Curly headed, dimpled, adorable Shirley Temple was just about THE most popular star in America and the biggest box office draw in the late 1930s, when she made a string of movies designed to showcase her precocious talents. Future parents who saw Shirley Temple movies as children happily had their own children watch them, and they had their children watch them and some of them remain childhood favorites of many people today.
Even though we might make fun of Shirley sometimes — we never saw one kid get orphaned so much and the plot devices, you must admit, are ridiculous in many instances – we still have a list of Favorite Shirley Temple Movies:
Heidi (1937) We loved this one so much it prejudiced us against remakes. Some of them weren’t bad at all, but none of them can top Shirley Temple yelling “Grandfather, Grandfather!” And who wants a good Fraulein Rottenmeier? With a name like that, she’s got to be just like she was in this one – rotten!
Bright Eyes (1934) Shirley charms another old geezer in this one and it’s also got Jane Withers as the hilarious brat, Joy Smythe. Jane and Charles Sellon as Uncle Ned are a hoot, and forget about “The Good Ship Lollipop,” watch for the scene where James Dunn blows cigarette smoke right into Shirley’s ringlets! Toto – er, Terry the Dog — was in this too.
Captain January (1936) Cool dancing with Buddy Ebsen to “At the Codfish Ball”. Captain January was based upon a book written by Laura E. Richards, one of the daughters of Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the lyrics to Battle Hymn of the Republic. Laura, who was born a decade before the Civil War began, was still around when the film was made and probably made a bundle, too.
The Little Princess (1939) Shirley’s daddy goes MIA and she’s shipped off to a private girl’s school where she has to earn her keep and is treated like dirt. Spunky Shirley’s had it up to her eyeballs with snotty Lavinia so she dumps a bucket of ashes all over her! (Marcia Mae Jones played Lavinia and also played Klara Sesemann in Heidi).
Little Miss Marker (1934) Shirley lost her Mommy in this one and her dad is so stupid he thinks gambling will cure his grief. He has to leave his kid as a marker with a bunch of bookies until he can pay his debt. These films where Shirley was paired with some turd who doesn’t like kids always worked well, because it probably reminds folks of kid-haters they know and shows there’s hope, though there probably isn’t – not everybody is that cute.
And that’s why there is only one Shirley Temple!
More Shirley Temple vehicles:
Curly Top with the unbearable “Animal Crackers in my Soup” song. Gosh oh gee.
with the unbearable “Animal Crackers in my Soup” song. Gosh oh gee.
with the awesome Spinach number. The film boasts future Tin Man Jack Haley, who was also in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
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