Temple Tuesday: Shirley, Kathleen, and Vincente

In “Kathleen,” Shirley’s one and only film for MGM, she plays a girl who dreams her life the way she wants it. In one of her dreams, she is discovered while walking down the street and immediately cast as the lead in a Broadway show. Although uncredited, the set design belongs to Vincente Minnelli, who had just begun his illustrious career at MGM. According to A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli by Mark Griffin:

Vincente reportedly stopped the show with something other than his conceptual ideas for the film’s big production number “Around the Corner.” Several of the contract dancers who worked on the film claimed that Minnelli appeared on the set wearing cosmetics—lipstick, mascara, eye shadow—enough chemical enhancement that Max Factor should have been beaming with pride. As dancer Dorothy Raye recalled, “There was absolute silence on the set. I mean silence! Nobody had ever appeared looking like that. None of us could think of what to say.”

Dancer Dorothy Raye? The only dancers we see on screen in this number are male. Faulty memory on Dorothy’s part?

Not at all! The musical number was originally longer, and included a calypso portion with both male and female dancers.

As Shirley recalled later in her 1988 autobiography Child Star:

During a dream sequence, I was a mulatto in a calypso straw hat, oatmeal pants cut short, and rigged with a bongo drum on each hip. A hydraulically operated dance floor rose and fell while the lavish dance-musical number pulsed and swirled in a melange of tap-tango and tap-rhumba. For our large cast of actors and dancers the rehearsal was long, relentless, and sweaty. In a rare exception, I grew tired a few minutes before my statutory four hours of work had expired. Mother noticed. Approaching an assistant director, she suggested that as it was already evening, a break until morning would be good for everyone. The director construed her comment as related only to me and replied tersely that I should be ordered to work harder, not rest. Everyone was getting testy, including Mother. She refused to comply and told me to prepare to go home. Things came rapidly to a boil.

Voice coach Roger Edens was summoned, accompanied by a breathless, intense front-office type in coat and tie. Both urged Mother to order me to continue. “Not when she won’t do her best,” she answered stiffly. Nobody asked me if I wanted to continue, or anything at all. Speaking in low, even tones but easily overheard, Edens said, “Look, this is Metro, Mrs. Temple. We work right through. Judy just had her eighteenth birthday and we worked her all night, until 4:00 a.m. She loved it! A mark of maturity.” “And wait until Shirley’s eighteen,” chimed in the other man. “We’ll work her all night, just like Judy.” Mother turned, eyes glistening. “Well, she’s not eighteen yet.” She squared herself toward Edens. “I won’t order her to do it. If you do, you’ll get rotten results!” That’s just what they did, and that’s just what they got.

MGM was known for spending lavishly, but they also knew how to save a buck, too. They ended up using the sets and costumes from Shirley’s deleted scene for Judy Garland’s “Minnie From Trinidad” number in “Ziegfeld Girl.”

Here’s a previously posted shot of Shirley and husband John Agar at a movie premiere with Judy and Vincente. I get the feeling the two couples didn’t double-date very much!

See more photos at my main website.

Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows

The 1955 classic, “All That Heaven Allows” was one of my recent dinner-time watches. While written off by many as a white-bread melodrama, in the hands of the talented German director Douglas Sirk, there is so much more going on here than what you notice on the surface. WARNING: THIS POST IS FULL OF PLOT SPOILERS!

Jane Wyman plays a wealthy widow who falls for her gardener, Rock Hudson. While the two appear to be complete opposites, they have much more in common than Wyman’s bratty children or her snobby country club friends. Wyman’s character has a desire for more in life than the trappings of her wealth and the gossip of town nasty Mona (played expertly by Jacqueline de Wit).

Jane and Rock get to know each other over a cup of coffee, and she eventually he invites her to his home and tree farm. Wyman sees the mill on his property and lets Rock know it would be a perfect home…if fixed up.

Meanwhile, back to Jane’s regular world, she is fixed up with the wealthy town geezer, who also happens to be a very asexual and boring hypochondriac. However, this is the man her circle (and her kids) expect her to end up with. Can you see the boredom on Jane’s face?

Jane tries to show she isn’t dead yet by wearing a very va-va-voom red dress; town gossip Mona calls her out on it.

Married lothario Howard (Donald Curtis) can’t control himself at the party and attempts to make an unwanted move on Jane. Sorry, Howard; this gal wants nothing to do with a creep like you.

In contrast, Rock invites Jane to a party with HIS friends. Before the guests arrive, Jane does some light reading (Walden by Thoreau) and is given the lowdown on Rock: he’s an earthy guy who doesn’t give a crap about society’s conventions. “To thine own self be true,” Jane is told.

Naturally, Rock’s party is much more fun and a lot less snobby. Good food, good friends, dancing, and a lot of laughter. Jane is hooked. Sure beats that damn country club crap!

The two spend a night together in the mill that Rock has begun fixing up for them.

Things start to go awry though; Mona notices that Wyman is gone over the weekend and begins to spread the gossip that she’s having an affair with the low-down gardener.

Attempting damage control, she has Rock meet the kids. They completely reject the gardener, who doesn’t fit into their idea of who Mom should be dating.

Next, Jane takes Rock to a cocktail party so that her society friends can meet him and see what a swell guy he is. That bombs, too. Howard makes another play for Jane and Rock intercepts with his fists. A disaster!

That night, Jane’s whiny little daughter is harassed by the town kids with more foul gossip about Rock and Jane.

Afraid of upsetting the apple cart, Jane chooses her little brats and life at the country club over a life of fulfillment with Rock.

Sadly, by this point the kids have moved on with their own lives and aren’t even around any more. Instead, they give her a TV to keep her company. Those little s#$%s!!

Plagued by headaches, Jane goes to see none other than: DR. BELLOWS!! That’s right, it’s Hayden Rorke (of “I Dream of Jeannie” fame) to the rescue, as he tells her nothing is physically wrong with her. “Let’s face it,” he chastises. “You were ready for a love affair, but not for love!” Telling her to go after Rock and forget Mona, she obediently does so.

When she arrives at the mill, her ego kicks in and she changes her mind. High on a hillside, Rock views her and calls to her, to no avail. Running to catch her before she drives away, Rock falls down the ravine and passes out in a snow bank. What will happen? Does true love prevail? You’ll have to see the movie to find out.

 

While this may appear to be your typical 1950s white-bread weepy, you could substitute so many of the social issues of the time AND of today and see that this movie speaks to a much larger audience. Sirk knew exactly what he was doing with this movie; although it addresses class differences, it could just as easily be about race, sexuality, or any other class that narrow-minded people feel the need to persecute. By giving in to that type of mentality, who really wins?

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Citizen Kane, Orson, and Shirley

I have been making it a habit to pop in an old classic film while eating dinner. Recently, I got out my “Citizen Kane” blu ray disc. Gregg Toland’s cinematography is even better when you watch this classic black and white film in high definition. Or is it? For the first time, I noticed a detail that had eluded me on other home video incarnations: after the March of Time newsreel is played, Joseph Cotten has a very tiny cameo as a reporter. A few scenes later, he is playing Kane's best friend, Jed Leland, sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing home.

Were original prints of the film developed darker so that audiences wouldn’t notice this? Or did Orson Welles need an extra in the scene so badly that he had Cotten doing double duty? Or was it some kind of inside joke? I have no idea. However…I also noticed something else. In the newsreel footage that shows Xanadu, the fictional estate of Charles Foster Kane, a swimming pool is shown:

My memory bank went off and I remembered seeing a similar pool in the 1934 Shirley Temple movie “Now and Forever.” I happened to be talking to my friend Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) and told her my theory. A few minutes later she said it WAS the same pool! I pulled out my “Now and Forever” dvd and sure enough! The two frames of film are identical!

In fact, you can even see Carole Lombard and Gary Cooper in the shadows of both movies! Here are two publicity stills from the film, with Shirley in the first one:

Now the REAL mystery; where was/is this pool located? Here’s an establishing shot from the other side in “Now and Forever”:

If anyone out there knows the answer, please comment!

Orson apparently was neighbors with Shirley for awhile. In my collection I have a shot of Orson at her home in 1939, with Shirley playing on her little backyard rollercoaster. This visit was staged for the press.

Shirley recalled it in her autobiography Child Star:

"Did you hear my program about Martians [War of the Worlds]?" "Yes," I stroked my ball and scowled. It had stopped wide of the final wicket. "Nelson Eddy was why I listened." Welles turned and leaned on his mallet, waiting. My evening routine included listening to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. I explained that when guest Eddy came on to sing, I switched stations and stumbled on his. "Did you believe my program?" he asked, striking a pleasing pose for our photographers. "No, I knew it wasn't true." Taking careful aim, I knocked his ball slightly away from the mouth of the final wicket, leaving mine in good position. His return shot caromed my ball away into a difficult lie. "How did you know?" he asked. Engrossed with my final chance, I said nothing and concentrated. I missed. "Well," I replied resignedly, "if men from Mars had come here, why would just your program be broadcasting the news? That didn't make sense, so I didn't believe it."

Afterward, one reporter wrote: "The gentlemen of the press passed a pleasant afternoon and left with the conviction that Mr. Welles, who is only 13 years older than Shirley Temple, is as agreeable as he is talented." That was probably one of the last positive things the press wrote about Orson, who was smeared hard by William Randolph Hearst after the release of the not-so-fictional “Citizen Kane” was released.

Here’s another shot of Orson and Shirley, from The Pump Room at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago with Ruth Gordon, September 15, 1944. Shirley was making appearances selling war bonds at the time.

To think that Shirley came THIS CLOSE to being in “Citizen Kane”! It boggles the mind!

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Boy Next Door

We often hear about how Shirley Temple came THIS CLOSE to having the role of Dorothy that made Judy Garland a legend. What you probably don’t hear about is something else they actually DID share: the boy next door. Surely you remember him. He’s the guy who lived at 5133 Kensington Avenue that inspired Judy to sing “The Boy Next Door” in 1944’s “Meet Me In St. Louis.” He was played by Tom Drake, who had a moderately successful career but definitely not one that would pop to the top of most memorable. He was born Alfred Sinclair Alderdice; I can see why he changed his name. That’s a mouthful for a billboard. Once was not enough for Judy though; she also made “Words and Music” with him in 1948. They only had a few seconds of screen time together though, as she was only on board for two musical numbers. That’s Janet Leigh (of “Psycho” fame) on the right.



In 1949, Shirley won Drake away from Judy, as she was the one who ended up with him in “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College,” also starring Clifton Webb.



It’s a mildly amusing film with Shirley as a war widow with a son; Drake plays a college student job coordinator. Of course they fall in love, but not without a few little roadblocks along the way.



It may have all been a moot point, as it appears based on a few sources that Tom actually preferred “the boy next door.”

See more Shirley photos at my main website.

Flashback Friday: Balboa Park

It's embarrassing to think how long this post has been waiting for me to shoot a matching contemporary view (not quite as embarrassing as the VERY cool vintage Disneyland post that has been sitting on my computer for a few years). The initial photo is from February 1962 and shows the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. Not a stellar photo, but it does show a set of arches that are no longer there; in their place is a large plaza with a fountain. The first time I attempted the similar view I didn't get the angle right and completely left the Natural History Museum out of the shot.



Flash forward to about six months later and round two. Success!



Here’s a better composed vintage view of the Natural History Museum from September 1963:



It was quite odd to see Balboa Park empty at sunset; normally this is a time when the place is packed. Just a sign of the times.







See more Balboa Park photos at my main website.

Castle Panorama, 1956

One big juicy panorama of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle is what I present to you today. What do you see as you zoom in to this shot? I see a girl eating from a Disneyland box of popcorn; I see a woman in a fur stole; I see two little boys that may or may not be twins, yet Mom has dressed them up in matching outfits.

As a follow-up to my Sheriff/Badge posts, Disneyland slide collector supreme Bill Cotter graciously supplied this 1956 image of Disneyland’s nefarious villain, Black Bart, who appears to be lost in Central Plaza. Ready for a shoot-out, let’s hope everyone was safe as he made his way back to Frontierland!

See more Sleeping Beauty Castle photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley Goes Latin!

What happens when Shirley and Cinco de Mayo collide? You’ll find out today! Cinco de Mayo (aka the fifth of May) celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, it has become a commemoration of Mexican culture and heritage here in the U.S.

There weren’t many Latin-themed elements in Shirley’s movies. The only one I could think of was the pitiful “Honeymoon.” About the only thing I can recommend about it are two dance numbers that Shirley performs.



The movie is set in Mexico; the premise is that an underage Shirley is supposed to meet her honey, Guy Madison, in Mexico to be wed. Trouble immediately begins when they have difficulty finding each other. With the help of the American Consul, played by Franchot Tone, things work out...until Shirley falls off a pool diving board and lands on Franchot. When she wakes up, she’s in love with him. She’s 17; Tone was in his 40’s, and his character was engaged. Oh, and falling off a diving board onto Madison was how those two fell in love. Are you with me yet? If you say “no,” I can’t blame you. There’s a bit of an ‘ick’ factor to the Tone-Temple storyline; so bad that actor Joseph Cotten turned the role down, even though it meant he was to be put on suspension. Wise career move, Joseph!

This series of publicity photos was taken by famed LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole:



In early March 1946, RKO announced that the film was to be shot in and around its new Churubusco studios near Mexico City. Because of a workers' strike in the Mexican film industry, filming was delayed by a month. The cast and crew shot for approximately three weeks in and around the Mexican studio. Over two hundred Spanish-speaking extras were hired to appear in the film. I do not believe Shirley went to Mexico; all of the location shots have a very bad double who looks nothing like our gal. Instead, all of her work was back in the U.S. at the studio.



The film wasn’t released until 1947, receiving a not-so-good review from the New York Times:

The friends of Shirley Temple must be getting a little bit tired of seeing this buxom young lady still acting as though she were a kid. Shirley is no Greta Garbo, which is plain enough to see, but she certainly deserves an opportunity to act smarter than she does in “Honeymoon,” her latest RKO comedy…In this frivolous item, for which frivolous is really a flattering word, she plays a flighty little subdeb who arrives in Mexico City to be married to an American soldier-boy who has flown up from Panama to meet her. But she misses connection with him first, and then when she does finally find him, they have all sorts of trouble getting wed—mainly because Miss Shirley is so casual and careless about things. To be sure, her "Dreamboat," Guy Madison, is no mental giant himself, but with all her foolish behavior, it is no wonder he gets provoked with her at times. However, through the frantic assistance of the American vice consul, Franchot Tone—with whom the little lady, at one point, thinks that she has fallen in love—the whole mess is straightened out nicely, but not until poor Mr. Tone has been driven almost to his wits end and to a break with his fiancée, Lina Romay. Incidentally, Miss Romay sings more sweetly than does Miss Temple, who has a couple of songs.

The joke was on the Times; Shirley’s two songs were dubbed. Why, I have no idea, as neither song would have been out of her capabilities and the voice she is lip-syncing to is obviously not hers.

I hope you’re Cinco de Mayo is a blast; have a margarita for me! And if you decide to watch this movie, you should have at least TWO margaritas!

See more Shirley photos at my main website.

Cruising into another week

Is it Monday? Hard to tell anymore. Every day seems to blend into the next. This 1956 image of the Jungle Cruise dock really speaks to me today. The skipper has just emptied his boat and is about to head to the dock to get another load of guests. While I do feel that I am being very productive during this time of quarantine, there is a sense of monotony in the air.



As a follow-up to last week’s post about the Frontierland Sheriff, I was contacted by Daveland reader and badge collector supreme Michael Hulme.



Here is a poor picture of the Deputy Marshall badge worn in the early days of the park. Your recent photo of Sheriff Lucky is a great photo showing both badges and proving my theory that the Sheriff would rate a different badge than his deputy. I was lucky to obtain the Deputy's badge many years ago on E-bay. As you can see it is badge number 4, so one could assume they are rare. I do not have a Sheriff’s badge and have never seen a good close-up of what it exactly looks like. Judging from the picture I think the Deputy Marshall's badge looks more traditional and is way cooler. It was made by the Sun Badge Company back when Walt wanted everybody to have a themed costume to where they worked in the park. All that started to change around 1962 when the early metal employee badges were phased out for the plastic ones. I doubt the Deputy Marshall's badges lasted that long.

Thanks a million for that info, Michael!

As a follow-up to my post last week giving kudos to Dianne Jacob, I want to thank those who left such supportive comments. In this time of social isolation, knowing that others feel the same way about the restrictions actually made me feel connected again. Irene - I applaud your courage. I also find it funny (but not in a good way) that an entire group of people are being singled out as COVID-19 risks due to their age. In the workplace, that could get you fired! Obviously, a person’s health is not necessarily based on their age. It all depends on how a person has lived their life, genetics, etc. Fifthrider - can I tag along with you on that trip to find common sense?

For the gutless wonder who anonymously posted this:

Please leave the politics out of your site. There are plenty of other places for that, and your views do you no credit -- however much other readers may agree with them.

You are symptomatic of the problem. It’s time that people spoke out for their freedom, even if it’s a little uncomfortable. I rarely get political, but warning: there will be more posts here when I feel the need. That’s why the blog is called “Daveland” and not “Anonymous Land.”

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A Fair Friday

TGIF with Christopher Fair, the Court Jester of Disneyland, circa 1959. He was hired out of high school to do magic tricks and juggling at the Park; it was his idea to ride around on a unicycle. Here he is in Central Plaza, near the Castle, with the Matterhorn in the background.

See more Disneyland photos at my main website.