BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Organnall Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

mark.waltz Southern civil war officer John Boles goes on the run behind enemy lines, leaving his household at the mercy of invading northern troops. Sweet Shirley Temple does all she can to aid mother Karen Morley and slaves Willie Best and Bill Robinson, befriending the pickaninny children and cheering them up when they're blue. Black shoe polish turns her instantly into a black child, fooling all but one northern soldier and none of the audience. She works her way into the heart of Northern officer Jack Holt and when the agonies of the war leads to tragedy, Temple must continue to help out daddy while remaining continuously cheerful.While this remains entertaining simply as a Shirley Temple vehicle, as history, it is hogwash. Temple further goes down cloying territory with a re- written version of "Polly Wolly Doodle", later parodied for its sickening sweetness by Julie Andrews in "S.O.B.". The other major flaw is that Temple is totally miscast as a supposed Southern child, a part that should have gone to the Atlanta born Jane Withers. I can understand the black adults being loyal to protecting Shirley but Boles and Morley are far too nicely presented as slave owners, a stereotyped presented in Hollywood seemingly for decades. All is forgiven though when Shirley and Bojangles do their sidewalk dance in exchange for train fare to see President Lincoln, an embarrassingly absurd finale.

MartinHafer WARNING: Watching this film might cause your head to explode! I'm just sayin'....."The Littlest Rebel" begins in an insanely over-idealized view of the South during the time of slavery. Little Virgie (Shirley Temple) is having a birthday party and all the slaves on the plantation are thrilled to be allowed to serve her! All the slaves are very well-fed and dressed and so happy! It's THAT ridiculous a view of slavery!! Yes, these slaves actually root for the Confederate Army and would probably volunteer to be slaves--it's THAT ridiculous. When their land is overrun by Yankee soldiers, the slaves stick around and keep working for their beloved owners! And, to further solidify this insane view of blacks, Willie Best (I guess Steppin Fetchit wasn't available) is on hand to act sub-human and harmless. And, there's that darling little scene at the 20 minute mark where Shirley is in black-face to avoid the Yankees finding her (and she looks a lot like the Aunt Jemima character)!! The film clearly promotes a ridiculously bigoted and idealized view of slavery, I advise parents to watch this with their kids and folks with heart conditions to have their nitro tablets and a defibrillator nearby just in case!! The rest of the film has to do with the war. While Daddy is away, Momma and Virgie hang on--waiting for each trip he makes back through enemy lines on his scouting expeditions. However, eventually, Momma becomes seriously ill and Daddy once again sneaks through the lines--only to see her moments before her death. Now, poor Virgie needs some place to live and Daddy decides to sneak her off to Richmond. But, to get there, he needs to sneak her with him--and that won't be easy. It gets a bit ridiculous here, as a sympathetic Northern Colonel actually helps him in this task because he also thinks Virgie is wonderful (EVERYBODY thinks she's wonderful, actually). But, when they are caught, it's up to Virgie to save the day. How? Well, see this for a sweet but 100% ridiculous ending.This film is quite offensive but, like all of Shirley's films, highly entertaining. Her wonderful dancing with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and ultra-sweet persona carry the film---making you enjoy it despite the utter silliness of the plot. Well worth seeing even if it is a SERIOUSLY flawed film.By the way, I really agree with JohnnyOldSoul's review when he says that the best way to combat racism is NOT to sweep it under the rug (i.e., ban this film) but to talk about it. Yes, the film is VERY offensive, but it also gives us an interesting history lesson about how bad things were racially in the 1930s--when the "Birth of a Nation" view of slavery was pretty much assumed to be true. Plus, seeing it shows us just have far we've come.

wes-connors At her Richmond birthday party, six-year-old Shirley Temple (as Virginia "Virgie" Cary) is delighted when dutiful dancing slave Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (as "Uncle Billy") entertains on cue. The towering tap-dancer doesn't understand slavery. And yet, Mr. Robinson is one of the smarter servants in the cast. The others, led by Willie Best (as James Henry), can most politely be described as mentally challenged. The outbreak of the US Civil War disrupts Ms. Temple's happy life. Handsome father John Boles (as Herbert Cary) is called to duty, and "The Littlest Rebel" must see President Lincoln himself, to set things right...Unless some subversive statement is being made by having the confederate "Curly Top" leading a group of Black children in white-coned caps, the motive is strictly to entertain. However, the story features abhorrently rampant racism. Here, the slaves are happy to serve the obviously superior white folks - and why shouldn't they? They wouldn't know how to say, "Emancipation Proclamation," let alone understand slavery. Other racially problematic films have some depth to the characters, attempt to honestly reflect the times, or advance film as an art. You have little of that, here. Temple and Robinson dance appealingly together, however.*** The Littlest Rebel (12/19/35) David Butler ~ Shirley Temple, Bill Robinson, John Boles, Willie Best

abrafocus I am not a super-duper humongous fan of Shiley Temple, but boy, was she a good child actress. My favorite S.T. movie is "Heidi.", but I think this one is a close second.It takes place during the Civil War. Shiley Temple plays Viginia Cary, a young girl who lives in the south with her parents. Her father is called to the Confederate Army, and tries to sneak back to visit his family. He's arrested, and a Yankee arranges an escape. But it doesn't work, and they are both arrested and sentenced to death. But Virginia and Uncle Billy, a friend of Virginia's, goes to visit President Lincoln and begs him to intervene.This is a classic movie about war, and one that actually has a good ending.My score: 7/10.