moonspinner55 Crusty former Army colonel Lionel Barrymore is encouraged to patch things up with his estranged daughter after her marriage to a Yankee produces an adorably outspoken child who emulates her bossy grandfather. It's Shirley Temple in the Old South after the Civil War, scuttled after by housekeeper Hattie McDaniel and dancing up the staircase with butler Bill Robinson, and some will surely quibble with this Hollywood-ized version of time and place. Even though there's bad blood between relatives, everyone sparkles with sass and sentiment! The main joy here is in watching little Shirley outwit her elders, although the baptismal sequence at the river (complete with spiritual "wailing") provides an eerie shimmer that nearly seems to belong to a different film altogether. **1/2 from ****

Avia33 This movie was made in 1935. It's amazing how progressive its messages are. Lionel Barrymore is wooden in his role as Temple's grandfather, and the plot is beyond lame; but Shirley Temple still is fully convincing as Lloyd Sherman--a precocious, color-blind, and happiness-inducing five- year-old child of the 1870s. Hattie McDaniel, Bill Robinson, and Avonne Jackson are amazing in their rapport with Temple. There are some pretty clever lines that are really, really funny--many of them about ignorance, stubbornness, and prejudice. This movie is crying out loud for the attention of a rhetorician or a cultural studies theorist!

paptwin There will never be a child star to match Shirley Temple. A born actress, dancer, and entertainer. In this movie she has an amazing support cast of Lionel Barrymore who plays the part of a crusty grandfather but Shirley with her cute and charming ways soon melts the heart of the old grandfather.Hattie Mac Daniel plays the faithful servant and once again it made you realize just how much these beloved negroes sometimes knew more than " The white folks". The dancing down the steps with "Bojangles Bill Robinson" is something that can make you appreciate the talent of a young and not so young. The story line can be weak in places and the acting might be a bit corny to todays standards but if you need a feel good movie then drag out a Shirley Temple movie . You won't be disappointed.

willrams I grew up with Shirley Temple. In 1932 she made 12 movies as an adorable baby doll of four years old. In 1933 she made four films; in 1934 eleven films the best was "Stand Up & Cheer" and "Baby, Take A Bow". In 1935 four films; in 1936 Captain January", in 1937 "Heidi"; in 1938 "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "The Little Princess". In 1940 two movies, and in 1941 her first flop. 1944 she made a comeback in "Since You Went Away" and "I'll Be Seeing You". 1947 she made three films including "Bachelor & the Bobby Soxer". 1948 "Fort Apache" when she met her first husband John Agar. In 1949 she made four good films the best of which was "A Kiss for Corliss". Nobody wanted little Shirley to grow up, so I must say my favorite film of hers was "The Little Colonel" in which she sang and danced so well with the famed Bill Robinson. In that film she played against the great Lionel Barrymore.