Top 10 Shirley Temple Films

Shirley Temple began her career at 3 years old and by the age of 5 in 1934 she was the biggest and most successful star in Hollywood. She was the biggest box office draw for four consecutive years; 1935-1938.

For such a young person she was an amazing dancer, she could listen to a choreographer with her eyes closed and learn the steps through listening to the sounds of the taps. How many people can do that? I doubt even Gene Kelly could manage it. She was a great fan of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson who she worked with in four films and broke down many racial barriers, they were the first inter-racial couple in Hollywood. She is also responsible for many catchy tunes; On the Good Ship Lollipop and Animal Crackers being the most famous of these.




As a tribute to the great screen legend Shirley Temple Black who passed away at her home in California at 85 years old yesterday, this is my list of favourite Shirley Temple Roles.


10 - Stowaway (1936)

Running Time: 87 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye

Temple stars as Ching-Ching a little orphan who gets lost in Shanghai, she is befriended by a playboy Tommy Randall (Young). She falls asleep in his car and ends up on a ship heading for America. On board Randall meets a young woman, both are enchanted with Ching-Ching and each other and decide to get married so they can give her a family.







9 - Fort Apache (1948)
Running Time: 125 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Henry Fonda, John Wayne

One of the last film roles Temple took, she played Philadelphia Thursday daughter of Henry Fonda's Lt. Col. Owen Thursday who comes to blows with John Wayne's Captain about the way to run the Fort and treat the Indians. Temple played one of the few women on the fort who falls in love with a young soldier (John Agar, her real life first husband).

This was a character that really showed Temple as a grown up, and in a very successful film. It was the only western she was in, all her other adult roles were in romantic or comedy films.



8 - Wee Willie Winkie (1937)


Running Time: 100 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen

Temple is Priscilla Williams who travels to India with her mother to live with her grandfather a colonel in the British army. Her grandfather is a strict gruff man, Priscilla learns the ways of the soldiers nicknamed Wee Willie Winkie and is even given a uniform but her grandfather disapproves. She eventually charms him and the Indian leading a rebellion. As the hostilities rise Priscilla travels to the rebels base and is able to help settle things. Temple has great chemistry with Victor McLaglen who plays a sergeant in the army.
Directed by the great westerns director John Ford.



7 - Dimples (1936)

Running Time: 79 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Frank Morgan, John Carradine

Temple is Dimples Appleby  a young girl who lives with her grandfather (Morgan) in 19th Century New York. He is a pick-pocket and she entertains crowds while he makes his way around. That is until a rich woman makes it possible for Dimples to live a better life.
Frank Morgan was reportedly a notorious scene stealer and would try many tricks to draw attention away from Temple in a scene. But no matter who the co-star these were Temple's films and she is the true shining star in every role.



6 - Curly Top (1935)

Running Time: 75 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Jane Darwell

Temple is Elizabeth Blair who lives in an orphanage with her older sister Mary. A wealthy man by the name of Edward Morgan becomes charmed by her and aims to adopt her. He does this under the alias Mr. Jones, as he gets to know the two he begins to fall in love with Mary.
This is the film in which Temple sings Animal Crackers, which is one of her most popular songs.






5 - The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)

Running Time: 95 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy

Temple is Susan a teenage girl who falls in love with a much older playboy Richard Nugent (Grant) she is caught in his apartment by her sister who happens to be a judge. Nugent is threatened with jail but agrees to date Susan until the crush passes. Temple's best adult role, a very funny film.





4 - Heidi (1937)

Running Time: 88 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt

Darryl F. Zanuck bought the great tale of a young orphan girl who melts the heart of her grandfather and becomes the friend of a young invalid girl just for Temple who plays the title role. This was the perfect role for Temple and suited her on-screen persona completely.








3 - The Little Colonel (1935)

Running Time: 81 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Hattie McDaniel

Temple plays Lloyd Sherman whose mother a southerner is disowned by her Colonel father when she decides to run away and marry a young Yankee man. 6 years later when they run out of money mother and daughter return to a small cottage near the house of the colonel whilst the husband is away looking to make them some money. Lloyd is stubborn and has a temper which rivals her grandfathers, but after spending some time together she mellows him. This was the first time Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Temple danced together. It was a memorable moment.

2 - Captain January (1936)

Running Time: 77 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, Buddy Ebsen, Jane Darwell

Temple plays Star who rescued by the lighthouse Keeper Captain January when she was a baby and her parents drowned. She is well liked around the harbour dancing with Ebsen's sailor to 'At the Codfish Ball'. A new truant officer in town demands that Star go to a boarding school away from Captain January's influence. Relatives come to her aid and she is reunited with the captain.

With a lot of heart and humour this is ranked high on my list due to the great story and heart-warming performance by Temple.

1 - Bright Eyes (1934)

Running Time: 85 mins
Stars: Shirley Temple, James Dunn, Jane Darwell

Shirley Temple is by far at her cutest in this film as Shirley Blake a young flying enthusiast whose father, a pilot died in a crash. She lives with her mother, a maid for a horribly snobbish family with a brat of a daughter. Shirley spends a lot of time with her Godfather Loop Merrit (Dunn) another pilot and the other aviators at the air base. When she is orphaned after a car accident involving her mother, the family Smythe are doing what they can to get rid of her but their Uncle Ned has taken a shine to her. Both him and Loop begin fighting for who will get to take care of her. It is in this film Shirley sang the song most connected with her; On the Good Ship lollipop.


Every one of the films on this list show how great a performer Shirley Temple was, a truly talented all rounder who could, sing, dance, act and melt the hearts of even the most miserable person. She was one of the brightest screen legends in Hollywood. She has left us a great legacy. Enjoy the films on this list.

RIP Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple RIP

I like my mother before me am a huge fan of Shirley Temple. The first true child star and an icon of a generation. So I was terribly sad to hear that Shirley Temple Black died yesterday at her home in California surrounded by her loved ones and caregivers. She was 85 years old.

Shirley Temple was born in 1928 in California, she made her first screen appearance at aged 3 in a series of short films called Baby Burlesques. By the age of 5 Shirley Temple was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, she could sing, dance, act and many more things besides. She was the biggest box office draw for 4 consecutive years 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938 beating out the likes of Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper and Joan Crawford.

Her face is and was one of the most recognisable in the world, she was famous for her big golden curls. Her mother was responsible for her hair; exactly 56 curls every time. She was the role model of many famous stars who entered the business after watching her films as children. Shirley Jones and Shirley MacLaine were both named after her. She even has a soft cocktail named in her honour; the Shirley Temple consists of Ginger Ale, grenadine and orange juice, topped with a Maraschino Cherry and a slice of lemon.

She was named #18 on The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends. She holds 2 Academy Award records, she is the youngest presenter at the awards ever, presenting the Best Actress Award to Claudette Colbert at the age of 6. She is the youngest person to receive an Oscar; she was awarded with the first juvenile award at 6 years old. She was a very important figure not just in cinema but for America as a country. During the depression of the 1930's people desperately wanted to escape their own struggling lives, they flocked to Shirley Temple films which were full of innocence, joy, music and laughter and the cutest little girl you could ever see.

One of her biggest films was the Fox picture Bright Eyes (1934) which gave the public her most famous theme On The Good Ship Lollipop which will be forever connected with her. She melted hearts with huge successes such as Little Miss Marker (1934), Baby Take a Bow (1934), Curly Top (1935) and Dimples (1936). Darryl F. Zanuck the head of Fox Studios brought properties especially for her like Heidi (1937) and The Little Princess 1939) which were very successful films.

When Shirley began to grow up and her youthful cuteness began to evolve into young adulthood, audiences began to move away from Shirley's films. The Studios wanted to keep her as a child for as long as possible but the roles no longer fitted her. As a teenager she took roles in successful films such as Kiss and Tell (1945), Honeymoon (1947) The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) and a part in the ensemble Western Fort Apache (1948) Shirley Temple retired from movies at the age of 22 knowing that she could no longer fit the roles which the studios wanted her to do, that audiences wanted her to be a little girl, which she obviously could no longer be, also because of her wish to have a family.

On the set of Fort Apache Shirley met her first husband John Agar, she got married at 17 and had her first child 3 years later. Unfortunately the marriage didn't last they were divorced in 1950, but that same year Shirley set eyes on Charles Black and she has since wrote that it was love at first sight. They were married for 55 years and had 2 children, Black also adopted Susie from Temple's previous marriage.

Shirley Temple Black returned to the limelight but not as a film star but in the world of politics, she was appointed by President Nixon to be the US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She had a long and successful career in politics she has also worked for many charities including the National Wildlife Federation. She wrote an auto-biography in 1988 titled Child Star, I have read it myself, it is a brilliant book with an amazing insight into the world of Hollywood during the 1930's and 1940's and into her life. She is very frank and honest, it was an immensely enjoyable read.

It is for her career as the worlds first and greatest child star for which Shirley Temple will always be remembered, she was awarded the Screen Actor's Guild Life Time Achievement Award in 2006 and received a standing ovation. She brought smiles to millions and has been the ultimate role model. An icon and a true star in every sense of the word, she will be sorely missed

If you ever have a bad day or feel down on a rainy afternoon sit and watch a Shirley Temple movie, it will brighten your day immediately. I will leave you with the words her family made public today "We salute her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, a diplomat, and...our beloved mother, grandmother [and] great-grandmother"

RIP Shirley Temple.

Dallas Buyers Club (2014)

Released: 2014
Running Time:
Genre: 115 mins
Estimated Budget: $5,500,000
Estimated Gross (January 26th USA): $22,542,486

Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner

Dallas Buyers Club is the true story of Ron Woodruff who in 1985 was diagnosed with the relatively new disease Aids. He was given 30 days to live, but defied the odds and survived for another 7 years through researching the disease and finding alternative methods of treatment that were not FDA approved. He began the Dallas Buyers Club which HIV patients could buy a membership into for $400 a month and receive all the medication they would need.

This is a fantastic film, it is raw and real and brings to light the stigma that is still surrounding Aids despite the years of support and research going into curing it. The Performances are nothing short of incredible; Matthew McConaughey plays the unlike-able Ron Woodruff the Texan Rodeo Cowboy/Electrician who is addicted to drugs, sex and money.  There is something about McConaughey's performance that simply pulls you in despite your dislike and disapproving of Woodruff's manner. He captures the energy, aggression but also the magnetism that the real Ron Woodruff reportedly had.

Jared Leto in his first on-screen performance in 5 years is unrecognisable as the cross-dressing homosexual Rayon who becomes Woodruff's partner. He lost 30 pounds for the role and reportedly stayed in character for the entire shoot, on and off-screen. He gives a soulful and heart-breaking performance, a great tribute to all those who are going through what Rayon went through.

For my full Review of Dallas Buyers Club see The Awesome Update Website on the link below.
http://www.theawesomeupdate.co.uk/index.php/films/256-why-dallas-buyers-club-is-awesome

For the sake of raising awareness, let alone seeing some masterful performances you should watch this film as soon as possible.

Disney

With the release of their 53^rd animated feature film Frozen recently I am taking a look back at the mouse house itself from its inception to its present and recommending some of its finest films for your viewing pleasure.

The Walt Disney Company is one of the most successful conglomerate businesses in the world; now owning Marvel, Pixar, ABC television network and Lucas Films which it bought last year for a staggering $4.5 billion. It has one of the most recognised symbols in the world and Disneyland is a dream holiday for families. So how did one man create one mouse and turn that into one of the most thriving and beloved companies in history in the process?

Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago; he started his company in 1923 with his brother Roy as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio (it took on its current name in 1986). They worked in the animation industry, finally making it big with the creation and introduction of Mickey Mouse in 1928 with Disney’s first sound film Steamboat Willie. It was the success of his Mickey Mouse series that lead to the advancement to feature length films.

In 1934 Walt Disney started planning and producing his first feature length film, it took 3 years to complete. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937 and became the highest grossing film of the time (up until 1939). Disney delivered further high quality films into the early 1940’s many of which are still family favourites today, including Pinocchio (1940) about a wooden puppet that is given life by a fairy. Fantasia (1940) a miss hit for Disney but a charming film; featuring cartoons put to classical music. Dumbo (1941) the baby elephant who can fly due to his enormous ears and Bambi (1942) about a baby deer and his life growing up in the forest. This last entry is a must see if only to see many grown men choke up (I’m sure you know which moment I’m talking about) as World War 2 began many of Disney’s animation team were drafted and it was a quiet time for the studio.

It took until the release of Cinderella (1950); about the young girl mistreated by her step-family but ending up marrying a prince for Disney to get back on track. They also released Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) based on the classic children’s stories, both of which had been in production before the war. In 1950 Walt Disney also launched into live action feature films with the classic Treasure Island. In 1953 Disney created their own distribution department Buena Vista. They also branched out further still in 1950 with a television programme on the NBC network; in 1954 they created Disneyland which became one of the longest running programmes in history.

The Disney Company became more and more successful in every area it pursued, Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) (clue to the plots are in the titles) became classic favourites. The live action attempts such as Pollyanna (1960) and The Parent Trap (1961) were big successes for Disney. But even more so was the masterpiece that was Mary Poppins (1964) based on P. L. Travers books about the flying nanny; which won Julie Andrews an Academy Award for Best Actress is still fondly viewed today by new generations of children and families. In 1964 Walt Disney had scouted and found the location for his second Disneyland (to be called Disney World) in Orlando Florida, things were going incredibly well for the Company.

On December 15^th 1966 Walt Disney died from complications involving lung cancer and Roy Disney became the CEO of the company. The last film that was supervised by Walt before his death was released in 1967; The Jungle Book tells the tale of a young boy who grows up in the jungle among the animals and due to the return of a fearsome tiger must return to the local village where he can be safe among his kind. With magical songs and a fantastic story The Jungle Book has become one of the highest regarded of the Disney canon.

The 70’s brought a post-Walt Disney future and the first film released was The Aristocats (1970) which did good business. Followed closely by the live action mixed with animation classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) starring Angela Lansbury; so far so good for the Disney team. But another blow in the form of the death of Roy Disney in 1971 left the company in the hands of others.

The 1970’s was a time of change for the Disney company, trying to create great films and also keep to the image Walt Disney had created for his company was a tricky path to follow; there were many good examples such as Robin Hood (1973), the animated film portraying the famous do-gooder as a fox. Freaky Friday (1976); the live action comedy starring a young Jodie Foster who swaps bodies with her mother and the mouse team whose job it is to help children in need; The Rescuers (1977). However none of these have had quite the impact that a film such as Snow White or Mary Poppins had on audiences. This troublesome time continued for Disney, even became worse in the 1980’s with efforts like The Black Cauldron (1985) failing to spark interest with audiences, this is not to say that the company was not doing well; on the contrary Disneyland was booming and it’s Television division had some great programmes on schedule but it wasn’t until 1989 with The Little Mermaid that the last golden age of Disney feature films really began.

Ask anyone what their favourite Disney film is and there is a very high percentage it will come from the following list of spectacular films released in the 1990’s. Disney seemed to have found its magic again and created some truly amazing movies. Beauty and the Beast (1991) was the first animated feature nominated for an Oscar for Best Film, it was followed by Aladdin (1992) and my personal favourite The Lion King (1994). I think the reason these films did so well was a combination of things; great songs written by well-known artists of the day, famous actors with distinctive voices were drawn to the heart-warming stories being created; it is by bringing all these elements together that had spectacular results. By the late nineties into the noughties Disney was creating more live action than animation, for every 5 or 6 live action films there was a Hercules (1997) or Treasure Planet (2002). Disney has long been in collaboration with Pixar and many are unaware of the difference but in comparison it was clear that Pixar was producing gold the likes of Toy Story (1995), Finding Nemo (2003) and Wall E (2008) and Disney was trailing far behind with unmemorable and unimaginative offers.

Happily things have begun to look up for Disney, it has never struggled with its many other divisions; Television, the theme parks etc. It also now owns many separate businesses so that it controls more than anyone could probably imagine. But now the poor productions that have been coming from the film department seem to be behind them. With the release of Tangled (2010) and Brave (2012) the quality of all the elements required to make a successful movie appeared once again, it is clear in watching the movies that a lot of time has gone into the casting, the screenplay and the songs as well as the animation. Disney now has to live up to the likes of Pixar, DreamWorks and other companies who are vying for the top spot in their field. With the release of Frozen (2013) Disney have shown that they are not done yet and have a lot of fight left in them. With an impressive looking schedule for the next few years it’s clear that Disney are aiming to do Walt proud again and give us some more classics to gush over and force our children to watch in years to come just so we can watch them again. I for one can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Released: 2008
Running Time: 122 mins
Genre: Drama
Estimated Budget: $21,000,000
Estimated Gross: $3,081,925

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams

Look up Synecdoche in a dictionary and the definition you will find is 'A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships  or a Croesus for a rich man.'

So basically if you understood that well done, you will probably understand more about the film than I did. As a tribute to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman who passed away this week I decided to get a little more acquainted with his work as I was sadly unfamiliar.
Synecdoche is a head-scratcher for sure, and thats no surprise seeing that it is directed by Charlie Kaufman, responsible for writing such films as Being John Malkovich (1999) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, each fairly difficult films to follow themselves.

The film follows Caden Cotard (Hoffman) a theatre director who believes that he is dying due to many ailments and illnesses he is affected with. It is clear from the beginning that his marriage to artist Catherine Keener is a shambles. She disappears to Germany taking their 4 year old daughter Olive with her early on in the story. Caden is attracted to the woman who runs the theatre box office Hazel (Samantha Morton), she is a woman who frequently turns up during the film and it becomes clear that she is his ideal woman. Caden receives a grant with a large sum instructing him to use it for his artistic endeavours. Caden wants to create a play about life, real and honest, he buys an enormous warehouse and proceeds to re-create New York inside it.

Gathering an ensemble cast he begins to create his play, one of the actresses is Michelle Williams who admires Caden's artistic abilities greatly, they get married and have a daughter but she comes to realise that Caden is far from perfect and completely remote due to his obsession with the play. More and more people are cast, he even casts himself, his wife and Hazel who has come back into his life and becomes his assistant. So close do the two become that reality becomes blurred and one cannot tell what is occurring in Caden's real life and what is in the play, as the actor portraying Caden starts to act out his thoughts and desires instead of the scenes written for him. As the years begin to pass and the world of the play grows extensively, but never shown to the public more doppelgangers appear and the harder it is to follow Caden's thought process. Eventually  it becomes even too much for him and he allows an actress (Diane Wiest) who was playing Adele the cleaning lady to take over being Caden and run the play. Caden himself becomes Adele living out his remaining days in the relatively stress free environment that is Adele's day to day life, with an earpiece constantly giving him his stage direction.

Time is something that stood out to me in this film, you can never tell how much time has passed and neither for that matter does Caden. He is obsessed with finding and helping his little girl Olive, he reads the diary that she left behind and on the different occasions the narrative voice we hear reading the passages are an Olive ageing and experiencing life without her father. But Caden is unaware that the time is passing, he is a very self involved man, whether it is about his illnesses or his feelings or his play, life revolves around matters concerning him, anything else even the passing of time simply go unnoticed.

There are many motifs and hidden meanings in this film all suggesting a bigger picture, what we can take from this is a look at ourselves and the way that we view the world and ourselves and the relationships we engage in. Like Caden in his relationships with the women in his life Synecdoche pushes the limits.

I found this film to be very strange, I struggled to follow it and I have to admit because of this I did not truly invest in the characters or story. But that is not to say that I did not appreciate the complexity and immense achievement that is Synecdoche, New York. You cannot watch this and fail to notice it is a great film whether you understand the plot or not. Similarly you cannot see Synecdoche without admiring the amazing performance given by Philip Seymour Hoffman, there is an incredible amount of dedication and depth gone into creating Caden Cotard and I believe that it was probably one of the greatest performances he delivered and is a fitting tribute to the legacy of amazing work he has left behind for us to enjoy.

Check out this film if not just to see an incredible performance from Hoffman then to see if you can understand a clearly thought provoking and deep movie from Charlie Kaufman. If you get it contact me and let me know.