The Little Princess

Shirley Temple, Ian Hunter, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, and Cesar Romero star in this great classic that still is outstanding even though it was released in 1939. This is the story (written by Frances Hodgson Burnett) of Sarah Crewe who was left at a boarding school while her father leaves to fight in the Boer War. She makes few friends but all the other girls think she is a selfish child. Some of the friend's she makes are Becky (Sybil Jason) a kind-hearted servant and two teachers, Rose (Anita Louise) and Birtie Minchin (Arthur Treacher) who is brother of the infamous Miss Minchin (Mary Nash). This truly is a great film that is still a Shirley Temple classic.

While American audiences loved this and all the other Shirley Temple vehicles, across the Pond this story of a young girl refusing to accept reports of her father's death in combat must have struck a responsive chord with war-weary Brits who could easily identify with her troubles. Although the Hollywood film industry has always come under some well-deserved criticism for twisting history and other literary sources in its screenplays, they do get it right at times. The largely British cast and English setting give the classic story the right look and feel, and the romance and song-and-dance numbers don't take anything away from the main storyline. Shirley is even reunited with some of her co-stars from other films. (This includes Cesar Romero as a servant here. 8 of his next 11 films were westerns, a genre he'd never tackled, including a pairing with Randolph Scott as Doc Holliday to Scott's Wyatt Earp and a starring role in a handful of Cisco Kid features. Much later would come famous movie and TV roles as Kurt Russell's nemesis A.J. Arno in several Disney comedies in the 70's, and his most famous part, the Joker, in BATMAN.) In a year when so many great films appeared that were taken from the pages of popular books (GONE WITH THE WIND, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME,GUNGA DIN, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS,THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, TARZAN FINDS A SON, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK) you can add THE LITTLE PRINCESS. If you never get to read any or all of these books, at least watch the films derived from them. You won't regret it. Dale Roloff

Charming film in color where Shirley Temple's dad goes off to fight in the Boer War. She is left is a fancy girl's school with a headmistress who is stern.

When word is brought to the school that the father, who adored his Sarah (Temple), has been killed and the child is left penniless, poor Sarah is shut up in the attic and made to work in the kitchen. Move over Cinderella.

Sarah never gives up hope that her dad (Ian Hunter) is living and she searches feverishly for him.

When a Indian mystery man (Cesar Romero) makes her room beautiful during a ballet sequence, Sarah is suspected of stealing.

Mary Nash is the wicked headmistress and acts in the same way as Margaret Hamilton in "The Wizard of Oz." Richard Green and Anita Louise play lovers, who are discharged from the school, by Nash for loving each other.

The ending is wonderful when Sarah finds her dad with the help no less of Queen Victoria (Beryl Mercer).

Enjoyable tale for children and adults alike.

This Shirley Temple feature is worth seeing for a number of very nice moments in the story of "The Little Princess". It might be a little longer than necessary, and the story development is sometimes uneven, which keeps it from achieving its full potential. It offers the young Temple a variety of material to work with, and she has some very good sequences.

For the most part, it follows the familiar story, though often embellished, particularly towards the end. The story and Temple's characterization give it a rather different feel from, for example, the silent version that starred Mary Pickford. Here, Temple projects much of her own persona, with her best moments coming with Arthur Treacher, who plays the easygoing brother of the stern headmistress. The character of Becky is still significant, but Temple does not ever have the rapport with her that Pickford and Zasu Pitts had in the earlier version.

As a result, it's a bit uneven overall, but for those who enjoy this kind of story, it's still worthwhile. The public domain print makes it somewhat difficult to evaluate the production end, although it clearly contained plenty of detail and color. It's a decent if unexceptional feature whose high points are usually worth waiting for.

We are always captivated by a young person's grown up prowess on stage or screen. This is certainly true of Temple's performance. We are intimidated by her poise and strength, but endeared to her by her sincerity. Who will forget Caesar Romero (or better who would guess it was him)in the role of the Indian servant? The scene when Queen Victoria visits the hospital is gripping. On the one hand, we know the writers could not be so cruel to let her father escape her, yet on the other hand the writers and players condition you into feeling ... . Well, you'll just have to watch the movie.

Temple also pulls off the "the princess and the pauper" (one implied title of the movie) class switch well. Excellent character actors and actresses support.

I think a good movie for young people to watch.