Author/Director David Butler put together a script that showcases SHIRLEY TEMPLE as a lovable little girl who gets caught up in a nasty custody battle when her mother dies and her aviator god-father (JAMES DUNN)wants to adopt her. Scenes between Temple and Dunn are so natural that you'll have a hard time not getting a lump in your throat in the scene where he assures her that her mother (who has just died) is in heaven with the angels. Yes, it does get a little sticky at times.
But wait!! Before things become to saccharine and predictable, little JANE WITHERS, America's most lovable brat, shows up as a nasty rich girl who delights in tormenting everyone around her, especially Shirley. It's a great role for Jane and she makes the most of it, whether imitating a machine-gunner or threatening to make mincemeat of Shirley's dolls.
And believe me, she's a welcome presence in a Shirley Temple vehicle that does tend to get all dewy-eyed over the adorable princess. Watch the scene on the plane where the aviators all watch Temple as she sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop", strolling down the aisle and enjoying all the male attention. You can almost sense something darker than is supposed to meet the eye with the way they all leer at her. But she is, quite simply, at her most fetching in that casually charming little number.
Shirley's first film tailored just for her, and it opened at Radio City Music Hall in 1934 to cheer Depression-era audiences with its innocent star at her most disarming. Easy to see why she would become the nation's number one box-office star four years in a row.
But wait!! Before things become to saccharine and predictable, little JANE WITHERS, America's most lovable brat, shows up as a nasty rich girl who delights in tormenting everyone around her, especially Shirley. It's a great role for Jane and she makes the most of it, whether imitating a machine-gunner or threatening to make mincemeat of Shirley's dolls.
And believe me, she's a welcome presence in a Shirley Temple vehicle that does tend to get all dewy-eyed over the adorable princess. Watch the scene on the plane where the aviators all watch Temple as she sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop", strolling down the aisle and enjoying all the male attention. You can almost sense something darker than is supposed to meet the eye with the way they all leer at her. But she is, quite simply, at her most fetching in that casually charming little number.
Shirley's first film tailored just for her, and it opened at Radio City Music Hall in 1934 to cheer Depression-era audiences with its innocent star at her most disarming. Easy to see why she would become the nation's number one box-office star four years in a row.