Rivelazione

Gary Cooper stars as Jerry Day, a con man who roams the luxury spots of the world with his girlfriend Toni (Carole Lombard), staying one step ahead of the law and bill collectors. He learns that he has a 6-year old daughter named Penny (Shirley Temple) from a previous relationship. It seems the child's mother has died, but since she was wealthy, Jerry sees a potential payday, so he takes charge of the young girl. However, the child's infectious charm causes Jerry to reassess his lifestyle and change his ways, a decision that may be easier said than done.

I'm not normally a fan of Temple's films, but this outing, in which she's supporting, is much easier to take, even if it is more than a little saccharine. Cooper is good as the morally compromised man trying to change his ways. He's especially effective in the rather dark final act. Temple is Temple, while Lombard doesn't have much to do. Charlotte Granville is enjoyable as a rich old widow who wants to adopt Temple. While the money may be nice, I'm not sure how many years old Charlotte has left in her to be raising a 6-year-old to maturity. I liked this more than expected, and would recommend it to those who have perhaps avoided it due to Temple's presence and a dislike of child centered production code era films.

The only Shirley Temple appeared away from Fox studios was in this loan out film to Paramount co-starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard. After Fox became 20th Century Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck would not lend out his biggest star and America's biggest star during those years. Now and Forever was made slightly before Temple's peak years, but she was rising fast.

Another viewer said he could not understand why Cooper and Lombard would want to be associated with this film. Very simply it was going to make money and they would also gain exposure. The challenge was holding their own against the adorable little moppet.

Cooper is a confidence man who apparently isn't as good as he thinks he is. He swindles Guy Standing, but later finds out he's actually been the one taken. Of course by that time he's reunited with his little daughter and she introduced to his new wife Carole Lombard.

Cooper just is an instinctive grifter though, content to lead life one step ahead of the law. It's not however a life that he can have a little daughter along with for the ride.

The ending here is a little darker than most Shirley Temple movies are and that makes it somewhat unique. Lombard is good, but she's somewhat subdued in this film. Best in the film besides Shirley is Guy Standing.

Not one of Cooper's best or Lombard's best, but Shirley Temple fans of every generation will probably like it, but find the film a bit strange.

Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard reminded me of the romantic thieves in "Algiers" played by Charles Boyer and Hedy LaMarr. That movie was 1938 and this one 1934, so this movie is the original. It is a pre-code movie, so don't expect the stupid moral standards that the Hays office enforced in the years after this movie. Cooper and Lombard are wonderfully charming in their first few scenes together. They become more intense later on and less fun. In fact the whole film become less fun when Shirley Temple enters. At age six, Temple wasn't yet the brilliant seasoned pro and entertainer she became the following years.

This is Henry Hathaway's eleventh film, but eight of those were one hour Westerns with Randolph Scott, so it is only his third non-Western. His work with the actors, camera placements and story-telling techniques are excellent.

The main problem I found was with the stings or cons that are in the film. They seem far too easy. Perhaps people were much more gullible and assumed honesty in those days, but it is hard to believe that Cooper could have pulled off his cons without the luck of having a screenwriter watching over him.

It is not a great film, and not the best for Cooper, Lombard, Temple or Hathaway, but there is a lot of talent here and the film is enjoyable most of the time.

Incidentally, Dorothy Dell starred with Shirley Temple in 1934 in "Little Miss Marker" and died in a car crash at the age of 19. Carole Lombard starred with Temple in this movie and died in a plane crash at the age of 34. I thought I had discovered a "Temple Curse," but when I checked all of Temple's other female co-stars, almost all lived into their 80's or 90's and died of natural causes.

This movie is well worth viewing, if only to see Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard in relatively early roles and to see Shirley Temple in an unusual part before she really peaked in popularity (here she is an incredible SIX years old). This is not a typical Temple film, in that she sings only one song (expertly), but you do get to see her act in a thoroughly convincing way. The supporting players are excellent as well.

This is a rather odd movie that can't quite make up its mind what to be...a decidedly downbeat ending that is actually starker than it's presented in some reviews here and a series of rather improbable con jobs that are not dramatically convincing. However, it's a treat to see the incredibly talented Temple, the skillful Carole Lombard, and the totally charming Gary Cooper (who, by the way, sports a very impressive wardrobe throughout, as does Lombard).

I watched the colorized version--better than I expected--but would have preferred black and white. See this movie with a "willing suspension of disbelief" and you'll enjoy it as a blast from the long-ago past.

This is a pretty bad movie directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard and Shirley Temple. Cooper plays a thief who is married to Lombard and they are not getting on that well. Cooper finds out he has a daughter, played by Temple, and he winds up keeping her over his relatives objections. Cooper tries to quit being a thief and be a good father but he's in debt and it's the only way he can get the money. Guy Standing offers him one last job but Lombard wants him to quit and Cooper doesn't want Temple to find out. Shirley Temple only sings one song here and it's pretty short and it's hard to see why Cooper or Lombard would want to do this movie.