Customer Reviews

Shirley Temple: Little Colonel [VHS]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This review refers to "The Little Colonel" (VHS/20th Fox Family Feature)...

A very young Shirley Temple holds her own with the likes of Lionel Barrymore, Bill "BoJangles" Robinson and Hattie McDaniel, in this touching Civil War drama.

Little Lloyd Sherman(Temple), has just returned to the South with her mother as they wait the return of her father from duty. They move into a cottage, right next door to the mean old Colonel Lloyd(Barrymore), who happens to be Little Lloyd's grandfather. Years earlier the Colonel told his daughter that the door of their great mansion would never be open to her again, as she ran off to marry the man she loved, a Yankee!

Colonol Lloyd is a stubborn old curmudgeon who's heart has hardened to his daughter. He has met his match though, in our stubborn "Little Colonel", as Shirley works her magic on him(and us), and he slowly warms to his grandchild's charms. But..Shirley's job is not quite done, when the Sherman family is in trouble, little Lloyd must convince her grandfather to come to the rescue.

The film is one that confirms that Temple was one of the best child actresses to ever grace the screen. Her emotions seem authentic and it is a real treat to watch her work her magic on both Barrymore and McDaniel(pre-Gone With The Wind), who were also a joy to watch perform. And if that is not treat enough, Shirley and Bill Robinson do two wonderful tap dance numbers together, that are treasures to watch on their own.

If you haven't seen this one, you should know that there are a couple of scenes of dialouge, between the Colonel and the African Americans that work for him, and some children, that will be offensive. Unfortunatley this was probably though, a very realistic portrayal of the treatment they recieved and is very much a part of this film and history, just as the treament of women in many of the films of this era(including Gone With The Wind)is offensive to us now as well.

This edition is colorized, and I thought the conversion to color was very well done. There was an occasional color(red tones on a black and white checked dress) that looked like it didn't belong, but for the most part, I thought the color brought out many details of the film that might have gone unnoticed. Also having this film colorized may make it easier to share this cinematic treasure with a new generation.

Enjoy...Laurie

I loved this movie, as it showcases Shirley's seemingly unending talent, even at such a tender age. However, I resent it when people review this story and rail about how offensive the treatment of African Americans is in it. It makes me angry when people would seek to rewrite history, or worse yet, omit it altogether just because it isn't, in their opinion, "politically correct" for current times. What is depicted in this motion picture simply represents what was going on THEN. Yes, it is sad. But only by exposing our children to representation of historical events such as these and then making the comparison to how far we have come socially and politically now can we hope to ensure that they learn the lesson that this story seeks to convey--that prejudice and racism are always wrong and, if you lead the kind of life you should, you can help to overcome these wrongs. And who better to convey such a lesson than Shirley Temple?

Charming Shirley Temple vehicle, with Lionel Barrymore as the irrascible grandfather, gruff and blustering but with a soft spot for Granddaughter, Shirley. Bill Robinson is at his best, or should I say, wonderful as usual as the old faithful family retainer and the dance rountines between him and Shirley are alone worth watching the movie for. Great family fare, touching in spots and easy on the eye as well.

I am a very devoted Shirley Temple fan.When I was in a video store one day, my dad picked out Our Little Girl(Shirley Temple) out for me...and I loved it,( black and white). My seacond Shirley Temple Movie was The Little Colonel. It is a touching warm hearting film that should be treasured in a Shirley Temple fan's video collection.The movie is about a little girl who is be coming friends with her grandfather. Her grandfather has a bad mood to Shirley's mother because she married her true love.Besides it also about two robers who want Shirley's dad's money, then Shirley leads her dad to the scene and those robers go to jail. This is a very clean movie, no stuff of today's world. You should buy this movie- you won't regret it!

THE LITTLE COLONEL was the first of two movies, released in 1935, that featured Shirley Temple in a Civil War storyline.

Based on a story by Annie Fellows Johnston, Shirley Temple plays the strong-willed Miss Lloyd Sherman, trying to reconcile her mother (Evelyn Venable) with her embittered grandfather (Lionel Barrymore). Temple is especially appealing in this film, where she gets to wear some beautiful hoopskirt costumes.

It's also in this film where Temple performs the legendary "Staircase Dance" with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, who would go on to appear in several more films with Temple based solely on his success here. This is one of the rare films where Shirley Temple doesn't sing; the only musical moment is provided with "Love's Young Dream", sung by a dubbed Evelyn Venable.

One of the all-time Temple greats, THE LITTLE COLONEL also features good work from Hattie McDaniel, John Lodge and Sidney Blackmer. The DVD inclues both B&W and computer-coloured versions of the film.

1935's "The Little Colonel" is one of four feature films Shirley Temple made for Fox Studios and is also one of my favorites of her films ! Set in the Civil War,Temple plays a young girl to her already gruff,but lovable grandfather colonel (played well by Lionel Barrymore) as they try to patch up their troubled family,but things get in the way with Temple's father in a bad loan deal with his so-called 'friends'.This is the film that features the classic and much-imitated dancing on the stairs routine with Temple and co-star Bill Robinson,the first of four films they would do together."Gone With The Wind" it isn't,but with a stellar cast,good solid direction by David Butler,and the classic dance sequence,this is a very good and well-made film with careful pace,hilarious scenes,and serious moments that will appeal to any member of the family old or new ! Recommended !

ABOUT THE DVD:
This is the very first time that Fox has released this very good film on DVD as part of the Volume 3 Collection of Temple's films which contains both a restored black & white version of the film (with the original Technicolor ending) and a brand-new digitally remastered colorized version as well. The restored black & white print used here on this disc is superb,if not very very good with a few instances of film grain and scratches.Speaking of the Technicolor ending,previous video releases of this film inexplicably edit out the ending of the film,notably in the original 1994 colorized VHS version,but here its been beautifully restored and shows signs of grain and very seldom contrast.As for the new colorized version,it completely blows away the horrendously bad original colorized version from a few decades before as Legend Films always does an excellent job restoring and remastering their colorized films to DVD,it too retains the original Technicolor ending from the original release,but the Legend colorized version is more saturated and well-balanced and carefully recolorized as the original version.The extras (hence the four star rating) include the two same unrestored trailers for both "Heidi" and "Little Miss Broadway" that also appear on other recent Fox Temple DVD's,but it also has a rare Fox Movietone Newsreel excerpt that celebrates the star's 7th birthday and runs one whole minute.Purists will definitely stick to the original b&w,but this film's colorized appeal will bring back a dejavu dream to "Gone With The Wind" in terms of the Civil War backdrop and oh,of course that too co-starred Hattie MacDaniel who plays the maid in "Colonel".Well recommended by film buffs and classic family film fans alike !

I don't quite understand why they say that this is more of an adult movie. I think this is one of Temple's bests,and boy I've seen em all. When the Door Shuts It Will Never Again Be Opened for Elizabeth and Jack. Clueless? Elizabeth's dad the colonel played by Lionel Barrymore flips out when his beautiful daughter runs away and marries a northener. (let me remind you this is post civil war) Then they have a beautiful child who's name is Lloyd Sherman (temple) well while the father stays out west to get money the mother and daughter move into a cottage right next to the colonel's house ! Temple is at her peak or maybe it was just me imagaining,but anyone who sees this movie is bedazzled. It is quite a joy to see her and Barrymore fighting because of him poking her and then watching the mud throw ! She's very cute and very ummm what's the word...outspoken? Well whatever that word is you'll see. ... In one point of the movie shirley asks her grandmotherd name and Lionel says Aminthus ,if you are a shirley fan you will know that she had told him the name because he had asked for line. She thought she was helping out but he thought she was making fujn of him. When he flipped out on her she was angry.When he thretened to leave the set They made her apologize even though all she did was try to help. This movie is great,especially watch the staircase dance. Shirley didn't understand racism quite yet but Bill Robinson (bojangles) was her favorite person to work with,the chemistry between the 2 is just fabolous!@

Bill Robinson was an absolute treat to watch in this movie. Shirly Temple and Robinson's dance routine up the stairs is something no one should miss. Leaves one wanting more...

The greatest showcase of Shirley's many talents there ever was! Tap-dancing up the stairs with Bill Robinson, crying on cue, being angry and sad and happy, is what makes this movie worthwhile! A young Southern woman defies her father and marries a Northerner right after the Civil War. The couple returns to live in the cottage next to the hot-headed Southerner's mansion, and, of course, with her many charms, Shirley becomes friends with her grandfather and convinces him to reunite with his daughter and her husband.

This is one of Shirley's best pictures ever! It features America's most famous dance scene, the staircase and it features Lionel Barrymore, Drew Barrymore's grandfather. Funny and touching film! 2 thumbs up!