mark.waltz When Shirley Temple takes over in curing everybody's woes, they stay fixed. Late depression era audiences couldn't get enough of this adorable moppet, and for good reason. She put a face on President Roosevelt's New Deal. If a heavyset old lady (Marie Dressler), an aging vamp (Mae West) and an adorable little girl (Shirley) could dominate the box office of Hollywood during different years of the 30's, all could be right in the world.Temple is a lovable orphaned tot whose older sister (Rochelle Hudson) has professed never to be separated from her. When one of the orphanages' trustees (John Boles) takes an interest in Temple, he becomes her secret benefactor, a la "Daddy Long Legs". It's obvious that one of the situations she cures is bringing together Hudson and Boles.In the ing cast are such dependable character actors as Esther Dale (as Boles' aunt), Arthur Treacher (as, what else?, their butler), Rafaela Ottiano (as the initially chilly but ultimately kind orphanage manager), Jane Darwell (as her chipper assistant), and Etienne Girardot (as the overly staid head trustee). Temple, Boles and Hudson all sing, but it is Temple's "Animal Crackers in My Soup" that will become the hit. She sings another song where she ages up to an old lady that is nicely done. A nice comical exchange between Temple and Ottiano involving a duck is one of the classic wisecracks of all time. That's what makes Temple so much fun in the way she deals with authoritarian adults. Like "Kids are People Too" years later, you never know just what she's going to say or do.It seems that much of the character of Little Orphan Annie in the musical "Annie", was taken from this, especially Temple's repetition of "Oh, My Goodness". Ottiano is perhaps the only actress in Hollywood history who had a character in a Broadway musical, "Grand Hotel", changed to her name after she originated the part in the movie with a different name for the character.
ccthemovieman-1 This is another solid Shirley Temple film with some wonderful, sweet scenes and lines you certainly wouldn't hear in movies today. For instance: "It's Sunday. Would you like to go to Sunday School? Ohh, I love Sunday School!"In addition to the innocence, truly nice characters, decent humor and music, what I appreciated was the lack of screen time of the villain. Many movies have some nasty person giving Shirley a hard time. To me, that's uncomfortable, but in this film the villain gets little screen time. Thus, much of the film features nothing but good, likable people.That list is headed by pretty Rochelle Hudson as "Mary Blair" and charming singer/good guy John Boles as "Edward Morgan" and, finally, good old Arthur Treacher as the butler (what else?!), "Reynolds.".To be fair, I didn't think the songs were that super, except for Shirley's "Animal Crackers In My Soup," which is a great song. If I recall, at least half the songs in this film were by the adults (two by Boles and one by Rochelle) and, frankly, I'd rather hear little Miss Temple. Boles' numbers and voice are too outdated for today. He has that Rudy Vallee-type 'early 30s voice.Do not watch this on a colorized VHS version as I did. Shirley's teeth are green and it's distracting. Stick to the black-and-white, especially now that it is available with a good DVD transfer.Overall, a nice story with lots of nice people give you a warm feeling when viewing this.
lugonian CURLY TOP (Fox, 1935), directed by Irving Cummings, stars popular child star Shirley Temple and her most distinctive features of all, the curls of her hair seen flashing on camera during the opening credits before her smiling face fills up the screen. This is followed by the faces and listed names of her co-stars John Boles and Rochelle Hudson who are equally matched in the story that revolves around Temple's character. Reportedly an unofficial remake to the Jane Webster story "Daddy Long Legs" most recently filmed in 1931 with Janet Gaynor and Warner Baxter, this version remains one of the most beloved movies in Temple's early career.In an fade-in reminiscent to a Charles Dickens novel that opens during a cold, dark, rainy night at the Lakeside Orphanage where a group of little girls are seen marching upstairs in perfect order, escorted by the stern Mrs. Higgins (Rafaela Ottiano) and the very nice Henrietta Denham (Jane Darwell). Other of the orphanage are the Blair sisters, Mary (Rochelle Hudson) and Elizabeth (Shirley Temple), whose parents, stage performers, were killed in an automobile accident. Mary, the eldest, not only earns her keep helping with the chores from morning till night, but looks after Elizabeth, who playful manner always lands her in trouble. Aside from acquiring a pony named Spunky and a duck as her pets, Elizabeth, better known as "Curly," entertains the orphans by singing the songs written by Mary. Her entertainment is witnessed by the visiting of the board of trustees headed by Mr. Wyckoff (Etienne Girardot), and Edward Morgan (John Boles), a bachelor heir to millions whose fortune may be the means of financial for the orphanage. So impressed by this little girl, Morgan decides to sponsor the girls in secret, acting as a lawyer to his millionaire friend, "Hiram Jones" who wants to adopt them. Morgan fulfills his act of human kindness by having the girls (pony and duck, too) stay with him for the summer at his beach house, accompanied by his Aunt Genevieve (Esther Dale), Reynolds (Arthur Treacher), the butler, and a chef (Billy Gilbert), giving them every happiness money can buy. While Elizabeth is having the time of her life, ranging from water skiing with "Uncle Edward" and entertaining guests by doing a hula dance at the beach, Mary, who has attracted the attention of Jimmy Rogers (Maurice Murphy), a young pilot, becomes disillusioned when she overhears the reason why she and "Curly" were actually taken in by Morgan in the first place.A light-hearted story with doses of fine tunes thrown in, compliments of composers Ted Koehler, Edward Heyman, Irving Caesar and Ray Henderson, including "Animal Crackers in My Soup" (sung by Shirley Temple); "It's All So New to Me" (sung by John Boles as he envisions wall paintings of Curly coming to life); "The Simple Things in Life" (sung by Rochelle Hudson); "When I Grow Up" (sung by Temple enacting the part of a little girl, young adult and grandmother in a wheelchair); and "Curly Top" (sung by Boles, danced by Temple on top of piano). Boles and Hudson each provide solos to best advantage while "Animal Crackers in My Soup" became as synonymous to Temple's "On the Good Ship Lollipop."Although Hudson never appeared opposite Temple again, John Boles would enact the role as her father in THE LITTLEST REBEL (Fox, 1935). Next to James Dunn, Boles works extremely well with Temple. Such a likable actor, Boles, through his good graces captured on screen, demonstrates how much he enjoys working with Temple, particularly with his sincere hug. Arthur Treacher, whose butler characters has become his trademark, is teamed with Temple for the first time. With his catch phrase "My word!" taking precedence over Temple's constant "Oh, my goodness," they make a wonderful pair. One of their key scenes together finds Treacher teaching Temple table etiquette. "My word!" Another notable moment finds Temple doing a Hawaiian dance on the beach, a scene that was used for Temple's latter movie, YOUNG PEOPLE (1940), and a segment for the 1970s documentary about the movies, "That's Hollywood" narrated by Tom Bosley. In an episode dedicated to deleted scenes from the final movie print, the writers of that series mislabeled the hula dance number edited from CURLY TOP because of Temple being topless, sporting only a hula dress and a lei over her neck, while in reality this scene has always existed in the finished product. Formerly presented on many local TV channels since the 1960s on its Shirley Temple festivals, by which many stations eliminated the opening ten minutes, having the movie begin instead in the morning where Mrs. Denham (Jane Darwell) is seen raising the window shades and finding Curly's horse sleeping on the bed next to her. CURLY TOP, along with other Temple favorites, were later shown on various cable channels, ranging from The Disney Channel (1990s); American Movie Classics (1996-2000, sporadic revivals after-wards), Fox Movie Channel and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: July 6, 2015). Available in both VHS and DVD in black and white or "colorized" formats, the most complete copy for CURLY TOP (77 minutes) happens to be from its 1988 VHS copy distributed by Playhouse Video that even goes as far as including the exit music to the title song in blank screen following the closing casting credits.CURLY TOP may not be reality, but it sure serves its purpose as a happy kind of movie for everyone and anyone to enjoy, thanks to those who've made it all possible, the staff, ing players, and most of all, "Curly Top" herself. (***)
