Le petit colonel

I grew up with Shirley Temple. In 1932 she made 12 movies as an adorable baby doll of four years old. In 1933 she made four films; in 1934 eleven films the best was "Stand Up & Cheer" and "Baby, Take A Bow". In 1935 four films; in 1936 Captain January", in 1937 "Heidi"; in 1938 "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "The Little Princess". In 1940 two movies, and in 1941 her first flop. 1944 she made a comeback in "Since You Went Away" and "I'll Be Seeing You". 1947 she made three films including "Bachelor & the Bobby Soxer". 1948 "Fort Apache" when she met her first husband John Agar. In 1949 she made four good films the best of which was "A Kiss for Corliss". Nobody wanted little Shirley to grow up, so I must say my favorite film of hers was "The Little Colonel" in which she sang and danced so well with the famed Bill Robinson. In that film she played against the great Lionel Barrymore.

Wow, I have not visited this film in ages. To see it again in the autumn of my days was a real eye opener. Ok, the story line is thin, yet the engagement of the actors WITH one another in the screen is palatable to this day. Hey, it may be cringeworthy by our standards in the context of race. Yet if one views this piece in its historical context, everyone had a job to do and was re-enacting a rosey vision of a Harmonious lifestyle post Civil War. If you get past that you can see a period of life re-enacted on the screen for what it was. The ACTING...is tremendous on such a thin story line. NO CHILD actor to this day comes CLOSE to holding her own with the likes of Lionel Barrymore, or Bill Robinson. This little Ball of talent allows you to sit back and WISH your child was as kind an reasonable as this little gal acts. All top shelf actors with this little gem...Evelyn Venable and the Lovely Hattie McDaniel help us to see that on good days in the South, most everythin' was fine. The story was taken from a novel that was based on REAL PEOPLE of that period in a REAL location called Peewee Valley, Kentucky. Ok so it's schmultzy. Yet... could a movie which encapsulates a time period so distinctly as this be made today? No way! The intensity of the actors, taking the subject matter seriously, giving it their all... pure FUN!

Having earned her nickname due to her stubborn temper, THE LITTLE COLONEL courageously tries to reunite her splintered family.

Shirley Temple smiles, pouts, tosses her curly locks and completely runs away with the movie. One of her early family classics, this is an excellent showcase for her tremendous charm & abundant talents. As box-office queen, the mighty moppet would dominate Hollywood during the second half of the 1930's. Never was a despot so welcomed or a tyrant so loved.

As one of the industry's finest character actors, crusty Lionel Barrymore gives the little lady a run for her money. Always entertaining, he knows when to purr or when to roar to maximum effect, even if he doesn't quite eclipse Little Miss Personality.

Hattie McDaniel adds her own unique gifts to the role of Shirley's faithful servant, never allowing her dignity to be demeaned. As always, she is a joy. The legendary Bill Robinson is also on hand, mostly, one suspects, so as to partner Shirley in a couple of dances and they are wonderful, especially in Robinson's signature Staircase Dance. They are perfectly matched - one ramrod straight & ebony, the other tiny & blonde - and their minutes together on the screen is the stuff of which movie magic is made.

Evelyn Venable & John Lodge, as Shirley's parents (it's rare for her to have both all the way through a film) do nicely with the romantic angle, but it's kept to a minimum, as is usual in a Temple film, where the spotlight is kept firmly focused on her. Sidney Blackmer appears as a smooth swindler who makes the serious mistake of angering THE LITTLE COLONEL.

Although the film is given good production values by 20th Century Fox, it is the interaction between little Shirley and the other performers which far and away is the most important aspect of the picture.

It should be noted that there are elements of racism in the story line, a not uncommon occurrence in Hollywood films of the 1930's.

The final scene segues into early Technicolor - a pleasant way to end the story.

There will never be a child star to match Shirley Temple. A born actress, dancer, and entertainer. In this movie she has an amazing support cast of Lionel Barrymore who plays the part of a crusty grandfather but Shirley with her cute and charming ways soon melts the heart of the old grandfather.

Hattie Mac Daniel plays the faithful servant and once again it made you realize just how much these beloved negroes sometimes knew more than " The white folks". The dancing down the steps with "Bojangles Bill Robinson" is something that can make you appreciate the talent of a young and not so young. The story line can be weak in places and the acting might be a bit corny to todays standards but if you need a feel good movie then drag out a Shirley Temple movie . You won't be disappointed.

THE LITTLE COLONEL (Fox, 1935), directed by David Butler, stars Shirley Temple in one of her more famous movie roles during her early years as a young performer. Aside from her initial teaming with legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (4th billed during opening credits, bottom billed in the closing), with whom she does a memorable "stair" dance, it places her against odds with the crusty Lionel Barrymore, on loan out assignment from MGM, sporting white hair, bushy eyebrows and droopy mustache in the old Southerner/ or Claude Gillingwater Sr. tradition, and what a pair they make.

Based on a story by Annie Fellows Johnston, the plot opens with a prologue set in 1870s Kentucky on a Southern plantation where Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns his beloved daughter, Elizabeth (Evelyn Venable) for eloping with a "Yankee", Jack Sherman (John Lodge). During their six years in Philadelphia, Jack and Elizabeth have been blessed with a child, Lloyd (Shirley Temple), whom they witness being commissioned as a "little colonel" by soldiers on a western outpost. With John remaining at the post, Elizabeth returns to Kentucky where she and Lloyd settle in an old cottage left to her by her late mother that happens to be next door to her father. After meeting his granddaughter with an introduction of getting mud thrown on him, he finds her to be just as stubborn and quick tempered as he. In spite of their rugged start and similar personality traits, Grandpa eventually warms up to Lloyd, though his stubbornness keeps him from having anything to do with his daughter, even when learning of swindlers Swazey (Sidney Blackmer) and Hull (Aden Chase) in their home threatening the ailing Jack and Elizabeth to turn over the deed to worthless property they sold him that has been proved valuable.

THE LITTLE COLONEL, a leisurely paced story with familiar theme, relies mostly on the strength of its leading players, Temple and Barrymore. It's also one of the better films in which Temple does not typically play an orphan. Evelyn Venable, whose career failed to take off after a promising start opposite Fredric March in DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY (Paramount, 1934), provides the opening playing the harp and singing "Love's Young Dream" to her guests. The song is later reprized by Temple serenading to her grandfather as he envisions his daughter at the harp. John Lodge, virtually forgotten but better known for his performance as Count Alexi in THE SCARLET EMPRESS (Paramount, 1934) starring Marlene Dietrich, has little to do until the final half of the story. Hattie McDaniel, four years away her Academy Award winning performance in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), supports as the Sherman maid, Mom Beck. Dressed in "Aunt Jemima" attire, she shares amusing moments with Colonel Lloyd's butler (Robinson), sharing time together with the "little colonel" at a spiritual gathering witnessing a woman getting dunked in the river where she's having her sins washed away as Negroes sing "The Sun Shines Brighter." Aside from the aforementioned "stair dance," Temple and Robinson do an encore tap dancing to Stephen Foster's "Oh, Susannah" in the stable to harmonica playing by May Lily (Avonne Johnson). Johnson, along with Nyamza Potts as her little brother, Henry Clay, support as Temple's playmates. As in many Temple films, there's a pet dog, this time a pooch named Fritzi. Others in the cast include William Burress (Doctor Scott); Geneva Williams (Maria); and Robert Warwick (Colonel Gray).

Priot to 1985, THE LITTLE COLONEL played frequently on commercial television with the closing segment, filmed in Technicolor, usually absent, with story coming to an abrupt conclusion either after Barrymore's closing line or next scene of McDaniel successfully breaking down the door after being locked in by one of Sherman's "guests." When distributed on video in 1988, the closing Technicolor segment was restored, and shown intact at 82 minutes on cable TV broadcasts on the Disney Channel (early 1990s), American Movie Classics (1996-2001) and finally the Fox Movie Channel. THE LITTLE COLONEL is currently available on DVD in black and white or colorized versions.

The success of THE LITTLE COLONEL brought forth a similar theme and title of THE LITTLEST REBEL (1935), reuniting Temple with Bill Robinson once again, with plot set during the Civll War instead of after-wards. Both classic films with Temple (and Robinson) at the peak of their careers. (***1/2)