Main Cast: Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Evelyn Venable, John Lodge, Sidney Blackmer
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 80 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Shirley Temple's first costume picture -- and one of her best pictures of any kind -- was 1935's The Little Colonel. The story begins in 1870, when unreconstructed Southerner Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns his daughter Elizabeth (Evelyn Venable) when she stubbornly marries damn-Yankee Jack Sherman (John Lodge). Several years pass, during which time the Shermans' daughter, Lloyd (Temple), dubbed "the little colonel," is born. When Jack and Elizabeth suffer a series of financial reverses, they are compelled to move into a small cottage owned by Elizabeth, near her father's estate. As tenacious and opinionated as her grandpa, little Lloyd befriends the crusty old codger and tries to effect a reunion between the colonel and Elizabeth. Her efforts at first meet with failure, but when the ailing Jack is imperiled by all-around villain Swazey (Sidney Blackmer) does the colonel race to the rescue, with the "little colonel" leading the way. The film's brief Technicolor finale, long missing from TV prints, was restored in the mid-'80s. Why Fox felt that Technicolor was needed is a mystery; Shirley Temple's name in and of itself was the principal drawing card of The Little Colonel, while Temple's famous stair-dance duet with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
An incredibly popular film in its time and for many years later, The Little Colonel now comes across as severely dated. This is, of course, most obvious in the manner in which its black characters are sometimes treated and delineated, but the problem goes deeper than that -- the story itself is pure cornball hokum. Even those with a taste for this may find much of Colonel a little hard to swallow, for the screenplay is simply bad. And yet Colonel has a fair share of rewards, starting with the unlikely but totally charming teaming of Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore. Barrymore's patented crustiness is a perfect foil for Temple's abundant charm, and though the script makes the inevitable melting rather sticky and gooey, Barrymore makes it palatable. And though her apple-cheek wholesomeness is easy to parody and mock, Temple really did have something -- and she pulls out all the stops to make you like that something, working so hard that even the most resistant are likely to give in. Of course, Colonel also has one of the true classic movie musical moments, the "stair dance" between Temple and Bill Robinson. It's three minutes of sheer magic and is able to transport the viewer out of the picture and into a little slice of heaven. Colonel itself is dated, but that sequence is solid gold. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
David Butler - Director, Irene Morra - Editor, Thomas Moore - Composer (Music Score), Art Lange - Musical Direction/Supervision, Arthur C. Miller - Cinematographer, William Skall - Cinematographer, Buddy G. DeSylva - Producer, William Conselman - Screenwriter, Annie Fellows Johnston - Book Author
The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from a novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, and focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American Civil War. The film stars Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Evelyn Venable, John Lodge, Bill Robinson, and Hattie McDaniel.
The Little Colonel was the first of four cinematic pairings between Temple and Robinson, and features the duo's famous staircase dance. The film was well received, and, in 2009, was available on videocassette and DVD in both black and white and computer-colorized versions.
Shortly after the American Civil War, southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd marries a northerner, Jack Sherman. Her father Colonel Lloyd disowns her in anger and retaliation. Elizabeth and Jack move west where they become parents of a girl they name Lloyd Sherman.
Six years later, Lloyd Sherman is made an honorary colonel in the Army. Elizabeth returns to the south with little Lloyd and settles in a cottage near Colonel Lloyd’s mansion while her husband Jack remains in the west prospecting for gold. When Colonel Lloyd discovers his daughter living in the neighborhood, he treats her with disdain. Little Lloyd learns of her parents’ past from housekeeper Mom Beck, and, when she meets her grandfather for the first time, throws mud at him. The two eventually become contentious friends.
Elizabeth’s husband returns from the west with a fever. He has lost everything in his prospecting venture, but the family is saved from complete ruin when the Union Pacific Railroad requests right of way across Jack’s western property. Jack's former prospecting partners have heard of the Railroad’s offer and try to swindle Jack. They resort to holding the Sherman couple hostage until the deed to their valuable property is located.
Little Lloyd runs through dark woods for her grandfather but he refuses to help. He changes his mind when little Lloyd says she never wants to see him again. They arrive at the cottage just in time to save Elizabeth and Jack. The film ends with a brief Technicolor sequence featuring a 'pink party' for little Lloyd, her friends, and her reconciled family.
Cast
Shirley Temple as Lloyd Sherman, the daughter of Elizabeth and Jack Sherman, and granddaughter to Colonel Lloyd
Lionel Barrymore as Colonel Lloyd
Evelyn Venable as Elizabeth Lloyd Sherman, Jack Sherman’s wife, little Lloyd’s mother, and Colonel Lloyd’s daughter
John Lodge as Jack Sherman, Elizabeth’s husband and little Lloyd’s father
Bill Robinson as Walker, Colonel Lloyd’s butler
Hattie McDaniel as Mom Beck, Elizabeth’s housekeeper
Avonnie Jackson as May Lily, little Lloyd’s friend
Nyanza Potts as Henry Clay, little Lloyd’s friend
Production
When Temple and Robinson finished rehearsing the staircase dance, Robinson reportedly knelt, wept, and kissed Temple’s feet. “God, he made her all by herself,” he said, “No series. Just one. Uncle Bill doesn’t tell her feet where to go, her heart tells her.”[1]
Release
Critical responses
Andre Sennwald in his New York Times review of March 22, 1935 thought the film "[a]ll adrip with magnolia whimsy and vast, unashamed portions of synthetic Dixie atmosphere". He further wrote that the film was "so ruthless in its exploitation of Miss Temple's great talent for infant charm that it seldom succeeds in being properly lively and gay". He finished his review noting the audience applauded for a full eleven seconds after the final fade-out, and that the film "ought to bring out the best in every one who sees it."[2]
Home media
In 2009, the film was available on videocassette and DVD in both the original black and white version and a computer-colorized version of the original. Some versions included theatrical trailers and other special features.
Windeler, Robert (1992) [1978], The Films of Shirley Temple, New York: Carol Publishing Group, ISBN0-8065-0725-X
Bibliography
Thomson, Rosemarie Garland, ed. (1996), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, New York: New York University Press, pp. 185-203, ISBN0-8147-8217-5 In her essay "Cuteness and Commodity Aesthetics: Tom Thumb and Shirley Temple", Lori Merish examines 'the cult of cutemess' in America.
