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Shirley Temple Revisited, Part 2 — 3 Comments

  1. Jean: I'm with you; I cherished a lifelong affection for Shirley while going decades without seeing most of her movies. Re-seeing them has been a real voyage of rediscovery, which I'm sharing in this series. I think your mother would be pleased with what I'll have to say about Shirley and Bill Robinson when I get to them.

    CW: I share your incredulity at Shirley's early rejection for Little Miss Marker, but we shouldn't be too hard on those who turned her down that first time; they'd probably seen 200 little girls that day. I think the real unsung hero of Shirley's career must be songwriter Jay Gorney, who saw Shirley in that Educational comedy short playing Junior Coghlan's kid sister, then recognized her outside the theater and asked to speak to her mother. Talk about your golden hunches…

  2. I find it incredible that Shirley was originally rejected for "Marky". The movie works on so many levels for its dialogue, its heart and its outstanding cast. "Little Miss Marker" is always the first movie that comes to mind when I hear the name, Shirley Temple. Oh, how we would have loved the chance to enjoy more from Dorothy Dell.

  3. I'm loving this!! It's been a while since I've watched any Temple films so I'd kind of forgotten how much I loved them. My mom, who you will remember was a dancer and dance teacher, used to wax rhapsodic about Shirley's talent- especially how well she navigated those stairs with Bill Robinson – and many of the tap steps I learned and have used over the years were ones that Shirley performed. Can't wait for the next installment.