There's a scene in "Miss Annie Rooney" that ranks among the most awkward I've ever seen in a movie. Poor high school girl Shirley Temple is at her wealthy boyfriend Dickie Moore's birthday party, having just won over his snobbish friends with her dancing skills. Unexpectedly, her father William Gargan bursts in, determined to demonstrate to Moore's industrialist father a system of converting millweed into rubber. He practically burns down the whole place in the process. The level of cringe is so off the charts that I had to pause the movie to collect myself.
That scene exemplifies the strange divide in the movie. Half the scenes are lighthearted fun with Shirley Temple and her teen gang, the other half is a really depressing kitchen sink drama centered around the constant family crises caused by her dad's impulsivity and flightiness. The upbeat scenes are much better and less contrived, with plenty of 1940s jive talk, jitterbugging and jury-rigged jalopies. There's a nifty swing dancing scene where Shirley really gets to really let loose, although Moore is obviously doubled. Unfortunately, there's a rather silly happy ending tacked on that will make you roll your eyes.
That scene exemplifies the strange divide in the movie. Half the scenes are lighthearted fun with Shirley Temple and her teen gang, the other half is a really depressing kitchen sink drama centered around the constant family crises caused by her dad's impulsivity and flightiness. The upbeat scenes are much better and less contrived, with plenty of 1940s jive talk, jitterbugging and jury-rigged jalopies. There's a nifty swing dancing scene where Shirley really gets to really let loose, although Moore is obviously doubled. Unfortunately, there's a rather silly happy ending tacked on that will make you roll your eyes.