consider the scale of the final work, as details often get lost in the final product when it’s this small.



I settled on this screenshot from the movie; the holding hands signifies a joining of cultures and ideas and would also allow me to have Shirley as large as possible in the artwork.



A photograph has only been used once for the pins; I decided to go back to line art this year, using the Frank Follmer sketches from the Disney cartoon “The Autograph Hound” (1939) as inspiration.



My first draft was ok; I was somewhat pleased with how it looked. But…as Melissa pointed out, I had forgotten “Shirley’s Army” and the name of the never-came-to-fruition Temple film was actually “The Little Diplomat.” I also didn’t like the way Cesar Romero’s hand just hangs limp. The art was faithful to the photo, but didn’t really convey any kind of warmth between the two characters.



I used a photo of Shirley warmly clutching Bill Robinson’s hand as inspiration and was much happier with that result!



One final touch - instead of the typical bullet point, I decided to use the ornament from Shirley’s cap in “Winkie,” aka the Cap badge of the Black Watch Royal Highlanders.



The final art: MUCH better! I also softened Shirley’s features a bit to make the cartoon look a bit more realistic.



Interested in purchasing a pin (only $13.50, which includes shipping!) and donating to this worthwhile cause? Reach out directly to Melissa at meltonn21@yahoo.com. SPECIAL OFFER WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! If you buy 3 pins (perfect for stocking stuffers), you can also receive AT NO ADDITIONAL COST the 4 pins from the previous years (the 2019 pin was designed by Shirley’s Army member Kroffty, not me!).
 


See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Winkie's Visitors

Shirley Temple rated “Wee Willie Winkie” (1937) as her best film, mainly because of the experience she had making it with director John Ford (above). From her autobiography Child Star:

Of all my films I rate “Wee Willie Winkie” the best, but for all the wrong reasons. It was best because of its manual of arms, the noisy marching around in military garb with brass buttons, my kilts bouncing. It was best because of daredevil stunts with snipers and stampeding horses. It was also best because I finally seemed to earn the professional respect of someone so blood-and-thunder macho as Ford. Best of all, the watery-blue color of my portable dressing room had been repainted in regimental red.

Many stars visited the top box office draw of the day during the filming of “Winkie,” including Sir Harry Lauder, who was an internationally famous Scottish performer. He was the first music hall performer to be knighted. As his 1950 obituary stated, “His jokes were sly, but always clean, his sentiment naive, but irresistible. His songs are still classics in their field.” His most famous songs included “Roamin’ in the Gloamin’”and “I Love a Lassie.” By the time he visited Shirley’s home on May 26, 1937, wearing Scottish Traditional Dressing, he had already been retired for two years. Accompanying him (but not in this photo) was his niece, Greta Lauder.



During the visit, he signed Shirley’s autograph book (shown below), which later sold for $8,000 in 2015. Lauder did perform again briefly during World War II to entertain the troops.



Bill Robinson also visited his good friend Shirley. At the time, he was in costume for the movie “Cafe Metropole,” filming a dance sequence that would ultimately be deleted (which you can view in my previous post).



Hollywood gossip columnist Jimmie Fidler (below) also dropped by to see Shirley. It would appear he signed her autograph book as well. Edited from the Old Time Radio Catalog website:

Fidler had several radio “columns” that featured his trademarks. His reports were punctuated with a Morse-code like beeping; he often featured “open letters” to the stars and studios, berating them for some behavior or practice; Jimmy Fidler pulled no punches when reviewing a movie, giving four bells for those he liked and calling a one bell performance “a real stinkeroo”; he made reports from “notes in his little black book,” supposedly gathered by a network of spies around Hollywood; and he closed his broadcasts with an often parodied “Good night to you, and I do mean you!” Jimmy Fidler was thought to be in the shadows of gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, but he was generally more feared by the studios because he was more brazen in his reporting. There is a story that he once scooped Louella Parsons, the undisputed Queen of the Gossip columnists, on a scandalous incident concerning Clark Gable in November, 1935. Parsons was so embarrassed over being scooped that she lied about it in her autobiography. Jimmie Fidler is honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Radio at 6128 Hollywood Blvd.



Fidler was also sued (unsuccessfully) for libel by actress Constance Bennett. Victor McLaglen yucks it up between takes with his diminutive costar. 



Hollywood tough McLaglen was born in Great Britain, and first achieved fame as a wrestler and heavyweight boxer in Canada. He was spotted in a sporting club by a British film producer and picked to play a boxer in “The Call of the Road” (1920). He moved to Hollywood in 1925, where he became typecast playing Irish drunks. Signed by Fox, he also became a frequent star in the films of John Ford, including “Mother Machree” (1928), “Strong Boy” (1929), “The Black Watch” (1929), and “The Informer” (1935), for which he won the Best Actor Oscar. It was supposedly because of McLaglen (and its large budget) that enticed John Ford to take on “Wee Willie Winkie.” While initially dismissive of Shirley, she worked hard to please him and the two became close friends. He later became godfather to her daughter, Susan.

And those are just a few of the celebrities that visited Shirley during the filming of “Wee Willie Winkie”!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley, Spunky, and Roanie

Today’s post is about Shirley’s love of animals, specifically horses. Many thanks to Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) for all the text/research!

If dogs were Shirley’s favorite animal, then horses came in second. In the fall of 1936, she received a Shetland pony from Joseph M. Schenck, chairman of the board of 20th Century-Fox Studio. Samuel of Speen came directly from the Shetland Islands on the Queen Mary’s maiden voyage after being selected by the Marquess of Donegall, distinguished English writer. He was named after the Biblical character who was “devoted to the services of the temple.” The pony was nine months old and fully mature at six and a half hands and 250 lbs. He was brought to New York by Major James Caldwell, from whose breeding farm in England the pony came. He then traveled across the country to California in a special stall-car. Shirley promptly renamed him Spunky because “he wasn’t afraid of anything.” Shirley and Spunky met at the railroad freight yard in downtown Los Angeles. She draped a flower garland around his neck, which he promptly tried to eat. He went on to live in the newly-built stables at the Temple Brentwood home. Shirley writes in Child Star that the pony was less of a pet than a boarder, was not fond of being ridden, and once bit at the bottom of a visiting Lady Thelma Furness. In the Saalfield book, Shirley Temple – The Real Little Girl, it states, “Spunky is the kind of pony that others might call ‘bad-natured,’ but Shirley loves his spirit. She was especially thrilled when he was taught to kneel, roll over, and take a bow.”

Shirley was hoping that Spunky could appear with her in “The Little Princess,” just as Ching-Ching (her dog) had been in “Just Around the Corner.” But Spunky’s coloring did not photograph well, and a Shetland pony named Jewel was given the role.



Shortly after acquiring Spunky, Shirley received Roan King II from trick rider Betsy King Ross. Roanie, as Shirley called him, was the champion trick pony of the 1934 American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City. Here is the vintage publicity blurb for the photo above:

Shirley Temple, child star of the screen, tries out her newest pony, Road King 11, champion trick pony of the American Royal Horse show in Kansas City two years ago on Oct. 21, 1936. The animal was given Shirley by Betsy King Ross, trick rider, as a companion to the little actress’ other pony, Spunky.

In the Saalfield book, Now I am Eight, the author (as Shirley) writes, “Do you remember how friendly Spunky wanted to be with Roanie when we first got Roanie? He’d run right up to Roanie and try to touch noses. But Roanie didn’t want to be friends, so he’d walk away. Then Spunky would trot right after him. They’re good friends now, though. They live right next to each other in the stable, and Roanie often looks over the top of his stall to see if Spunky is getting enough to eat.”



Shirley discovered there would be a riding sequence in 1937’s “Wee Willie Winkie.” She decided to rent one of her horses, and she chose Roanie, because he matched the reddish color of the riding outfit she’d wear in the film. The sequence was cut, but the riding outfit remained in Shirley’s collection. It was auctioned off in July 2015:



According to a July 1, 1939 newspaper article, Roanie did get his film debut in “Susannah of the Mounties.” She pointed out that “besides being very comfortable and safe and accustomed to her riding, Roanie’s services could be acquired for a nominal fee.” She and associate producer Kenneth Macgowan agreed upon $10.00 per day. Here are Shirley and Roanie during the filming of “Susannah”:

 



Another shot of Shirley with her beloved Roanie:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley Gets Spanked!

This photo shows a very muddy little Shirley Temple in the 1937 John Ford directed film “Wee Willie Winkie.” Don’t look too hard for this scene, as you won’t find it. Deleted before it was released, it’s one of those gems that one wishes still existed. In the set still below, you can see the area where it occurred.

Even a mud puddle needs art direction.

Ford appears to be on the right of this shot when you zoom in:

What happened after Shirley got muddy? She also played in Mrs. Allardyce’s (Constance Collier) petunia garden. Bad Shirley.

This scene no longer exists either, but thanks to this set still, we know where the gossipy Mrs. Allardyce had her garden.

Naturally, she got spanked by her mother, played by June Lang.

Not to be found in the finished movie, it too was deleted. How could anyone spank Shirley?!?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Quiet on the set!

The typical moviegoer watches a movie to follow the story and characters. I am not a typical moviegoer. I LOVE to watch classic (aka “old”) movies while listening to the director commentary, gaining behind-the-scenes knowledge. I also try to figure out if the scene is a set, a matte painting, or a true location. This set still from Shirley’s 1937 classic “Wee Willie Winkie” shows her costar Douglas Scott and stand-in Mary Lou Isleib “at ease” while the set is documented for the director, John Ford. Art direction on this movie was by William Darling and David Hall (both were nominated for a Best Art Direction Oscar for this film), with Thomas Little doing the set decoration.

Based on the outfit Mary Lou is wearing, I would guess that they were about to film this scene:

In most of the set photos from the film, this little sign is visible:

Another set, photographed on the same day (February 17, 1937) that also shows Scott and Isleib (this time with their backs to the camera), about to enter the Quartermasters Stores set.

What a dream to be able to walk around the sets and examine every detail! Well, to me at least!

A crew member is on the roof, getting the set ready for…something.

This extra is relaxing between takes:

I believe it’s the same actor with Shirley shown here:

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Behind the scenes

Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot taken during the filming of Shirley’s 1937 classic, “Wee Willie Winkie.” From the attached publicity blurb:

OFF-STAGE — Victor McLaglen and Shirley Temple, at left, in a scene fro Rudyard Kipling’s “Wee Willie Winkie,” now in production at 20th Century-Fox. Director John Ford, hat turned down, is on the far side of the camera.



Shirley looks very determined!

Here’s another shot, showing the distinctive rocks of the Iverson Movie Ranch set in Chatsworth, where much of the film was shot:



See more Shirley photos at my main website.