The Little Colonel

Yet another adorable Shirley Temple movie as a ill-tempered 'colonel', just like her old southern grandpa Lionel Barrymore. And the fights between the two will get anyone smiling. Two of a kind! And the dog deserves a shout-out as well for the thread and bed scenes! But most interesting about this was seeing Shirley dance with Bill Robinson, especially the staircase dance. Pure style by them both and awesome to see the little girl keep up with Bojangles steps!

It's a confusing experience: at points you accept that the only way the clever production team could sneak Bill Robinson into their movie was to make a film that racist America would accept and enjoy. But then half a scene later and you're thinking that the production team were just as racist as the audiences. The cost of being allowed to entertain America with your gift is that you have to lampoon yourself and race. Still - the two dance scenes with Temple and Robinson are remarkable cinema.

Not much to say about this fairly average and unremarkable Shirley Temple film.

I think we'll all have to settle for seeing this on video, since the racist stereotypes in this movie are so awful that various leftist groups would burn down the theater if it was ever revived. Despite all that, little Shirley has charisma coming out of her ears, and you will instantly see why she was such a huge star. The dance numbers that she and Bill Robinson do are really something as well