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The Baby Burlesks of the early film era have many modern people scratching their heads and grimacing. “How was this allowed?” is a question that often accompanies the discovery of the strange short “comedy” series. It’s important to keep in mind that Hollywood was a very different industry in its early years. 1930s child performers may portray disturbing adult roles despite their youth and innocence. Shirley Temple, a star of the Baby Burlesks, may have been the victim of more abuse and exploitation than any other youngster.
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The Baby Burlesks of the early film era have
many modern people scratching their heads And grimacing. “How was this allowed?” is a question
that often accompanies the discovery of the Strange short “comedy” series. It's important to keep in mind that Hollywood
was a very different industry in its early Years. 1930s child performers may portray disturbing
adult roles despite their youth and innocence. Shirley Temple, a star of the Baby Burlesks,
may have been the victim of more abuse and Exploitation than any other youngster. What were the ‘Baby Burlesks’? The Baby Burlesks was a collection of comedic
short films. They only ever used child actors. They were produced by Educational Pictures,
a film distribution business established in 1916, and were released in the 1930s. Shirley Temple, the only child star of the
film series, signed a contract with the business In 1932 when she was three years old, making
the Baby Burlesks her debut performance. There were a total of eight Baby Burlesks,
and in each, young children would play the Parts of adults. The films were often short satires of major
Hollywood hits, and they largely portrayed The trials and tribulations of adult life
through child performers. With their hyper-sexualization of children
as drunks and call girls wearing revealing And suggestive costumes, the series was a
product of its time and did not age well. No Hays Code meant no regulations whatsoever Hollywood was still a small industry at the
time The Baby Burlesks was produced. Film was just starting its transformation
with the introduction of sound and the first “talkie” being released in 1927. When the medium was still developing, no guidelines
or procedures had been put in place to protect The actors' rights, to define proper working
conditions, or to provide guidelines of what Was (and was not) acceptable to show on-screen. The Hays Code was developed by William H.
Hays, the 1934 president of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America. No rules or procedures to protect the actors'
rights had been established when the medium Was still growing. It was designed mainly with traditional Catholic
overtones, with rules stating that the content
Must show the audience that evil is wrong
and good is right. The Hays Code was originally created in 1930
but was not strictly enforced until 1934. As such, the Baby Burlesks were filmed in
what is known as the Pre-Code Era. This gave the producer, Jack Hays, and director,
Charles Lamont, the freedom to have the child Actors do and say anything they wanted, including
exploitative actions. Temple played an escort in ‘Polly Tix in
Hollywood‘ In one of the Baby Burlesks, titled Polly
Tix in Hollywood, Temple performs a role that Is undoubtedly implied as an escort. She is visiting a senator in the story, who
is portrayed by another young actor, and “entertaining” Him. When we first see Temple, she is sitting in
a bra filing her nails, like a mistress waiting For her next job. When she goes to meet with the senator, she
walks over to him with her hands on her hips And a string of pearls around her neck. Temple wraps her arms around his shoulders
and gives him two kisses in the first 30 seconds Of their meeting. Later, Just before being attacked by another
child senator, she describes herself as "expensive". When Temple played this role, she was only
four years old, and it gave her the opportunity To experience her first on-screen kiss. The young actors playing these adult characters
are unaware of the hypersexualization and The accompanying storyline, as they’re simply
acting out the parts the adults around them Are expecting them to perform. And again in ‘War Babies‘ In another Baby Burlesk called War Babies,
we see a group of child soldiers, wearing Nothing but diapers with oversized safety
pins and helmets, gathering at a bar. Again, Temple is given the role of the hired
escort, dancing on stage for the soldiers To watch. She dances seductively in a loose-fitting
top that falls off her shoulder to expose Some skin. Temple also exchanges kisses for lollipops
and calls one of the boy soldiers “mon cher Capitan.” Throughout the entire film, the soldiers call
Temple’s character “baby,” which in Reality she was. This Baby Burlesk was meant to be a spoof
of the World War 1 era silent film, What Price
Glory?, directed by Raoul Walsh. However, The adult-targeted humor came at
the expense of taking advantage of these kids And forcing them to perform in a sexual manner. Other problems with the ‘Baby Burlesks’ Even while the sexualization of young children
for entertainment was undesirable, other elements Of the Baby Burlesks were extremely offensive. Some of the information in other titles was
centered on racist tropes. For example, In Africa, white children portrayed
the "good guys," while African American youngsters Portrayed "savages" holding bows and arrows. With no code, The children's working circumstances
were also appalling. When she was older, Temple remembered director
Lamont saying to the kids, “This isn’t Playtime, kids, it’s work.” If the children did not behave, Lamont threatened
them with “a soundproof black box, six feet On each side, containing a block of ice. A misbehaving child was trapped in this dark,
cramped interior and forced to sit on the Ice or endure uncomfortable standing in the
cold, humid air. Those who told their parents about this torture
were threatened with further punishment.” Temple, who was between the ages of three
and five, tried to alert her mother about The threats Lamont made to harass the children. However, she was met with an accusation that
she had made the whole thing up. Even if the kids tried to explain, nobody
would believe them, so Lamont didn’t have To stop at threats to get the shots he wanted. He also wouldn’t warn the children of certain
stunts set up in the scenes. Again, in Kid in Africa, Lamont “concealed
a tripwire to fell the ‘savages’ played By African American children. In filming another scene, a terrified ostrich
pulling Shirley and another child in a surrey Careened wildly about the set before crashing
into a wall.” The children were battered, bruised, and expected
to continue on with their labor despite their Poor working conditions. Temple went on to condemn her first gig As she got older, Temple became less motivated
to pursue her acting career. She tried her hand at radio and played a few
roles as a young actress before leaving Hollywood In 1967 to pursue a career in politics. Nonetheless, Her history as one of the most
well-known child actors in the world followed
Her throughout her life. The Baby Burlesks are looked upon poorly today,
and rightfully so. Temple herself condemned the beginnings of
her child acting career. In her autobiography, Child Star, she wrote
that the Baby Burlesks were “a cynical exploitation Of our childish innocence.” All of the children involved in the Baby Burlesks
were taken advantage of in some way.
