Product Details

• Actors: Connie Britton, Colin Friels, Hinton Battle, Emily Hart, Ashley Rose
• Directors: Nadia Tass
• Writers: Joe Wiesenfeld, Shirley Temple
• Producers: Iain Paterson, Melissa Joan Hart, Paula Hart
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: December 18, 2001
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005QTA1
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #32,212 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Newcomer Ashley Rose Orr sings and dances up a storm in this made-for-TV movie from Disney. Based on Shirley Temple Black's autobiography, Child Star, the movie does an excellent job of depicting her life as a beacon of hope during the depression years. If Orr doesn't look exactly like the pint-sized dynamo (or act as well), she captures her effervescent essence--her sparkle--and is ably supported by Connie Britton and Colin Friels as her naive, if supportive, parents. The story falters when it skips to Temple at 15, three years after Twentieth Century Fox had severed its ties with her. As the movie ends, we see her returning to acting. It isn't made clear that this would only be a temporary return or that she would devote the rest of her life to politics. Until that point, however, this is a compelling portrait of the quintessential child star. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Check out the real Shirley instead, February 26, 2005

By	Danielle (Illinois) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Child Star - The Shirley Temple Story (DVD)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Look Back, February 7, 2005

By	drebbles (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Child Star - The Shirley Temple Story (DVD)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Awful, December 19, 2001

By	"ebynoe" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child Star - The Shirley Temple Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.