weezeralfalfa We have a first rate cast here, and minimally offensive racial issues for the times, unlike in "The Littlest Rebel". Yes, Bill Robinson and Hattie McDaniel fill roles typically filled by African Americans of the 1870s, as before slavery was abolished, the African Americans often butcher proper English language, and Lionel Barrymore, as Colonel Lloyd, does once call African American children pikaninnies. Hattie serves as housekeeper and cook, and sometimes participates in the action. Robinson serves as Shirley's dance companion and friend ,as well as Colonel Lloyd's butler and companion. Shirley and Robinson do two dances together. The first is the well remembered stair step dance, first Robinson alone, then Shirley joins in, after she sees what Robinson does. Later, they dance together in the stable to "Oh, Suzanna".We have two major conflicts we want resolved. One is between Colonel Lloyd(Barrymore) and the family of his daughter, Elizabeth, which includes Shirley. Colonel Lloyd is a dyed in the wool Southerner and Confederate, this being the 1870s, and Elizabeth's husband is a damned Yankee. To the Colonel, that's the worst thing that could happen to her. The Colonel(who looks very much like Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) and Elizabeth swear they don't want to see each other again. So, it's up to Shirley to try to make amends. She is allowed in the Colonel's mansion, whereas her mother is not. She tries to match the Colonel in bluster, alternating with little girlish fun and tricks. Shirley, is the little Colonel, of course(an honorary rank conferred by the commander of an army outpost in the West). She takes her rank quite seriously, as seriously as does her grandfather, who soon finds out she is as stubborn as he and her mother.The second major conflict is between Shirley's father: Jack, and his 2 prospecting partners. His partners claim there is some gold on their claim, but they still want to sell their shares of the claim to Jack. Their asking price requires all of Jack's savings, but he finally gives in. Bad decision. The supposed evidence for gold is fake, and Jack finds none. He decides to return to Elizabeth and Shirley, who are living in an abandoned cottage Elizabeth inherited from her mother, near Colonel Lloyd's mansion. It appears they may soon have to go to the county poor house unless they can somehow get help from the Colonel. But, they have a lucky day. A railroad representative shows up and offers a handsome sum for rightaway rights on Jack's claim. But the deed is not immediately available, being kept in a bank. So, the representative suggests he return the next day, and leaves. Then, Jack's two old partners show up wanting to buy back their shares in the claim.(How they got the news that the claim is suddenly valuable is not discussed!). When Elizabeth brings the claim document, they pull a gun on them, ordering John to sign over the claim to them. Shirley runs for help from the Colonel, who reluctantly decides to travel to the cottage. He outshoots the one with a pistol as he opens the door. Also, luckily, the sheriff soon arrives, Hattie having fetched him. The Colonel has broken his rule that he would never enter the cottage. Thus, he decides it's time to make a whole-hearted amends. Thus, the swindlers inadvertently solved one problem, while a relay of people simultaneously solved the new problem of the swindlers. Handsome John Lodge, who played Shirley's father, was a member of the politically prominent Lodges, and would enter politics later. Evelyn Venable, who played Shirley's mother was quite beautiful, classy, and smart. Later, she would teach classical Latin and Greek, and sponsor Greek plays.Some of the other musical numbers include a harp solo by Elizabeth at the very beginning, and a combo of "Wade in the Water" and "The Sun Shines brighter", during an outdoor baptism in the river. Shirley was so impressed with the power of this sacrament to wash away one's sins, she pretended to be a minister and dunks her small friend Henry Clay twice, presumably because he had so many sins. Shirley was the dominating personality in the film, as cute and mischievous as ever.

mark.waltz Shirley reached the peak of her career with this post civil war drama that has qualities about it both pleasing and disturbing. With servants (no longer slaves) who can't spell and seemingly addicted to the old way of life, this view of the old south is overloaded with charming, if stubborn white folk and mammy and pappy colored folk who love their white employers who probably once "owned" them. Shirley is there to charm the viewer, but it is obvious that her performance is one that suffers from too much direction rather than creating a fleshed out character.Old southern colonel Lionel Barrymore has disowned daughter Evelyn Venable for marrying a northern soldier. They return years later with young daughter Shirley who quickly charms the mustache off of grumpy grandpa, dances up the stairs with butler Bill Robinson and goes to a baptism with lovable maid Hattie McDaniel and listens to classic negro spirituals. Will a reconciliation between Barrymore and Venables be facilitated by Shirley? Dumb question, easy answer.This song of the south is absolute fable and only enjoyable as long as you view it from that perspective. Shirley has some strong moments, but it is obvious that she is directed to scowl and told when to flash the dimples. I found her being made an honorary colonel quite a cloying moment, but the magic hits when she teams up with Robinson in dance. Audiences of the 1930's may have been fooled, but the artificiality of most of her performances is very clear today.

Snow4849 With all of her usual show-stealing spark, Shirley Temple delivers another fun family classic as Lloyd Sherman in "The Little Colonel." Proving yet again that there's no problem she can't solve, Shirley reconciles an old grudge between her young mother (played by Evelyn Venable) and her crusty southern grandfather (played by Lionel Barrymore), who disowned his daughter for marrying a Yankee. Shirley's classic tap dance up the staircase with Bojangles Robinson will remind all of her fans of what a true dancing prodigy she really was. And a few scenes later, her song "Love's Young Dream" will show you why her singing is not as well remembered as her dancing. Don't get me wrong: Shirley shines in fast, snappy songs, but her voice was not made for slow numbers like this one."The Little Colonel" is a nice family film, but except for the iconic staircase dance, there is little to distinguish it from most of Shirley's childhood flicks. The claim that this film smashed through racial barriers by placing Shirley Temple opposite African-American screen legends Bojangles Robinson and Hattie McDaniel is almost laughable. Rather, Robinson and McDaniel play complete racial stereotypes: Robinson is the clichéd childish, comical servant ("The stereotyped picture of gay song-singing cotton pickers," to quote Maya Angelou). Watch him stand idly by while Barrymore fusses and fumes at him, because he knows "the old colonel don't mean no harm." Meanwhile McDaniel is a Mammy figure, loyal, caring, and always glad to serve the white folks (McDaniel later won an Oscar for playing the same Mammy figure in "Gone With the Wind"). In her famous novel, "The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison writes, "I hated Shirley. Not because she was cute, but because she danced with Bojangles, who was my friend, my uncle, my daddy, and who ought to have been soft-shoeing it and chuckling with me. Instead he was enjoying, sharing, giving a lovely dance thing with one of those little white girls whose socks never slid down under their heels."But one cannot really expect better from a film made in 1935, when America was, unfortunately, still in the Dark Ages as far as African-Americans and their rights were concerned. Such clichéd roles were the only acting jobs available for African-Americans at the time, and so Robinson's and McDaniel's talents are largely untapped as their characters completely lack the depth given to white actors. For example, Lionel Barrymore's Colonel Lloyd has both positive and negative characteristics: He is a temperamental hothead who remains bitter over the Civil War, but he is also a southern gentleman who immediately brings his new neighbors a bouquet of flowers to welcome them.

willrams I grew up with Shirley Temple. In 1932 she made 12 movies as an adorable baby doll of four years old. In 1933 she made four films; in 1934 eleven films the best was "Stand Up & Cheer" and "Baby, Take A Bow". In 1935 four films; in 1936 Captain January", in 1937 "Heidi"; in 1938 "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "The Little Princess". In 1940 two movies, and in 1941 her first flop. 1944 she made a comeback in "Since You Went Away" and "I'll Be Seeing You". 1947 she made three films including "Bachelor & the Bobby Soxer". 1948 "Fort Apache" when she met her first husband John Agar. In 1949 she made four good films the best of which was "A Kiss for Corliss". Nobody wanted little Shirley to grow up, so I must say my favorite film of hers was "The Little Colonel" in which she sang and danced so well with the famed Bill Robinson. In that film she played against the great Lionel Barrymore.