Customer Reviews

Wee Willie Winkie

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fox continues to release the Temple films without any real extras; this one appears to be no exception. Since it was also part of a John Ford boxed set, it underwent an extensive overhaul (about 77 hours according to the background information on the DVD). Original elements at Fox were unusable for "Winkie," but the final result is very good. There is NO colorized version to choose from here, but rather a sepia-tone version, just as the film was originally released. For film buffs, this is a plus!

"Wee Willie Winkie" (1937) VERY loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's popular story. Taken by her mother (June Lang) to live in India, a young girl (Temple) gradually wins the heart of her feisty grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith), a colonel at a British army outpost. Before long, she captures the hearts of his entire regiment as well as his chief enemy (Cesar Romero), using her charms to prevent a full-scale war. Directed by John Ford; definitely one of Temple's best films, thanks to the chemistry between Temple & Romero, and Temple & Victor McLaglen (get the hankies out for one of their scenes). Presented as a flipper disc featuring a tinted version of the film (in a very pleasing sepia tone) that was based on original notes and research to make the film look as it was first released as well as the black and white original, both in their original full-screen theatrical aspect ratio. With English Stereo plus English and Spanish Mono, the feature also includes English, French and Spanish subtitles. 100 minutes. Bonus feature: Restoration Comparison which describes in detail what was done.

This film is also available as part of the John Ford collection AND as part of Volume 6 in Fox's Shirley Temple Collection.

I bought it for my wife. She remembered seeing it as a child, in the theater. Now my grandaughter has had the pleasure of watching it with the same fasination. It was such a pleasure to watch my wife and grandaughter sitting in front of the TV watching this video..

Wee Willie Winkie was absorbing all the way through. It touches the heart. This movie was different from some of Shirley's other ones-it didn't seem to be all about her. Drama & comedy. The movie is well worth the price.

I really enjoyed this movie as a child. Now that it is available in DVD and has been restored, I could not resist purchasing it. It was a great buy of a terrific movie.

I never realized this film was originally released in different tints for different scenes until I read the story of its restoration, which is included on the DVD. It was an unusual process at the time - usually a film was either in color or black and white. The restoration is indeed a magnificent job!
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Wee Willie Winkie was Zanuck's way of trying to hold up his "falling star" by putting Shirley in a different "formula" and Wee Willie (as is Shirley's other 1937 release, Heidi) is a successful endeavor. By 1937, box office audiences had grown a little weary of the "little orphan Shirley" plots that were essentially the same story with variations in each theme. Zanuck paired Shirley with John Ford for the first time in an attempt to give her something more to do than dance and be cute. Shirley found Ford to be a difficult director but someone she later bonded with and he even became her first child's godfather. Missing from this film are the "cutsey" things written into Shirley's other pictures - the silly dialogue, or the ridiculously short dresses and "baby talk" that Fox's screen writers were using at the time in order to make her seem younger than she really was. Toned down are some of her sometimes exaggerated cute gestures that got to be a bit much as she got older, and it really makes her acting ability shine beautifully. (This was something Mrs. Temple pushed Fox for; to expand out of the "same old" plot lines and it was something they butted heads on frequently.)

The two films of 1937, both period pieces so they eliminated the "song and dance frilly baby doll dresses and cutesy song lyrics" of her 1936 films, provide a beautiful transition to the "older" Shirley that we see in 1938-1940. Although her films went back to essentially the same types of stories in 1938, she had matured with an "older child" look; and her characters were more self reliant, smarter, mischievous and less baby like and helpless. Wee Willie has Shirley breaking out of the "perfect baby" role into a more realistic child. She disobeys by entering the soldiers barracks and conversing with them after being told not to - she doesn't stay in the coach when there is an arrest in the streets, instead she leaves and gets mixed up in it, and she converses with Khoda Khan, the enemy, while his is in prison; something she has been forbidden to do. All of these actions make her much more of a real child than the perfect cherub we see in films like Bright Eyes. A spanking scene was actually filmed for this movie, but was cut prior to its release.

I was surprised at how long Wee Willie is - I don't recall it being that long, but perhaps because the TV print is sometimes shortened. I really enjoyed this Shirley film - it was not one I recalled enjoying terribly much in the past, so I would say it's better suited for older children or adults due to its length and some of the longer scenes with adults. While Shirley was still the #1 box office draw in 1937, both Wee Willie and Heidi faltered at the box office compared to her other films. Today both of these films are classics are are no less worthy than her previous releases.

A lovely restoration --it's a shame that Fox doesn't find it necessary to do this with all of Shirley's film. Stowaway, which came with my copy of Wee Willie is a shambles in my opinion. It's grainy with scratch lines through it. Other films, such as Poor Little Rich Girl and Our Little Girl haven't been been released on DVD at all except overseas, and we have to wonder why. Shirley is still so well loved and enjoyed today and all her films are deserving of being fully restored and released.

Very happy with the packaging, the length of time it reached me (australia) only took about 12days.
And as ever great movie, with shirley.

Wee Willie Winkie is one of my favorite Shirley Temple movies. The movie was not cut short and it was amazingly crisp in both picture quality and sound.

This is not your typical Shirley Temple film - it is closer to the style of its director John Ford. It is an exciting, action & comedy-packed highly recommended film, even for non-Shirley fans. Please note that it is Not widescreen. And price is too high, should be closer to $10.

This is one of Shirley Temple's best movies...I think the best. I watch it often, at least yearly.

I can only view these dvd@s on old dvd player(bush). I cant play them on sony Pl/re.I wasnt informed of customs charge of £14 For 4 videos of the four dvds . wee willie winkle had no lable on dvd. though all had security tag on