Customer Reviews

Child Star - The Shirley Temple Story [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This movie was awful! Ashley Rose Orr, while a talented tap dancer, and singer (actually a little better than Temple was in terms of the latter), is a terrible actress. She plays the character as the Shirley that we saw on screen in her movies whether she's playing her on screen or off screen persona. So what we get is an overly cutesy, and wholly unrealistic (not to mention uninteresting) portrait. If one wants to see that side of her, one can just watch one of her movies. The only bright light here is Connie Britton's portrayal of Gertrude Temple. I don't think it was terribly realistic, but at least it was well acted. The Poor Little Rich Girl is definitely a better investment.

This movie is really great for those of you who admire Shirley's talents and would like to know more about her childhood. The girl who plays Shirley Temple doesn't really look like her at all, to be honest. She tries WAY too hard to be cute (and she succeeds). I haven't spotted any inaccuracies so far, except for the crew singing for her and giving her a birthday cake (that part was added to the script just to show viewers how close Shirley and the crew were). The songs and dances are very enjoyable. But the DVD edition has very few bonuses, although they're really good. The commentary by Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina) points out a lot of things that aren't shown in the movie, and there are interviews with the whole cast. Still, they could have had other things like a photo album, some song tracks of the real Shirley, an interview with Shirley, and other cool things. Well it's a very good movie well worth the money, but don't expect to see Shirley in it!

I am a big Shirley Temple fan. So I just had to buy this and add it to my collection. I watched this movie and I thought that
Ashley Rose Orr did a wonderful job in playing Shirley. Nobody can take Shirley Temple so keep that in mind. The only thing in the movie that I didnt like is the ending. I thought that it was tacky that the Producer Melisa Joan Hart would have her little sister Emily play the teen age role of Shirley Temple.I dont think that her sister resembled the teenage Shirley in my mind. The ending just stunk. It left you hanging. I would of like it if it covered all the way to the end of her acting years as an adult. Instead it focus way to much on her childhood.

Child Star - The Shirley Temple Story is a wonderful biography of America's favorite kid actress. Although not perfect, it remains one of my favorite due to the subject matter.

Ashley Rose Orr was a bit long in the tooth to play Shirley at some points of the story, but it was generally believable. The period costumes also added a great deal to the authenticity.

If you are a Shirley fan, this DVD belongs in your collection, right next to your real Shirley movies.

this movie was so good. it is a great movie for the whole family. i loved this movie i personally think they should show the movie more often.

I don't want to offend Shirley Temple(shes my favorite actress), but I did not like this movie at all. I have read Child Star, and the movie is nothing like the book! Plus, Ashley Orr did a terrable job as Shirley! Shirley had a differant, yet very cute, voice, which ashley does not have, and by trying to copy Shirley's voice she made it worse! If you want to know more about Shirley, then read Child Star, by Shirley Temple; Shirley Temple American Princess, by Anne Edwards; Or watch one of the real Shirley Temple movies. DON'T buy this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Love Shirley Temple, But I HATE this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ashley Rose Orr was nothing like Shirley Temple. Shirley had sparkle and pizazz. Ashley looked like a child trying to pretend to be Shirley. What kept me interested were the dance numbers. There wasn't very much information about her fame and life. All they really covered was how her contract changed from time to time how Fox changed to 20th Century Fox and that she didnt get Dorothy in Wizard of Oz (which im so glad she didnt b/c it would have just been aother Shirley Movie nothing big) otherwise. Ashley acts nothing like shirley would have acted off screne, looks nothing like her, sounds nothing like her, and why is a 10 year old playing a 5 year old?