Customer Reviews

Curly Top [VHS]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Curly (Shirley Temple ) and her sister Mary are secretly adopted by Mr. Jones. Curly adds joy to Mr. Jones life while Mary falls in love with Mr. Jones. Curly sings and dances through-out the movie with some of her best songs yet. She sings "When I Grow-up" and "Animal Crackers in my Soup". Mary and Mr. Jones also sing and play a few songs as well. There are a few comic moments and the ending is a happy one. This film is apporiate for people of all ages and a film everyone can watch over and over again. Curly Top is wonderfully cheographed and has a great moral to the story.

Shirley Temple, whose career as a child star was over by the age of 10 (and who, according to her very good autobiography, reaped a mere $18.00 from it when she asked her father for her reapings upon her second marriage), shines and super-shines in this adorable and heart-rending film.

She and her sister are orphans. A mysterious benefactor adopts them and they enter a life of luxury, but also a life of love. Rochelle Hudson is delicately beautiful as the sister, and John Boles is excellent and exceedingly handsome. I wonder what happened to them both?

"Animal Crackers" and "When I Grow Up" are the top numbers, as well as several sung by Boles and Hudson. All works out as it should be.

There's just something very moving about this movie. It's a genuine heart-tugger.

And Shirley is simply a delight! So glad the camera caught this amazing little girl with such a natural talent shining through her girlhood.

Shirley plays a mischevious, singing-and-dancing orphan with an older, protecting sister who stays in the same orphanage with her. A wealthy trustee adopts them, telling them that their real guardian, "Mr. Jones", is away and that he will be taking care of them for awhile, so they won't have to thank him for his works. The trustee, their real guardian, falls in love with older sister Mary and little Shirley plays Cupid for the two. Includes "Curly Top", "The Simple Things in Life", "Animal Crackers in My Soup", and "When I Grow Up".

Shirley Temple is pint-sized in this film and is fun to watch as she sings some of her number one theme songs "Animal Crakers in my Soup" and "When I Grow Up." Shirley plays Elizabeth, an orphan living at an orphange that her sister Mary works at. Shirley charms one of the trustees and he imediately falls in love with her spunk. The movie has some entertaining moments that strike us all. I always laugh when Elizabeth is trying to adjust to her new rich and spoiled life. All though Shirley seems to be sweet and innocent through the whole movie, she has a selfish point where she says she rather have a pair of roller skates when her gaurdian gives her a pearl necklace. She saves that little rude comment by putting on a benefit for her orphan friends. The story line at times is hard to follow, but as always ends happily. Curly Top is a wonderful movie for young children, but doesn't have a moral or a point. Shirley of course will dazzle you!

CURLY TOP is a musical version of Jean Webster's "Daddy Long Legs", about a young orphan who is mysteriously sponsored by a never-named benefactor.

Shirley Temple and Rochelle Hudson play Elizabeth and Mary Blair, two orphans who are sponsored by Edward Morgan (John Boles) who uses the alias of 'Hireman Jones'. Complications arise when Edward falls in love with Mary but of course he cannot reveal his true identity. It's up to little Elizabeth to play matchmaker!

Jane Darwell, Esther Dale, Arthur Treacher and Rafaela Ottiano round out the supporting cast. Temple sings the classic "Animal Crackers in My Soup". A real charmer.

CURLY TOP is a musical version of Jean Webster's "Daddy Long Legs", about a young orphan who is mysteriously sponsored by a never-named benefactor.

Shirley Temple and Rochelle Hudson play Elizabeth and Mary Blair, two orphans who are sponsored by Edward Morgan (John Boles) who uses the alias of 'Hireman Jones'. Complications arise when Edward falls in love with Mary but of course he cannot reveal his true identity. It's up to little Elizabeth to play matchmaker!

Jane Darwell, Esther Dale, Arthur Treacher and Rafaela Ottiano round out the supporting cast. Temple sings the classic "Animal Crackers in My Soup". A real charmer.

Twentieth Century-Fox would revisit this property again in 1955's "Daddy Long Legs" (starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron).

I read that before Shirley Temple went before the cameras, her mother would lean down close and tell her to "Sparkle." Well, she certainly must have listened to her mother, because I feel this is one of Shirley's best movies. She was definately a polished professional, from the top of her blond ringlet curls to the bottom of her tap shoes, and she knew how to charm an audience. Her dancing and singing are wonderful, and it's easy to see why she was such a HUGE star in the depression era. Shirley "sparkles" throughout this movie, and viewers can only come away pleased after watching this movie. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Shirley Temple's 'Curly Top' is a perfect demonstration of the young actress's remarkable talent. I can't think of any child star, now or then, who could carry an entire film the way she did every year in the 1930's. She is completely unrivaled.
In this film she plays Elizabeth Blair, a sweetly precocious orphan who, along with her older sister Mary, is adopted by a kind-hearted wealthy businessman. The musical numbers are absolutely classic, and include the famous "Animal Crackers In My Soup" in which she leads her fellow orphans in a dining room singalong. Then there's the ultra-adorable song n' dance (and jump-rope) number "When I Grow Up", where we get to see little Shirley dress up in various costumes that include a wedding gown and an old lady getup, grey hair and all. Last but not least, Shirley does one of her most famous tapdance numbers on top of a white grand piano in the aptly-titled song "Curly Top".
The seasoned supporting cast definitely shines as well. John Boles is extremely charming as Edward Morgan, the handsome millionaire who takes in the orphaned sisters, although his piano-accompanied operatic singing can seem a little tedious, especially to younger viewers.
One of my favorite actors, Arthur Treacher, expertly plays the quietly sarcastic butler whose stiff exterior quickly melts after befriending young Elizabeth. Treacher is better known for his role in the later Shirley Temple film, The Little Princess, in which he plays the cruel schoolmaster's flamboyant brother, Mr Birdy.
Filled with interesting characters and situations, Curly Top is such a delightful movie. I've seen it over fifty times since first watching it at the age of ten. It's got musical numbers, romance, drama, and comedy, all wrapped up in a cute little package. It's a must-have for Shirley Temple fans, and classic movie fans in general.

This is another solid Shirley Temple film with some wonderful, sweet scenes and lines you certainly wouldn't hear in movies today. For instance: "It's Sunday. Would you like to go to Sunday School? Ohh, I love Sunday School!"

In addition to the innocence, truly nice characters, decent humor and music, what I appreciated was the lack of screen time of the villain. Many movies have some nasty person giving Shirley a hard time. To me, that's uncomfortable, but in this film the villain gets little screen time. Thus, much of the film features nothing but good, likable people.

That list is headed by pretty Rochelle Hudson as "Mary Blair" and charming singer/good guy John Boles as "Edward Morgan" and, finally, good old Arthur Treacher as the butler (what else?!), "Reynolds.".

To be fair, I didn't think the songs were that super, except for Shirley's "Animal Crackers In My Soup," which is a great song. If I recall, at least half the songs in this film were by the adults (two by Boles and one by Rochelle) and, frankly, I'd rather hear little Miss Temple. Boles' numbers and voice are too outdated for today. He has that Rudy Vallee-type 'early 30s voice.

Do not watch this on a colorized VHS version as I did. Shirley's teeth are green and it's distracting. Stick to the black-and-white, especially now that it is available with a good DVD transfer.

Shirley stars as loveable Elizabeth in this movie. She and her older sister Mary live in an orphanage where the girls are not allowed to sing which is hard for Elizabeth. But one day a man named Mr. Jones comes and visits the orphanage and falls in love with Mary, who is much younger than him. He and Elizabeth take to each other right away and her golden curls earn her the nickname, Curly Top. But Mary recieves a marrige proposal from a boy her age, and Mr. Jones is jealous and upset. Will Mary realize that she and Curly Top belong with Mr. Jones? Find out in Curly Top!