Bright Eyes

One of Shirley Temple's best movies is stolen by an absolutely riotous performance by Jane Withers as Temple's bratty nemesis-the mean rich kid who picks on poor,noble motherless Shirley. This is the movie that boasts Temple's anthem- On the Good Ship Lollipop.Worth seeing if you haven't seen a Shirley Temple movie.And this was one of the major hits of the 1930's.

When tragedy befalls a curly topped toddler, her care is assumed by a familiar but dysfunctional family, her spirits buoyed by the crusty old patriarch and a crew of friendly commercial fly boys. So funny, so precious (On the Good Ship Lollipop), so fantastic (parachute drop) and, at times, so poignant (Mom's cake run), that I rate Bright Eyes the most sacred cinema in the Temple of Shirley.

Co-stars James Dunn as the kid's godfather and personal pilot, Charles Sellon is Ned Sparks on wheels, the hard-shelled uncle with a soft center, and little Jane Withers amuses as baby Blake's nemesis, cleverly named, Joy. Directed for 20CF by Temple believer, David Butler (4) (Leave It to Beaver), I think Mr Spade would've agreed, this one has all the "stuff(ing) that dreams are made of (3/4)."

Reasons why this film is worth seeing:

1. Bright Eyes stars Shirley Temple. What an appropriate title. Shirley is too cute for words. If you look at her filmography you will see that she had plenty of roles under her belt by the time she made this film, but this is one of the early films that put her on the map.

2. Shirley's performance was so popular, it put her on the cover of "Time" and won an Academy Award.

3. The canine star of the film is Terry, who later played Toto in The Wizard of Oz.

4. Jane Withers nails her performance of the bratty spoiled kid who terrorizes Shirley and everyone else. Only The Bad Seed has a better juvenile villain.

5. Shirley sings her signature song: "On the Good Ship Lollipop".

Up until recently, I never watched Shirley Temple movies and deliberately avoided them. I assumed the were cloying and I hate child actors. However, I ran into a problem on Netflix--I'd seen just about everything and ALL of the classic films. So, reluctantly, I decided to try a couple. To my surprise, the films are, for the most part, delightful--much of it because Temple was a simply amazing child actress. No matter how much I knew the studio was manipulating the audience, I just couldn't help but adore the child. Despite being almost like the product of some unholy breeding experiment because she was SO perfect, I just couldn't resist her charm.

Of all the Shirley Temple movies I've seen (and by now I've seen most), I would have to say that "Bright Eyes" is the best. It is sweet but it also has a nice balance of nastiness that really helps the film along. Let me explain...while Shirley is wonderful, counter-balancing it with the Smythe family, and especially their bratty child (Jane Withers). I loved Withers in the film--she played the most bratty and nasty little girl--and it took a lot of talent to make her character THIS awful! So, we have two of the greatest child actresses of all-time in one film! The plot is, in some ways, a bit like Cinderella...just a bit. It begins with Shirley and her widowed mother living and working at the home of the rich but horrid Smythe family. Aside from their uncle (played WONDERFULLY by Charles Sellon), the entire brood are worthless people--and they couldn't care less about sweet Shirley or her mother. However, when Shirley's mother is killed, the uncle INSISTS the child be treated like a member of the family and move out of the servants' quarters. The Smythes can't stand her--but they want the uncle's money and they agree. But what about her guardian, Luke (James Dunn)? He adores the child and can't think of living without her. So what will become of all this? See this nice film and see.

A wonderful blend of sentiment and comedy, I can't help but recommend this film. In addition, you'll get to hear Shirley's terrific rendition of "Good Ship Lollipop"--an amazingly toe-tapping tune. With all the wonderful acting (Dunne, Sellon, Withers and Temple especially), this is the Twentieth Century-Fox formula at its very best. Unless you are even more cynical than me, you will find you can't help but love this film.

Jane Withers, at age four, started as one of the deep South's most popular radio stars on Aunt Sally's Kiddy Club. She was so small she had to be lifted up to reach the microphone. She was the mischief-maker of the Kiddy Club program, called "The Little Pest". Like Mitzi Green, she had an uncanny ability to imitate the voices and facial expressions of actors, actresses and other people, something she learned playing with the mirror. On stage by age five, she became a famous actress throughout the South, finally moving to Hollywood at five-and-a-half. In Hollywood, Jane began by playing in a weekly radio-revue and gave numerous stage performances for beneficial organizations.

"Bright Eyes" was Jane's first credited movie role and led to a long-term contract with Twentieth Century-Fox. She stared in numerous movies of the thirties, and was Shirley Temple's main competition. Jane was one of the great child actresses of all times, very popular with the children of her era, and after watching Shirley's goodie two-shoes act in Bright Eyes playing against Jane's power-house comedy performance, I can see why. Shirley Temple was her usual cute, sugar-coated, man-worshiping self with everyone giggling politely at her jokes except the audience. In contrast, Jane Withers had my daughter and I laughing our heads off until we had stomach-aches. Jane in Bright Eyes was bratty, adorable and hilarously funny. Her brat act has seldom, if ever, been equaled in the annals of film.

It is really a shame, and I hope the studios who own Jane Withers' many films as a child take note, that Bright Eyes is the only Jane Withers performance to survive to contemporary video. What ever happened to her movies "Ginger", Paddy O'Day", "Gentle Julia", "Little Miss Nobody", "Can This be Dixie?" and "Pepper"? In a published chat-room article Jane, who is still very much alive, says that she will eventually finish her book on her child star days. Like the kids of Our Gang, she remembers a fun, privileged childhood and has nothing in the way of sob stories. Let's hope that the studios will stop suppressing her films and release them on video soon, perhaps coinciding with her book.