Shirley Temple: America's Sweetheart Collection, Volume 3

While not the best vehicles for the enormously popular child star Shirley Temple, the three films collected here nevertheless capture the precocious but adorable moppet at the peak of her Depression-era popularity. Somebody at Fox was, unfortunately, asleep at the switch, because two of the three—The Little Colonel and The Littlest Rebel, both 1935 theatrical releases—are essentially the same film, taking place in the same milieu (a Civil War-ravaged South) and pairing Temple in memorable dance sequences with the great Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who plays a servant to Confederate masters in each (it would have been better to split up these two into different sets). Having said that, The Little Colonel, which features the incomparable Lionel Barrymore as Temple's grumpy granddad and the ethereally beautiful Evelyn Venable as her charming mother is the better of the pair, and it features the famous, oft-excerpted “step dance” duet featuring Temple and Robinson. The third title in this extra-less three-disc box is Dimples (1936), in which Temple tries to keep her pickpocket granddad Frank Morgan on the straight and narrow while pursuing her first break in show business. Here, as always, this talented little trouper displays the uncanny ability of holding the viewer's attention while surrounded by veteran actors (and unabashed scene stealers) such as Barrymore, Morgan, and Jack Holt. None of this trio has a hit song along the lines of “Good Ship Lollipop” or “Animal Crackers in My Soup,” but each includes several solid song and dance routines, so even while they may be second-tier Shirley Temple, they still rank as first-tier entertainment. Recommended. (E. Hulse)