Dora's Dunking Doughnuts

I find it strange that Shirley's character was in a class with mostly "children" who were a lot older. She looked barely school age, and some looked like they were about to finish !

To me it seems they put Shirley in the movie as she was popular at the time - and seemed more a case of "where can we put her" "we could slot her in, in this scene".

Perhaps not brilliantly written, but I guess for the time period, and the short length the movie is ok ! Also sound and video quality as you would expect for 1933.

There are funny bits, like the (very plain looking) lady singing like a chicken !

Honestly I don't think Shirley was a great addition to the movie and certainly not good enough for top billing. I found her character a bit annoying and forced at times.

Andy Clyde (Andy) and Ethel Sykes (Dora) were a good pairing, and funny together !

The thing that really struck me about this short comedy is that it is all about a guy who makes a radio commercial for a local donut shop because he actually cares about the well-being of its owner, a woman named Dora with whom he is clearly romantically interested (and who is clearly romantically interested in him as well). In a time when we are bombarded with obnoxious advertisements and endless streams of commercials, it is indeed interesting to look back to a time when it would be acceptable to make a movie about making a commercial.

Today, commercials have become so widespread that they're like a cancer on society, you can't go anywhere anymore without being advertised at, they even show commercials before the previews start at the movie theaters now. And I thought I spent $10 to get in so I could get AWAY from the commercials.

Shirley Temple is not the star of this short film, although it's easy to see why she is so good at coming to the forefront, because as is to be expected, she steals every scene that she's in, even though she is the only person who doesn't fit in at all. The film concerns a school band taught by a charming teacher named Andy, although all of the students appear to be about junior high school age, except for 5 year old Shirley.

Unfortunately, the movie loses its way completely in the second half, with the thin script being abandoned completely at about the time that people start fighting. An improvised one-man performance of Little Red Riding Hood is thrown in out of nowhere, and then we are treated to a couple of pie throwing sight gags (which are not entirely without effect) before the movie makes short work of solving the crisis that it introduced about Dora's struggling bakery, as well as the budding romance between her and Andy. It wastes a lot of time in the last act and is hardly up to par with the short comedies of the time, but is still a charming little film.

Although this film has come down to us as a Shirley Temple short, the stars are really Andy Clyde playing a school teacher and his fiancé who runs a place called Dora's Dunkin' Donuts. I wonder if some famous company might not have stolen part of that name.

Andy's kids in the local school have been formed into a musical orchestra including Shirley Temple who's there just because she's cute and adorable. Andy's fiancé Ethel Sykes get the bright idea to use the kids on a local radio station to advertise her place and the great donuts she makes.

Andy Clyde comes off as a kind of poor man's Mr. Chips as the kids range in age from the teens to barely school age as is Shirley. The orchestra isn't exactly the Philharmonic and could even give competition to Harold Hill and his 'think' system from the music man. But it's all kind of nice fun and definitely one of Shirley Temple's better short subjects.

This enjoyable short feature has a little bit of almost everything, from slapstick to romance, from light comedy to musical variety acts, and more. Although Shirley Temple's winning presence is probably the main reason why it is now remembered, Andy Clyde is really the star, in a well-chosen role as a good-natured but rather disorientated schoolteacher.

The simple but amusing story has Clyde's character organizing his musically talented students to make a radio commercial, on behalf of his friend Dora and her delicious donuts. It features the kinds of pleasantly illogical plot turns that are fun to watch when they are handled properly. The wide variety of material does not always fit together seamlessly, but overall it works pretty well.

Although Temple is the best-known of the cast members now, she really only appears for occasional moments, though when she does, of course, she usually steals the scene. Clyde gives a consistent performance that helps to hold everything together, and Bud Jamison and the rest of the supporting cast help out as well. There's nothing fancy here, just good light entertainment that is easy to watch.

A previous IMDB reviewer has said that "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" is about a boy who's afraid of dogs. That reviewer is thinking of a different movie, called "Pardon My Pups". Both are short comedies which feature Shirley Temple before her stardom. Both of these films have been released on video as part of a compendium of Shirley Temple shorts, which explains why the reviewer has got them switched. "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" is often packaged as a Shirley Temple film; she's prominently featured in a supporting role, but she is certainly not the central character here.

"Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" was made at Al Christie's low-budget Educational studio, which (despite its name) specialised in short comedies. (Educational started out making educational films, then producer Christie discovered that slapstick was more profitable.) The star of this film is silent-film comedian Andy Clyde, cast here as a bashful schoolmaster and speaking his dialogue in a soft Perthshire accent. Andy is sweet on Dora, who runs a small roadside diner which isn't getting much custom. But her food is good, especially her doughnuts: if only she could afford to advertise, and attract more customers!

Andy maintains order (just barely) over a classroom of students, ranging widely in age. They're all good kids, but very mischievous. Little Shirley is the prize pupil. Andy organises his students into an orchestra and chorus, then he uses his savings to buy some air time on the local radio station. This is quite realistic: in the golden age of radio, many shows were "on sustaining", meaning that the performers had no sponsor and they paid for their own air time.

We see some very unrealistic yet amusing shenanigans at the radio station, including a performance by a matronly singer (Florence Gill) who clucks her song as if she were a chicken. Andy leads his schoolkids in a rendition of an advertising jingle, "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", which is actually quite enjoyable. But of course a few things go wrong during the live broadcast...

Special attention should be paid to Bud Jamison, unfortunately misspelt in the credits of this film as 'Jamieson'. Bud Jamison was the greatest straight man in the history of film comedy! He worked with most of the greatest comedians in the first 50 years of American films, including Chaplin, Keaton, WC Fields and the Three Stooges. In the Stooges classic 'Disorder in the Court', Jamison is the defence attorney who hands Curly a revolver while speaking the immortal line "Never fear, it's not loaded." Bud Jamison gave sterling service in many of the greatest comedies of the 1920s through '40s (and in a lot of obscure comedies too), yet he remains utterly unknown to old-movie fans ... probably because Jamison specialised in making other comedians seem funnier than they were. Here in "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", Jamison is quite funny as the put-upon manager of the small-time radio station.

I'll rate this nice comedy-musical short 10 out of 10. You'll probably watch it to see Shirley Temple, and Andy Clyde is excellent in the lead role. (Ethel Sykes is quite good too, as the titular Dora.) But please rewind it and watch it again, this time concentrating on Bud Jamison's expert comedy timing.