8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Check out the real Shirley instead, February 26, 2005
When this movie was first played on TV, I was so excited because I have been a major Shirley fan since I was 9(I'm now 21) but when I was watched I was highly dissapointed. The story is supposed to be based on Shirley Temple Black's autobiography "Child Star" and I only saw a handful of items that were actually taken from the book, the rest of it was just fluff. Plus they didn't go past Shirley's early teens when the book covers up until after she marries her second husband. They seemed to only want to focus on the happy aspects of Shirley's life but she and her family were not always so happy go lucky. Ashley Orr is horrific at playing Shirley-first of all she's too old to play 5,6,7 and even 8 year old Shirley and she was too sticky sweet, I know Shirley was too but not that sweet. I would have actually given this movie 0 stars if I had the option, it was horrible. So if you want to know the real story find her book "Child Star" and if you want to see the real Shirley work her magic on the screen go find any of her movies and stay away from this one.
"Bright eyes" , "Heidi" , and "Poor Little Rich Girl" are good movies to start off with.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Shirley Temple Story for kids!, June 23, 2008
We have loved this film so much that we "wore out" our VHS tape and had to order the DVD! My daughter loves watching Shirley Temple grow up and I love watching how it makes my daughter smile.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Look Back, February 7, 2005
Based on her autobiography, Child Star tells the story of the fame of Shirley Temple, perhaps the most loved child star of all time. The movie does a good job of setting the time period, the depression by using newsreel footage and radio broadcasts. Many of her most famous routines are faithfully recreated, sometimes as clips from the movies, other times as if they were filming the movie.
The acting is good. Ashley Rose Orr "sparkles" as Shirley (Shirley's mother always told her to "sparkle"). It's tough recreating a living legend, but she can sing and dance and act quite well, although she did say "Oh, my goodness" a bit too many times. Connie Britton is good as Shirley's mother, although Colin Friel is bland as her father. A standout is Hinton Battle as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
Shirley Temple fans will enjoy this movie. She's one of those rare child stars who seems well-adjusted, so there's nothing really controversial in the film. Anything that is controversial, such as Shirley's father spending almost all her money, is sugar-coated, perhaps because Shirley was a consultant on the movie. Unfortunately, the movie veers off course in the end by showing Shirley as a teenager. A much better ending would have been her leaving the 20th Century Fox studios when they terminated her contract.
DVD extras include an audio commentary by Melissa Joan Hart, who produced the movie along with her mother, and an interesting feature on the making of the movie.
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