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That this is entirely as it should be, in the opinion of U. S. cinemaddicts, was proved by the reception of the picture last week. Captain January smashed box office records in Milwaukee, Portland, Me., Dayton, Richmond, Cincinnati, Boston and Baltimore. Preparations for Shirley Temple's birthday were thus enhanced by the certainty that neither increasing age nor the loss of her teeth has yet hurt her prestige and that, in her eighth year, she was likely to exert an even greater influence upon the entertainment business and its patrons than she did in her fifth, sixth and seventh.
Debut. Unlike most cinemactresses, Shirley Temple does not conceal the date of her birth. It was April 23, 1929. Five weeks after the market crash, she uttered her first word: "Mama!" The next May she could waddle. She was a spindly child but neither sickly nor remarkable. At 3, she had measles. Soon afterward she was sent to the Meglin Dance Studio where
Hollywood children prepare to realize their parents' vicarious screen ambitions, but she did not stay there long. Dimpled, pretty, with yellow hair curled by her mother's fingers, she was picked by a scout for Educational Pictures. Her professional career started with a role in Baby Burlesks. Encouraged, Mrs. Temple worked hard submitting Shirley to all studios reported needing children. In 1934 she was cast to sing "Baby Take a Bow" in Fox's Stand Up and Cheer (TIME, April 30, 1934). The picture was feeble but Shirley was a hit. Hollywood distrusts infant performers. They are likely to be greedy, temperamental, slow to learn and quick to outlive their value. Perplexed by what it regarded as a dubious blessing, Fox gave Shirley Temple a subsidiary role in a weak picture called Change of Heart. She scored another personal success. More worried than ever, Fox decided to let someone else find the answer, loaned her to Paramount to feature in Little Miss Marker. Fox took the hint, featured her in a picture called, to remind cinemaddicts who she was, Baby, Take a Bow, then shuttled her back to Paramount for Now and Forever. When the grosses of these three pictures were recorded, it was undeniably apparent that Shirley Temple was potentially the most valuable human property in Hollywood. Now thoroughly alarmed, Fox got stage fright about stories. Director David Butler finally suggested one called Bright Eyes, released at Christmas 1934.
Regular Gross. Bright Eyes ended all doubts about Shirley Temple's future. It cost $190,000, earned that much in three weeks. Since Bright; Eyes she has appeared in The Little Colonel, Our Little Girl, Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel. Each Temple picture—the totals vary less than those of any other star—grosses between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. They cost between $200,000 and $300,000. Story, cast and background are relatively unimportant. Temple pictures are rarely held up in production and often finished ahead of shooting schedule. She makes four a year for which she gets approximately $75,000 each. The rest of her income is derived from outside royalties with 15 commercial firms that sell underwear, coats, hats, shoes, dolls, books, toys, dresses, soap, hair-ribbons and table wear.