Heidi

Little orphaned HEIDI is abandoned at the Alpine home of her stern Grandfather - only the beginning in a series of remarkable changes in both their lives.

Shirley Temple had one of her greatest triumphs as the diminutive heroine of Johanna Spyri's classic children's novel. So well does she fill the role - eyes bright, tremendous smile & bouncing curls - that it is difficult to imagine any other young American actress of the era playing the part.

Some might grumble at the various incongruities - the jumble of accents, the Dutch musical number - but that is beside the point. This was meant to be quality family entertainment and to earn Fox Studios a great deal of money. The film was a success on both scores.

Director Allan Dwan ensured that the book's high points were included in the film & Fox gave HEIDI very good production values - note especially the scenes of village life in Dorfli - and a fine supporting cast: gentle Jean Hersholt, perfect as the old Grandfather, gruff & lovable; droll Arthur Treacher, his comic English butler is definitely not in the original book, but he is hilarious nonetheless; Marcia Mae Jones as crippled Klara; Sidney Blackmer as her wealthy father; Sig Ruman as a police captain and elderly Helen Westley as the blind Grandmother.

There are often she dragons in Shirley Temple films, bitter women who try to thwart the innocent joys of the Mighty Moppet and end up either converted or punished. HEIDI boasts two villainesses, Mady Christians as hardhearted Aunt Dete & imperious Mary Nash as the strangely evil Fräulein Rottenmeier. So well do these ladies play their parts that they are able to grab some of the attention of the audience away from Miss Temple.

Movie mavens should recognize Greta Meyer as a Dorfli villager & Frank Reicher as a Frankfurt police lieutenant, both uncredited.

The story of Heidi is kind of hard to present to film-goers. As a book it's wonderful and engaging, but it's just not movie material. Thus we get versions like this, with kidnapping and gypsies and an evil witch of a Fraulein Rottenmeier who wants to keep Klara sick and bring Heidi down.

But how can you not love Shirley Temple? She just takes any movie and makes it golden! And we also have the heart of the story: a little girl who teaches a grumpy old man to open up his heart again. And those two things by themselves help the movie to shine.

A wonderful classic, especially for young viewers, but also good for the young at heart!

Heidi as a book was a childhood favourite and still is a timeless classic. This version with Shirley Temple was also a favourite as a child and is still a delight, whether you've read the book or not. It is true that it is not the truest to the book, with some darker elements that didn't feel shoe-horned and far from traumatising, but that really doesn't matter, you can still love the book and also love the film. There could have been more of the relationship between Heidi and her grandfather(but it is still really touching) and the musical number In Our Little Wooden Shoes while catchy, well-staged and cute didn't add a whole lot to the story, in fact really it was irrelevant. Everything else is fine, and I found it superior to the 1993 Noley Thornton version(which was still good), it doesn't feel over-dramatic even with the added darker parts, the characters are far more truthfully and sympathetically written with much more of a character journey with the grandfather and there's more heart. Heidi is a lovely film to look at, being crisply and lovingly filmed, scenery that makes you wish you were right there and the costumes give a genuine sense of time and place(they look good too, yes even Heidi's poor clothes). The music is whimsical and sparkling, the dialogue has a very good balance of funny and meaningful and the story essentially has every bit the charm, heart-warming sentiment and emotion that the book has, the ending is well and truly sweet and not tacky. The sled chase, any scene with Fraulein Rottenmeier and the monkey are standout scenes. Heidi is briskly directed with enough time for the story to resonate and for the actors to really go for it. Jean Hersholt plays grumpy and heartfelt beautifully, while reclusive there is a real sense that he cares for Heidi and she for him. Mary Nash is the very meaning of beastly- living aptly up to her character's name- and absolutely relishes it, while Arthur Treacher is hilarious as the butler Andrews and Marcia Mae Jones is an affecting Klara. But it's Shirley Temple's film, she's adorable and while she manages to be charming and have wonderful comic timing she is equally good at displaying an emotional side, her acting in the scene in the police station(another memorable scene) is just heart-breaking. While she is the main attraction of the film, the other characters and actors are just as believable to not make Heidi too much of a Shirley Temple show. All in all, delightful and a Shirley Temple classic, one of her best possibly. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Heidi" is a childhood classic. It was only natural that Darryl F. Zanuck should choose to have his number one star play the title role in what has become a classic Shirley Temple film. Watching it, one has to be aware of just why this girl was one of the most famous of all the child stars. She has more charisma than the law allows!

While not completely faithful to the book, it is adapted to make it suitable to fit Shirley Temple's growing expertise as a child actress--and for good measure, a song sequence is included--"My Little Dutch Shoes"--to keep Shirley's fans happy. Jean Hersholt makes a perfect Grandfather, living in the Alps and at first resistant to Shirley's charm, stern and strict in behavior. Of course his heart soon melts and soon he's even attending church again. When Heidi is kidnapped, we see her in a rich man's household. Here she helps the crippled Klara to walk again and brightens up a gloomy household. In the end, of course, she is reunited with her grandfather for a teary reunion.

Perfect entertainment for youngsters who will probably fall under Temple's spell by the time the movie is over. Mary Nash is a standout as Fraulein Rottenmeier--although even meaner to Shirley in "The Little Princess". Too bad this one wasn't filmed in color. There is a colorized version available on video but I'm not partial to the colorization of black and white films. The colors are often distorted and unreal.

This was the first Shirley Temple film I had seen. Shirley plays Heidi, a little girl goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Her aunt Dede 'kidnaps' and takes her to Germany. A good movie with wonderful actors/actresses, and something the whole family can enjoy! 10 out of 10 stars.