Just Around the Corner (1938)

Memorable, crazy movie

Blistering performances.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Taking a cue from Mickey and Judy over at MGM, Shirley Temple decides that the problems she and father Charles Farrell are facing because of the Depression can be solved by putting on a show. The show is for the benefit of Claude Gillingwater who is Benny Bartlett's grand uncle Sam. The fact that Shirley confuses Gillingwater who is a tycoon with the euphemism for the USA is certainly not her fault.Farrell is an architect who's now out of work in his chosen profession and now living in the basement of the building where he had the penthouse suit. Living there now is Cora Witherspoon who is Gillingwater's daughter and her son Bartlett. Among other things Shirley turns him from a spoiled brat into a regular kid.Just Around The Corner reunited Shirley with Bill Robinson her famous dancing partner from The Littlest Rebel. Also in the cast are Joan Davis as a maid/dogwalker and Bert Lahr as a chauffeur who formerly worked for Farrell and now for Gillingwater's family.How could Uncle Sam not get better with Shirley Temple as his biggest booster? Fans of the eternal moppet will not be disappointed with Just Around The Corner.

Here's a so-so Shirley Temple entry with a catchy song that plays throughout the film. The movie features a bunch of nice characters. The "bad guys" in here - a snotty woman, her butler and a crabby "Uncle Sam" - aren't overly mean and don't have huge roles in here so the atmosphere, for the most part, is very genial.In addition to the main song ("This Is A Happy Little Ditty," a very catchy song), there is a good production number near the end of the film. Both of those numbers feature Shirley and Bill Robinson. Those two were always fun to watch dance and sing together.There are two negatives in here: some of the spoken lines are a little stupid and poorly delivered, mostly by the male rich kid "Milton Ramsby" (Bennie Bartlett) who looked like he was reading his lines and the female adult lead, "Lola Ramsby," played by Amanda Duff, was weak. I can see why Duff never had much of a screen career.I would like to have heard a few more songs, too, but it's still a charming film: not her best, but not the worst, either.

There is such a lackluster quality about JUST AROUND THE CORNER--everything from script to performances to the songs--is below average. And Shirley is not quite as cute as the story wants her to be--clearly, she is starting to develop into a chubby preteen youngster with just a modicum of talent left over from her earlier films as a tot.Only a couple of the songs are pleasant enough to be worth mentioning--"A Happy Little Ditty" and "A Walk in the Rain" have the kind of charm expected in a Temple musical. But staging of the numbers and overall set decoration leaves a lot to be desired. Bert Lahr and Joan Davis are on hand as a chauffeur and a maid but both are defeated by some flat one-liners. Charles Farrell is clearly past his career as a romantic leading man and is just so-so as Charlie's depressed father on the skids.For Temple fans only--weaknesses in both script and song numbers--and not much else can be said for it. It's all very routine and quite forgettable.

A precocious little moppet mistakes a misanthropic tycoon for Uncle Sam. She believes that by helping the old fellow, Depression woes will cease for her father and the country JUST AROUND THE CORNER.This friendly, fanciful film was exactly what the nation needed to help it forget economic hard times. Shirley Temple is bright & cheerful, as always, and never fails to amuse. The talents which made her Hollywood's top box office draw for years are abundantly on display. Legendary Bill `Bojangles' Robinson is on hand with 3 of his celebrated dance routines. Watch, when he dances with Shirley, how she matches him step for step - a marvelous terpsichorean treat.Comedy is handled by Bert Lahr, Joan Davis (why aren't they included in the climactic Benefit show?) & especially Franklin Pangborn, in his glory as the quintessential harried apartment manager. Charles Farrell, a big star himself a few years previous, does a fine job as Shirley's dad, while Claude Gillingwater once again has fun with the part of a crotchety, rich old man. Cora Witherspoon scores as a society snob.Movie mavens will recognize Charles Williams as a persistent photographer & Leonard Kibrick as Shirley's tough kid friend.Shirley, with help from Miss Davis, Lahr & Bojangles, sings & dances her way through `This Is A Happy Little Ditty' & `Just Around The Corner'.