WI Shirley Temple Stars in "Wizard of Oz"?

So, I was reading up on Shirley Temple on Wikipedia recently, and I read that her agent turned down an offer to have Shirley star as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz movie.

Say that the agent decides to go ahead and take the offer, and Shirley stars in The Wizard of Oz? What effects will this have on Shirley's life, Hollywood, and the U.S. Film Industry, and possibly U.S. culture as a whole?
 
It depends... if we follow the line of Judy Garland's career with Temple instead then it could have interesting consequences when she enters politics (assuming she still does).
 
I love these kinds of things.

If Shirley Temple were Dorothy, it would give the film a different feel. Rather than a teenager, it'd be a child. More faithful to the book, but it would certainly feel different.
 
I love these kinds of things.

If Shirley Temple were Dorothy, it would give the film a different feel. Rather than a teenager, it'd be a child. More faithful to the book, but it would certainly feel different.

Oh yes, these are wonderful.

While it would be truer to the book (and acting wise probably almost as good as OTL or about the same) we would lose perhaps one of the largest contributions tWoO gave the world... Garland's voice on "Over The Rainbow."

Would Shirley Temple (by now approaching the inevitable puberty...) have switched to MGM after the film's success and been Mickey Rooney's eternal co-star? She is remarkably stunning in the 40's... more-so in my opinion than Garland and as talented, arguably. She could have turned starlet triple threat in the forties, sitcom actress in the sixties, and had a more successful political career...

President Temple?

:eek:
 
had a more successful political career...

President Temple?

:eek:
Now, that's just ridiculous... there's no way an old movie star from the '30s and '40s could ever become a conservative politician and end up getting elected Pres-- oh, wait. :D

I guess the difference is that Temple is, of course, a woman -- not to mention a former child actor, rather than simply a former actor, which could mean she's taken less seriously than Reagan was.
 
Now, that's just ridiculous... there's no way an old movie star from the '30s and '40s could ever become a conservative politician and end up getting elected Pres-- oh, wait. :D

I guess the difference is that Temple is, of course, a woman -- not to mention a former child actor, rather than simply a former actor, which could mean she's taken less seriously than Reagan was.

My tongue was only slightly in my cheek but as the devil's advocate, Reagan was taken far more seriously as the head of SAG and later as a politician than as an actor. He was good and had good reviews but his career was brief and without many shining moments.

And keep in mind, my comment was meant to establish the idea that she sheds the child star thing and legitimizes her career post Oz.
 
I was thinking...

Shirley Temple entertaining the troops during WWII?

(That is, if there's not a massive butterfly storm from her staring in Wizard of Oz that causes WWII to not happen.)
 
I did a TL on this very subject and gave the best description of the outcome of this casting change. he said the Wizard of Oz would be remembered as the MGM Shirley Temple movie. Judy Garland was a better actress and a much much better singer than Shirley Temple. Notice that Shirley Temple retired from show business in her early twenties while Judy Garand worked until her premature death. Shirley Temple's whole apeal was that she was a cute kid.
 
Judy Garland was a better actress and a much much better singer than Shirley Temple.
"Over the Rainbow" gets cut from the movie? It almost was in OTL, but they decided to leave it in -- so Wikipedia says. Maybe worse singing tips the decision the other way, and that awful terrible song isn't inflicted on the world. :)
 
If memory serves, "Over the Rainbow" was barely written at all. I think the songwriter was struggling to think of a song, and after seeing some rainbow display in a store window, thought of the song on the spot.
 
Would Shirley Temple (by now approaching the inevitable puberty...) have switched to MGM after the film's success and been Mickey Rooney's eternal co-star? She is remarkably stunning in the 40's... more-so in my opinion than Garland and as talented, arguably. She could have turned starlet triple threat in the forties, sitcom actress in the sixties, and had a more successful political career...
Miss Temple was the Young Girl in Wayne"s Yellow Ribbon, and was panned by the Critics. This is what ended Her attempt to transit away from "Child Star"

A Temple Wiz movie would have been seen as a Kids Movie, and probably would have faded like the other Temple movies, [Unlike Garland's Annual Showing]
 
I'm surprised nobody has yet noted that Frank Morgan was the second choice to play the Wizard. Who was the first? None other than...

wc-fields.jpg


Yep, W. C. Fields. Would've been first-rate had he taken the job.
 
I'm surprised nobody has yet noted that Frank Morgan was the second choice to play the Wizard. Who was the first? None other than...

wc-fields.jpg


Yep, W. C. Fields. Would've been first-rate had he taken the job.

While Frank Morgan did a good job, W C Fields would have been an incredible cynical con man wizard.
 
Top