Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story

I am fourteen and I wasn't born in the US. I knew that Shirley Temple was THE actress in the thirties, but not much more. Then I saw the ad for this film and decided to watch it. It was good. Except for one thing: Ashley Rose Orr doesn't have Shirley's talent, charm, or sweetness. She acted like a kid trying to be Shirley. But I had never seen a true Shirley Temple movie. I rented Poor Little Rich Girl. Forget Child Star! I'm watching the real thing. I am also proud to say that I now own six Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel, A Little Princess, and four of the short movies she did at the age of three, including Dora's Dunkin Doughnuts) movies myself and know about her life as a child actress. To me, she is THE child actress. She deserved a lot more than an honorary Oscar. But she was a kid. And grown actors don't like pint sized talent! My Grade : Shirley's real movies: A++

Child Star The Shirley Temple Story: D-

This movie was awful! Ashley Rose Orr, while a talented tap dancer, and singer (actually a little better than Temple was in terms of the latter), is a terrible actress. She plays the character as the Shirley that we saw on screen in her movies whether she's playing her onscreen or offscreen persona. So what we get is an overly cutesy, and wholly unrealistic (not to mention uninteresting) portrait. If one wants to see that side of her, one can just rent one of her movies. The only bright light here is Connie Britton's portrayal of Gertrude Temple. I don't think it was terribly realistic, but at least it was well acted. Save yourself the trouble and rent The Poor Little Rich Girl.

The beautifully charming Ashley Rose Orr has exploded on the screens of millions of Americans with a gift of song and dance the world hasn't seen since the real Shirley Temple. The Movie showed a child that took control of her life and was not injured by the business, Bravo Disney !

The songs were so clear and well re-created. The dance numbers were more exciting then in the original B/W movies. Very authentic in costuming and sets. The Supporting cast worked well with the child star herself. My only disappointment is that it wasn't a 4 hour 2 part movie. I hope Disney will run with this "NEW" CHILD STAR ! ! ! !

The actress chosen for this film needed not only to match Shirley Temple's talent (for recreating the movie scenes), but had to rise above that talent to portray the private Shirley Temple without resorting to parody. This film failed miserably to portray Shirley Temple off screen and it wasn't all Orr's fault. The director seemed to give her only one direction "do your Shirley Temple impression" and the scriptwriter (with help by the real Shirley Temple-Black) just didn't have much to give Orr. The best scenes were the recreations of the classic films and it is here where Orr's impression was appropriate and well done. However, Orr was never convincing as Shirley Temple off the set and reminded me of all those Shirley-wannabes that mothers dressed their children like during Shirley Temple's most successful years. There was even a quirky scene in this film where Shirley's dad is bombarded by these wannabe stage moms and their wannabe Shirleys that brought everything full circle. Orr looked as much like Shirley Temple as any kid with a curly wig, tap shoes, and a short polka-dotted dress. One of the big problems with the film is the fact that Shirley Temple had relatively little drama, little conflict, in her real life. Her parents didn't beat her, she wasn't a drunk, and there were no major deaths in her life. She didn't have to struggle and according to the film, didn't even have to work very hard. Good for her, but where's the story? Orr is an energetic actress, but there was just too much Orr. The scriptwriters struggled to come up with any conflict and chose a silly sub-plot about Amelia Earhart's death (with a walk-on by another parody...Earhart was even wearing a flight jacket!!! What, no goggles?). Worse, they worked the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz into the entire arc of the film as if Shirley Temple's career was nothing in comparison to that role. Every major actor has been up for a role that became a classic for another actor. Classics are created by a perfect match of cast and film. A good rule of thumb is that if the film was a classic, and wouldn't have been with a major cast change. Oz probably would have been just another Shirley Temple film instead of a classic. Judy Garland's adult-like persona actually made the film the classic it became. Is there anyone besides Ms. Temple-Black that doesn't believe that the world was blessed to have Garland play Dorothy? Jeesh, can you believe that Temple so miffed about that one that she would make it a major plot point? Get over it Shirley, you did a good job with Heidi. Oh my goodness! Since Temple's life was actually quite boring and all the drama was in her film roles. Not surprisingly, Shirley the person pales in comparison to her roles and this film pales against the memory of her classic movies. If they ever make a sequel about an adult Shirley Temple downing Tequillas and tranquilizers in her bathroom over the loss of never playing Dorothy Gale I'll watch. Especially if the actress wears a curly wig, tap shoes, and a short polka-dotted dress.

The cast in this movie were all wonderful, but Ashley Rose Orr far outshines them all. She was adorable and she truly captured Shirley in her performance. She may not have been Shirley's twin but she did wonderful playing her as on screen and off screen Shirley. Loved the dance scenes. The girl who played Shirley at age 3 was absolutely adorable. I didn't care much for the older Shirley, played by Emily Hart. She looked nothing like Shirley or even Ashley Rose Orr. Emily would be better in more modern movies. A better older Shirley could have been found, or I think Ashley Rose Orr could have done it fine with some help from makeup and hair, etc. Overall Ashley Rose Orr was very entertaining and I'd love to see her on the screen again, whether big screen or small screen!