Shirley Temple: America s Sweetheart Collection, Vol. 6 (Stowaway / Wee Willie Winkie / Young People)

Fox continues to release the Temple films without any real extras; this one appears to be no exception. According to the Fox press release, all films have undergone restoration, although "Wee Willie Winkie" is the only one that shows the restoration comparison. Since it was also part of a John Ford boxed set, it underwent the most 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. "Stowaway" is probably the least of the three, lacking sharpness, but about what you'd expect from a film of this era. As a departure from the other releases in this series, there are NO colorized films in this set. For film buffs, this is a plus!"Stowaway" (1936) Story: Ching-Ching (Temple), a child whose guardians are killed in Shanghai, seeks refuge from the streets in a car's open trunk, only to wake up and find the car on a ship bound for the U.S. The car's owner, a wealthy playboy (Robert Young), is charmed by Ching-Ching, and offers to marry another passenger (Alice Faye) in order to keep the child. When the two adults meet in divorce court, it's up to Ching-Ching to keep them together. Quite a few memorable songs (Faye & Temple on "Goodnight My Love" & Temple imitating Ginger Rogers & Al Jolson in "You've Gotta' S.M.I.L.E.") Features the original black and white film in its original theatrical aspect ratio with English Stereo and English and Spanish Mono and includes English, French and Spanish subtitles. 85 minutes."Wee Willie Winkie" (1937) 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. 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."Young People" (1940) Story: Wendy (Temple, in her final film at Fox) is adopted as an infant by the husband and wife vaudeville team of Joe and Kit Ballantine (Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood), she grows into childhood as a vital part of their act. As she approaches school age, the couple feels that life on the road is not the best thing for Wendy and decide to settle down on a farm in Vermont. However, the locals openly express their doubts about the morality of show business people. A few pleasing tunes ("On Fifth Avenue" and "Tra La La La") and some solid performances, but it comes off as an enjoyable B-Movie version of the Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney backyard musicals...WITHOUT a Mickey. Shirley shows the awkwardness of a teen; her acting and dance routines do not look natural; they seem very mannered and over-rehearsed. With a higher quality director and better script, Shirley could have had a more successful transition into the teen years (as witnessed by her later films during the Selznick years). Greenwood is great in this film, but Oakie comes off as an oaf. His dancing in the finale ("Tra La La") is plain horrible; instead of dancing, he looks like he is fighting off a bad case of gas. Original black and white film in its original theatrical aspect ratio with English Stereo and English and Spanish Mono and includes English, French and Spanish subtitles and a theatrical trailer that really would have benefitted from a little digital stabilization. 78 minutes.Just saw this on the web: "Fox Home Entertainment, the video division of movie studio 20th Century Fox, is marking [Shirley Temple] Black's [80th] birthday on Wednesday by releasing the sixth and last volume of a retrospective series of her films." It appears that "Poor Little Rich Girl" & " Our Little Girl" are getting the shaft this time around.Overall, 2 solid films in this collection, with "Young People" being the somewhat weak (albeit still enjoyable) link.

I prefer to watch my Shirley Temple movies in black and white, the way they were intended, so the lack of colourization doesn't bother me too much (it would have been interesting to see, especially with the nice colourization process that was used in the previous sets, but it's not essential). I was pretty impressed with the quality of the restorations here, in any case. Stowaway had a little bit of grain or dirt at the beginning, but the rest of the print seemed nice and clear. Wee Willie Winkie and Young People were likewise very nicely restored.I watched the tinted version of Wee Willie Winkie (it just happened to be the side of the disc I set into the player). The sepia was nice... but I was a little thrown by the cyan tinting for the nighttime scenes! All in all, though, this was probably the best film of the bunch. The story was stronger than that of the usual Temple vehicle, and the supporting characters were good.Stowaway is pure Shirley Temple, one of the four trademark films she made in 1936 (the others being Captain January, The Poor Little Rich Girl, and Dimples). The racist overtones and over-the-top characterizations of the Chinese may make some people uncomfortable. But it was the 1930s after all, and political correctness hadn't yet come into play. There are still some great musical numbers, though, and watching Shirley spout proverbs like a little fortune cookie is always amusing.Young People is the weakest of the set. You can't help but feel vaguely embarrassed for everyone involved as they plod through the contrived plot and silly lines. The few catchy songs are probably the movie's only redeeming quality.All in all, the quality of the prints is what makes this a decent set. I would have preferred to see The Poor Little Rich Girl instead of Young People (especially since this is supposedly the last set), but other than that I have no major complaints. For Shirley Temple fans, it's another nice addition to the collection.

I realize that the plots for all Shirley Temple movies were hokey, and that the little girl characters she played were all just too good to be true. But one has to keep in mind (or should, at least) the era in which these films were first seen. Times were hard. The last thing moviegoers needed was a story about failure--amd only a few movies of the period so much as mentioned the hard times.Then along came this little girl--singing, dancing, smiling, and always prevailing because she had those darned dimples and those sausage curls. Who cared that the stories made no sense? People left the theater feeling just a little better, I imagine. For a hint of this, see Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo."The stories in this collection are not among Shirley Temple's best, but then her best films weren't much either, if you took her talent and personality away from them. For example, "Stowaway" manages to get a little American girl lost in China and put her into the trunk of a luxury car placed on a ship bound for California. Along the way she performs miracles of sorts and steals the hearts (as the cliche goes) of all she meets.This set of three films is hardly the place to start, if you've never seen a Shirley Temple movie, but it's OK.

I thought this series was as cute as can be ! They don't make movies like this anymore! She was a very talented little girl.

Merci