Temple Tuesday: Cinderella in Santa Monica

In the 1930’s, Shirley Temple merchandise was the rage, including dresses for little girls that were inspired by the costumes that the child star wore in her movies. Brothers Gustave, Fred, and Sidney Rosenau of Rosenau Brothers, Inc. in Philadelphia were responsible for these Shirley Temple “Cinderella Frocks” that sold approximately 15 million garments from the initial seven-year period of 1934-1941. They approached the Temple family about using Shirley to help promote a line of dresses when she was making her “Frolics of Youth” series in 1934. Mrs. Temple had approval of all the designs and images of Shirley wearing each design were photographed to inspire mothers to purchase them for their own budding starlet. This publicity shot of Shirley sporting a Cinderella Frock was especially interesting to me because it was shot at her (second) Santa Monica home on the patio. The back of the photo lists it as Style No. 4257 for sizes 3-6.5 and 4557 for 7-12.



A closeup of the matching vintage tile, for which I’m an avid fan of!



A vintage postcard of the exterior of the home:



This is what Shirley’s bathroom looked like. Even at the tender age of seven, Shirley was concerned about her figure!



A previously posted shot of Shirley posing with her beloved brothers inside the same home:



Final shot for today is what the home looks like today. Well, maybe not exactly this very day, but the last time I was in Santa Monica a few years back:



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Monday with Mansfield

With my latest Jayne Mansfield at Disneyland in 1957 acquisition, I can now put together a fairly comprehensive pictorial representation of her tour of Fantasyland. Here she is with her daughter in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle; note that the crest is still not on the Castle at this point. Husband Mickey Hargitay is on the left side of the shot in a dark suit. I love the expressions of the other guests as they see this bonafide movie star strolling right by them.



Perhaps next she went to the Carrousel, which was directly on the other side of the Castle:



…followed by a spin on the teacups:



A flight over Fantasyland via Dumbo. Note the hinged ears:
 


Some “adult” time on the dark rides with husband Mickey, first at Peter Pan:



…followed by Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride:



Will there be more Mansfield in the future? Only time will tell!

See more celebrities at Disneyland photos at my main website.

The Return of (Forever) Marilyn

On a trip to Palm Springs in 2012, I was able to see the temporary outdoor installation of Forever Marilyn, by Seward Johnson. The 26' tall statue was based on a famous photo by Bernard of Hollywood taken when Marilyn was filming “The Seven Year Itch”:



The statue was taken down in 2014, and immediately the cry to have it return began. Sadly, this did not happen before Johnson’s passing in March 2020. According to the Forever Marilyn webpage:

She was officially welcomed back on June 20, 2021 at a special ceremony drawing hundreds of supporters and fans – and will now, at last, be a permanent feature of the Palm Springs landscape.





Yup…there’s a backside, too. This just doesn’t seem right. I would think that Johnson could have come up with a more tasteful rear view.



Ever wanted to see Marilyn’s feet up close? Looks like she already needs a pedicure.







I love how the sunshine illuminates her face; I was too lazy to wait until the Palm frond shadows completely disappeared.



And how Marilyn looks first thing in the morning; not bad!



Nearby on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, Marilyn has her own block:



The new location is definitely more dramatic. Perched on Museum Way in front of the Palm Springs Art Museum, the walk leading up to Marilyn is lined by Palm trees. Every time that I walked by Marilyn was drawing a crowd of tourists attempting to get a selfie with the icon.

See more Palm Springs photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Tomato Red

When Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) met Shirley Temple Black during her book signing tour, one of the things she remembered the author/actress/diplomat telling her was that her favorite color for apparel was “tomato red.” These photos from the 6th Annual American Cinema Awards on January 6, 1989 certainly support that statement, and Shirley definitely looks like a million bucks! Let’s crop in tighter and remove creepy looking Milton Berle and Stewart Granger, shall we?



Shirley’s beloved husband, Charles Black, is seen in the background in these two photos from the same evening:





A sad side note about this event was Bette Davis’ collapse and later discovery that her cancer had returned. She died later that year on October 6th.

Shirley wore the same outfit for the publicity shots for the 1989 Tournament of Roses Parade, of which she was the Grand Marshal. In the photo with her are Rose Queen Charmaine Beth Shyrock and Commentator Keith Jackson:



When it was announced that she was the 1989 Grand Marshal, Shirley said: “It’s not often that one gets to repeat a highlight of one’s life,” followed by cannons that boomed out a shower of confetti while the band struck up “On the Good Ship Lollipop.” She would go on to repeat the honor again in 1999, making her the only person who has done so three times. She said her reign over the parade taught her how to wave “really well”: “First to the left, then to the right. Then to anybody who was out in the middle of the street.” Yup, she knew how to wave!



See more Shirley Temple Black photos at my main website.

Monday at the Oasis

As I was walking along South Palm Canyon Drive on a recent trip to the Desert (aka Palm Springs), my attention was focused downward on the sidewalk, looking at the Palm Springs Walk of Stars. I came upon a historic marker that had been unceremoniously spray painted white and decided to read it. I had never heard of the Oasis Hotel before, but I had definitely heard of Lloyd Wright, architect of one of my Hollywood obsessions, the Sowden House, and the son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. This I had to investigate! As I walked down the corridor I looked up at what I had previously ignored as yet another dilapidated old concrete structure and sure enough, there I saw the hallmarks of the Wright Style!



Interesting concrete blocks and that simplistic Moderne/Art Deco style that I adore.



Apparently this place was a haven for the stars, including Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, and Shirley Temple. Back in the day before the term “Boutique Hotel” had been coined, this 24 guest room hotel was unable to make a profit, despite its claim of having the tower and the first swimming pool.



Here are some vintage shots of what the entire property looked like before it was torn down (other than the 40-foot tower) and replaced by an uninspired strip mall.











A few vintage postcards of the hotel in its heyday:





Although the tower has a Class 1 Historic designation, it looks like it is one “accident” away from being gone-zo.

See more Palm Springs photos at my main website.

Judy Garland and The San Diego Rabbit Hole

One of my very favorite Judy Garland dance numbers is “When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves For Alabam” with Fred Astaire from Easter Parade. She matches the master step for step, and her joy and exuberance during the entire dance keep your eyes focused on her, not Astaire.



I recall reading many years ago that actor/dancer Bobby Van (part of Garland’s 1958 Town and Country Club engagement) had told Judy that “Alabam” was one of his favorite numbers. Garland proceeded to perform the intricate number without skipping a beat, even though the film had been made over ten years before. I attempted to find the story and looked through all my Garland books (I do have a few!) and could not locate it. I hate when that happens! I couldn’t find the anecdote online, either, but in searching for it, I discovered something else. Garland performed in San Diego July 8-9, 1955 at the Russ Auditorium, located inside the old San Diego High School. Sadly, the building no longer exists. I hate when that happens, too!

Naturally, I went down a rabbit hole, wanting to know more about the Russ Auditorium. In doing so, I found this clip (no sound) showing Judy in rehearsal:



A program for Bill Robinson’s 1946 performance at the Russ:



Ray Charles:



Here’s what the auditorium looked like:



The exterior of the old San Diego High School, affectionately known as “The Old Gray Castle”:



A 1949 photo of my Dad in front of the High School when he was part of the cheerleading squad. Anyone able to figure out which one he is?



Thanks for the rabbit hole, Judy!

UPDATE! Judy expert supreme John Fricke was kind enough to have this info forwarded to me. Apparently my memory is on the fritz; it was Ken Berry, not Bobby Van, who was taught “Alabam” by Judy:

[Ken Berry] shyly approached Judy at a party circa 1963 (after one of the Billy Barnes revues in which he performed and of which she was a fan). He told her how much he loved that “Easter Parade” routine — and how, once a year on Easter, he’d watch the film on TV. Each time, he said, he’d try to memorize a little more of it. Judy asked him if he wanted to learn it, got up from the conversational circle of people with whom they’d been talking, and (fifteen years after the fact) taught him the steps. Decades after that party, when Ken was working on the “Mama’s Family” TV series, there was an episode wherein Mama (Vicki Lawrence) organized a group of senior citizen women into a performing troupe. [The episode was called “Mama’s Girls” and originally aired on February 6, 1988] Their show grew out of meeting at a dance class, earlier in the program, where Vicki and Dorothy Van (playing Cousin Effie) spontaneously lead several others in a spirited “Midnight Choo Choo.” The vocal arrangement and choreography (credited in the show crawl to Ken Berry) was pretty much that of “Easter Parade”!

See more Judy Garland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Lois Lane and Maureen Robinson

In the 1942 film “Miss Annie Rooney,” Shirley Temple plays a teen from the wrong side of the tracks who catches the interest of a young man (Dickie Moore) who comes from money. Lots of money. He decides to go against his parent’s wishes (Gloria Holden and Jonathan Hale) and invite her to his birthday party. When she arrives, Mother is not pleased that the arrangements for twelve will now have to squeeze in another. AWKWARD! The snooty girls at the party look down on poor Shirley until she teaches the old drizzle-pusses how to dance.



Recognize anyone in these photos?



On the far left is Noel Neill, best known as Lois Lane from the 1950’s “Superman” TV series. The girl on the right in this shot is Shirley’s stand-in, Mary Lou Isleib, who finally got a few seconds of screentime.



Noel with George Reeves, as we best remember her:



On the far right of the previous shot is June Lockhart, wearing a somewhat ill-fitting dress and looking extremely bored.



Some twenty years later, June would play the smartest sexiest space mom ever, Dr. Maureen Robinson, in “Lost in Space,” shown here with TV husband Guy Williams.



NOBODY made science (and silver lame) look as appealing as June!



See more teenage Shirley Temple photos at my main website.