Barnes & Noble

Based on Shirley Temple Black's 1988 autobiography, this made-for-TV movie can't hope to sparkle like Shirley herself. Still, this rosy, behind-the-pout portrait shows how Temple's precocious talent became beacon of hope during the Depression and made her America's most beloved child star. Ten-year-old Ashley Rose Orr may not convincingly pass for five, but the pint-size Broadway veteran certainly brightens the screen. Connie Britton and Colin Friels provide able support as Temple's parents, who prove unequal to the task of dealing with untrustworthy studio executives. Evil suits aside, this film is mostly as sunny as Shirley's on-screen persona. Orr performs such Shirley standards as "On the Good Ship Lollipop" and "Animal Crackers in My Soup" and dances with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Tony Award winner Hinton Battle). She also charms jealous costars and melts the heart of mean old directors. Another highlight is the episode wherein Temple loses out on her dream role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Teen star Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) serves as executive producer. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

Between 1934 and 1940, Shirley Temple was the biggest little star in Hollywood; the curly-headed tyke began doing song-and-dance numbers in one-reel comedies at the age of four, at six years she stole the show in the musical Stand Up and Cheer, and at ten she was the number one box-office attraction in America, and had even taken home a special Oscar. Based on Temple's 1988 autobiography, Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story stars Ashley Rose Orr as the pint-size superstar in a story that concentrates on the sunny side of her rise to fame and soft-peddles allegations that her parents (here played by Connie Britton and Colin Friels) mismanaged the fortune she earned during her years as a pre-teen celebrity. Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story was produced by the mother-and-daughter team of Paula Hart and Melissa Joan Hart; the Harts have their own perspective on life as a youthful celebrity, thanks to Melissa's career as the star of the TV series Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, while Paula's younger daughter (and Melissa's younger sister) Emily Anne Hart appears in the film as the teenaged Shirley Temple. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936162110
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 17,700

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