The Little Colonel (1935)

Waste of time

Very disappointing...

To me, this movie is perfection.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

When watching this Shirley Temple film, it is easy to see why The Little Colonel was such a crowd-pleaser. This film has a long Old South story to tell, that is both sentimental and predictable. The story has young Shirley Temple up against gruff old Lionel Barrymore, as her stubborn grandfather. For her sidekick, she has favourite Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the two of them are sheer magic together. One of their best scenes is the famous staircase dance. But the film was in danger of losing Lionel Barymore. At the time this movie was being filmed, Mr.Barrymore was suffering with severe arthritis, in extreme pain he had difficulty walking. A large blackboard was wheeled on-stage with all of Barrymore's lines chalked up. During filming he was stumbling on his lines and innocent Shirley Temple told him what his line was-- 'Mr. Barrymore, you're supposed to say so-and-so here.'The humiliated veteran actor exploded, yelling "I'm thirty years in this business!" Being warned not to swear in front of the child, Mr. Barrymore tried his best to storm of the set to his dressing room. Director David Butler went after him and came back with the bad news, he felt Shirley had made him look ridiculous, and to get somebody else to do the picture. It was now up to Shirley Temple to go alone and make up with him. She did, by telling him he was the best actor in the world, and asking for his autograph. As always, little Shirley Temple saves the day. It should also be noted that Shirley was known as "One Take Temple" because of her amazing ability to memorize her lines as well as all of the other players, before she could even read or write. The sheer magnetism of Shirley Temple always makes The Little Colonel a very enjoyable film to watch.

Personally, I think this is Shirley's best movie. It's got a good story (rare in children's movies), my favorite actor (Lionel Barrymore), great acting from a 5-yr-old child (Shirley), great dance numbers with Bojangles, lots of servant put-downs of their masters (as when Bojangles calls his master a fool)and also lots of humor, as when Shirley throws the chess set onto the floor, strikes an angry pose, and tells her Grandpa, "You're a bad man!". I smile every time I see that. The little 5-yr-old girl put the 70-something old guy in his place.If you've not yet seen the Little Colonel, I recommend you buy or rent it now. It's a great introduction to the actress Shirley Temple, and you can see why she was the number one star in 1936, 37, and 38.

It's odd that Shirley Temple made two similar movies in the same year, both involving Civil War-type story lines and her character being very similar. "The Littlest Rebel" took place during the Civil War and "The Little Colonel" took place right after the war.For some reason, I get an extra feeling being choked up seeing Shirley melting a crabby old man's heart as she did in some of her films, this being one of them. Here, it's Lionel Barrymore who was fun to watch in any film.The lead female role was played by Evelyn Venable and she really wasn't up to the standards, beauty-wise, set by previous Temple adult feminine leads such s Gloria Stuart, Karen Moreley, Rochelle Hudson, etc. But, that's not important.The story was more important and in case - surprise - I found this to run a distant second to the aforementioned "The Littlest Rebel." This movie was, frankly, boring in comparison.I am not one of the crying Liberals who boycott Temple''s films because blacks in these movies were denigrated. Unfortunately, that's what you saw in 1930s films....and what's done is done. However, the black characters in here are just plain treated embarrassingly bad. Everyone's Mr. Nice Guy (mine, too) Bill Robinson, didn't come on the scene and dance with Shirley until later in the film when I had lost interest.Temple, meanwhile, is so cute that she's even likable when she's a brat, as she acts several times with the old man (but apologizes later for her behavior).It's still a good film but I prefer the "Rebel" over the "Colonel" in the battle of these 1935 Civil War-themed stories.

Crusty old Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) is used to having his ornery way so when he finds out his daughter Elizabeth (Evelyn Venable) is determined to run off with Yankee Jack Shermon (John Lodge) to be married, he confronts her in a heated exchange and vows never to see her again if she does, and then she leaves.Several years later Elizabeth, with her husband and their young daughter Miss Lloyd (Shirley Temple), decides to return to a small house that belonged to her mother and which happens to be next door to her stubborn father's home. Obviously there are soon accidental meetings between all concerned, and a few clashes of granddaughter and the elderly Colonel just to see who is the most stubborn! Troubles descend on the Sherman family through some persuasive dishonest men who are out to rob them of their legal rights, and things start to get serious but grandpa comes to the rescue.Becky (Hattie McDaniel) and Walker (Bill Robinson) certainly add some amusing dialog during their stroll, as in spelling out "pohos"; and Robinson's tap dancing is superb. Not surprisingly, little Shirley is right in there keeping pace with him as they both tap dance up the stairs. A great moment in film.Nice family entertainment.