£2000 DAMAGES PAYMENT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19601, 5 April 1938, Page 3

£2OOO DAMAGES PAYMENT

SHIRLEY TEMPLE FILM LIBEL CASE SETTLED LONDON, March 29. - Shirley Temple, the child film actress, will ge't £2OOO under a settlement of a Ufctel. action announced in the Law Courts. Sir Patrick Hastings, K.C., said that two film companies had produced Shirley Temple in the film "Wee Willie. Winkie," based on Rudyard Kipling's story. "After this," he continued, "a magazine, 'Night and Day,' now no l,qnger in existence, published an article writ-, ten by Graham Greene, which,'in my view, was one of the most horrible imaginable, about a child aged nine. Obviously I shall not read it." He added that the four defendants were the magazine company, Greene, and the printers and publishers. It was only right to say (hat the printers and the publishers were reputable firms, and were only innocently responsible. The defendants had paid the film concerns £IOOO and £SOO respectively, which would be devoted to charity. ' Shirley Temple would receive £2OOO.

The Chief Justice, Lord Hewart, asked if the author was within the jurisdiction of ■the court. Counsel replied that he had no information as to his whereabouts. Lord Hewart: "This libel is a gross outrage. I shall see that attention is directed to it."

It was mentioned 'that the fact that the film had been licensed for universal production refuted any of the charges contained in ithe article.