GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

PamelaShort When watching this Shirley Temple film, it is easy to see why The Little Colonel was such a crowd-pleaser. This film has a long Old South story to tell, that is both sentimental and predictable. The story has young Shirley Temple up against gruff old Lionel Barrymore, as her stubborn grandfather. For her sidekick, she has favourite Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the two of them are sheer magic together. One of their best scenes is the famous staircase dance. But the film was in danger of losing Lionel Barymore. At the time this movie was being filmed, Mr.Barrymore was suffering with severe arthritis, in extreme pain he had difficulty walking. A large blackboard was wheeled on-stage with all of Barrymore's lines chalked up. During filming he was stumbling on his lines and innocent Shirley Temple told him what his line was-- 'Mr. Barrymore, you're supposed to say so-and-so here.'The humiliated veteran actor exploded, yelling "I'm thirty years in this business!" Being warned not to swear in front of the child, Mr. Barrymore tried his best to storm of the set to his dressing room. Director David Butler went after him and came back with the bad news, he felt Shirley had made him look ridiculous, and to get somebody else to do the picture. It was now up to Shirley Temple to go alone and make up with him. She did, by telling him he was the best actor in the world, and asking for his autograph. As always, little Shirley Temple saves the day. It should also be noted that Shirley was known as "One Take Temple" because of her amazing ability to memorize her lines as well as all of the other players, before she could even read or write. The sheer magnetism of Shirley Temple always makes The Little Colonel a very enjoyable film to watch.

MartinHafer The film begins just after the US Civil War. The Colonel (Lionel Barrymore) hates Yankees and is shocked when his daughter announces she's marrying one. In fact, he disowns her and she leaves. Time passes and now after several years, the daughter returns to her hometown with her adorable child, Lloyd (Temple). As for the husband, he's a businessman and is expected to soon join them.For some time, the daughter and father ignore each other--both too proud to bend. However, Lloyd isn't afraid to talk to her grandpa when she sees him. In fact, she's VERY spunky and a bit bratty. So, when he talks down to her, she gives him what for and throws mud on him! Later, she returns and apologizes...and the pair begins a friendship. Over time, Lloyd's sweetness is able to mend fences and create a happy ending. But before this, she has to help her family, as some evil swindlers have taken her father captive! Oh my! The interplay between Temple and Barrymore is great. Partly this is due to their both begin fantastic actors. Partly it helps because in this film, Shirley does not play all sweetness but is also delightfully bratty and strong-willed. She also is MAGNIFICENT in the scenes where she dances with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson--the best of their several movies together. All in all, a completely delightful film--one of Shirley's very best. And, at the end there is a VERY garishly colored segment--very vivid--actually TOO vivid! By the way, although you don't hear her sing much in films, Hattie McDaniel was also a professional singer and you get to hear a bit of her lovely voice as she BRIEFLY sings a song. Also, although black characters fare much better in this film than in other Shirley Temple films of the era, some might blanch at the fact that all the black people are VERY happy living in the segregated post Civil War South.

lugonian THE LITTLE COLONEL (Fox, 1935), directed by David Butler, stars Shirley Temple in one of her more famous movie roles during her early years as a young performer. Aside from her initial teaming with legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (4th billed during opening credits, bottom billed in the closing), with whom she does a memorable "stair" dance, it places her against odds with the crusty Lionel Barrymore, on loan out assignment from MGM, sporting white hair, bushy eyebrows and droopy mustache in the old Southerner/ or Claude Gillingwater Sr. tradition, and what a pair they make.Based on a story by Annie Fellows Johnston, the plot opens with a prologue set in 1870s Kentucky on a Southern plantation where Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns his beloved daughter, Elizabeth (Evelyn Venable) for eloping with a "Yankee", Jack Sherman (John Lodge). During their six years in Philadelphia, Jack and Elizabeth have been blessed with a child, Lloyd (Shirley Temple), whom they witness being commissioned as a "little colonel" by soldiers on a western outpost. With John remaining at the post, Elizabeth returns to Kentucky where she and Lloyd settle in an old cottage left to her by her late mother that happens to be next door to her father. After meeting his granddaughter with an introduction of getting mud thrown on him, he finds her to be just as stubborn and quick tempered as he. In spite of their rugged start and similar personality traits, Grandpa eventually warms up to Lloyd, though his stubbornness keeps him from having anything to do with his daughter, even when learning of swindlers Swazey (Sidney Blackmer) and Hull (Aden Chase) in their home threatening the ailing Jack and Elizabeth to turn over the deed to worthless property they sold him that has been proved valuable.THE LITTLE COLONEL, a leisurely paced story with familiar theme, relies mostly on the strength of its leading players, Temple and Barrymore. It's also one of the better films in which Temple does not typically play an orphan. Evelyn Venable, whose career failed to take off after a promising start opposite Fredric March in DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY (Paramount, 1934), provides the opening playing the harp and singing "Love's Young Dream" to her guests. The song is later reprized by Temple serenading to her grandfather as he envisions his daughter at the harp. John Lodge, virtually forgotten but better known for his performance as Count Alexi in THE SCARLET EMPRESS (Paramount, 1934) starring Marlene Dietrich, has little to do until the final half of the story. Hattie McDaniel, four years away her Academy Award winning performance in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), supports as the Sherman maid, Mom Beck. Dressed in "Aunt Jemima" attire, she shares amusing moments with Colonel Lloyd's butler (Robinson), sharing time together with the "little colonel" at a spiritual gathering witnessing a woman getting dunked in the river where she's having her sins washed away as Negroes sing "The Sun Shines Brighter." Aside from the aforementioned "stair dance," Temple and Robinson do an encore tap dancing to Stephen Foster's "Oh, Susannah" in the stable to harmonica playing by May Lily (Avonne Johnson). Johnson, along with Nyamza Potts as her little brother, Henry Clay, support as Temple's playmates. As in many Temple films, there's a pet dog, this time a pooch named Fritzi. Others in the cast include William Burress (Doctor Scott); Geneva Williams (Maria); and Robert Warwick (Colonel Gray).Priot to 1985, THE LITTLE COLONEL played frequently on commercial television with the closing segment, filmed in Technicolor, usually absent, with story coming to an abrupt conclusion either after Barrymore's closing line or next scene of McDaniel successfully breaking down the door after being locked in by one of Sherman's "guests." When distributed on video in 1988, the closing Technicolor segment was restored, and shown intact at 82 minutes on cable TV broadcasts on the Disney Channel (early 1990s), American Movie Classics (1996-2001) and finally the Fox Movie Channel. THE LITTLE COLONEL is currently available on DVD in black and white or colorized versions.The success of THE LITTLE COLONEL brought forth a similar theme and title of THE LITTLEST REBEL (1935), reuniting Temple with Bill Robinson once again, with plot set during the Civll War instead of after-wards. Both classic films with Temple (and Robinson) at the peak of their careers. (***1/2)

electrictroy Personally, I think this is Shirley's best movie. It's got a good story (rare in children's movies), my favorite actor (Lionel Barrymore), great acting from a 5-yr-old child (Shirley), great dance numbers with Bojangles, lots of servant put-downs of their masters (as when Bojangles calls his master a fool)and also lots of humor, as when Shirley throws the chess set onto the floor, strikes an angry pose, and tells her Grandpa, "You're a bad man!". I smile every time I see that. The little 5-yr-old girl put the 70-something old guy in his place.If you've not yet seen the Little Colonel, I recommend you buy or rent it now. It's a great introduction to the actress Shirley Temple, and you can see why she was the number one star in 1936, 37, and 38.