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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It can't really be called a "Shirley Temple movie," because the original Little Miss Sunshine appears in it for just 10 minutes or so. But you can easily see how Stand Up and Cheer! gave birth to the most dominant star of the mid-1930s: Shirley Temple brings down the house. With just a bit of dialogue and one musical number, "Baby Take a Bow," Ms. Temple sets the cuteness meter to 11 and packs considerable hilarity into her already-definable personality. (Old pro James Dunn, who co-starred with Temple in a few subsequent features, plays her father/dance partner here.) The movie itself is something else again, in every sense. Purportedly based on an idea by Will Rogers, it imagines a new cabinet position--Secretary of Amusement--established by the President himself. Said official (Warner Baxter, fresh off a similar role in 42nd Street) must drum up lotsa socko entertainment to pull America out of its Depression doldrums. The near-surreal results include the acrobatic vaudeville team Mitchell & Durant as loopy senators and a sequence involving Stepin Fechit and a talking penguin dressed up as Jimmy Durante. Yes, you read that right. Meanwhile, corporate fatcats conspire to ruin the plan; they want America to remain scared and passive. But you know they don't stand a chance against Shirley Temple--whose 1930s career fulfilled the movie's idea of cheering up a population staggered by hard times. --Robert Horton
From the Back Cover
Shirley Temple makes America happy again! Shirley Temple helps get the country out of the red in this Depression-era comedy that recommends laughter as an antidote for despair. With America's economy at a standstill, the President creates the cabinet post of Secretary of Amusement and charges his new appointee with entertaining the country so everyone will forget their troubles. After all, as the President says, "any people blessed with a sense of humor can achieve success and victory." But certain businesses who are getting rich off the misery of others try to sabotage this effort by launching a smear campaign to discredit the entire idea. Shirley does her part as little Shirley Dugan, who has a song and dance act with her father (James Dunn). When she takes center stage in the film's big production number, Baby, Take a Bow, she'll make you want to Stand Up and Cheer!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be misled; this is not a Shirley Temple movie,
This review is from: Stand Up & Cheer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This movie was never intended to feature Shirley Temple as a star. At the time this movie was made, she was a minor child actor who had never been on film before, and had she not subsequently been made famous by other movies, her role in this film would have been either forgotten, or relegated to an obscure footnote in the history of American movies. It is totally dishonest of the current distributors of "Stand Up and Cheer" to give Miss Temple top billing and a photograph on the cover of the VHS. She was not the star of this movie at all! She has a 2-bit part in a movie that starred bigger names in Hollywood. But if you are Shirley Temple die hard who must have everything she ever did, buy this film (caveat emptor). If you are a student of the American cinema, and want to see how good (or bad) an early talkie was, then you should certainly buy this movie, if nothing else for its historical significance. If you want to see rare film footage of "The Princess of American Song" Sylvia Froos (one of the great voices of the 1930s), BUY THIS VIDEO. But don't buy this if you are expecting a sweet, polished performance from Miss Temple a la "Heidi".
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good acting by Shirley Temple, Bad Movie,
This review is from: Stand Up & Cheer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I bought this movie mainly because Shirley Temple was going to be in it. From reading some of the reviews, I knew it would not be one of her best. After watching the movie, I realized it was not her acting that was lacking, but the plot of the movie itself. Some aspects of the movie were detestable, such as the scenes with the black man playing an idiot and kissing up the white people in the movie (I, as an African American was disgusted); however, it must be realized that such things reflected the times in which the movie was made. Also, the movie's plot didn't really move along and many times was confusing or boring, although it did do an good job at showing what that time period was like in America. As for Shirley, her scenes, though few, were the best in the film. I loved the dance routine, but besides those few scenes the movie was not very enjoyable. If you want some of Shirley's better works, I suggest you buy Bright Eyes (my personal favorite), Poor Little Rich Girl, or Wee Willie Winkie.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not much to cheer about here,
This review is from: Shirley Temple: Stand Up and Cheer [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The film that began Shirley Temple's career at Fox, "Stand Up and Cheer," really isn't much to cheer about. The premise is actually rather fun: In the dark days of the Depression, the US Government decides to form a Department of Amusement to restore joy to the American people through song and dance. Many of the principals, including Madge Evans and Jimmy Durante, are excellent. However, the film is quite dated and several scenes, such as one in which a man is coaxed into a fish tank, are rather offensive. There are only two things that save this film from being a total disaster: the final celebration sequence and the three short scenes with James Dunn and Shirley Temple. Dunn and Temple are both extremely talented and work very well together (they went on to appear together in seveal more films). Their musical number, "Baby Take a Bow," is the film's high point. Dunn, as the quintessential 'tall, dark and handsome' song and dance man, is definitely a charmer, and Temple, at only five years old, handles the choreography with enthusiasm and poise. This is not the best film to buy...try to catch it on TV or watch for the dance routine on a Temple documentary instead.
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