| Curly Top | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Irving Cummings |
| Screenplay by | Patterson McNutt Arthur J. Beckhard |
| Based on | Daddy-Long-Legs 1912 novel by Jean Webster |
| Produced by | Winfield Sheehan |
| Starring | Shirley Temple John Boles Rochelle Hudson |
| Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
| Edited by | Jack Murray |
| Music by | Ray Henderson R.H. Bassett Hugo Friedhofer Arthur Lange |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Fox Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Curly Top is a 1935 American musical romantic comedy film starring Shirley Temple, John Boles and Rochelle Hudson.
Plot
Elizabeth "Curly Top" Blair and her elder sister Mary, whose late parents were stage performers, now live in Lakeside Orphanage for Girls with their pets Betsy the Duck and Spunky the Pony. The Orphanage is run by the overly-strict Superintendent Miss Higgins, under the direction of ill-tempered senior trustee Mr. Wycoff, who insists upon rigid discipline and no play. One rainy night, Elizabeth sneaks a soaking wet Spunky into the dormitory; though sympathetic, the orphanage matron Henrietta Denham is forced to report the incident to Miss Higgins the next morning. As Elizabeth has already gotten in trouble for several instances of "unauthorized singing and dancing", Miss Higgins announces her intention to discipline Elizabeth by selling both Spunky and Betsy.
The same day, all the trustees arrive to inspect the orphanage, including young Edward Morgan, who has inherited his position and some considerable wealth from his late father. Morgan witnesses Elizabeth, accompanied by Mary on the piano, singing "Animal Crackers in My Soup" in the dining hall. Mr. Wycoff berates both Miss Higgins and Mary for allowing this "disorderly conduct", but Mary stands up to him. Morgan is impressed by the sisters' spunk and talent.
After witnessing Elizabeth doing an unflattering impression of him, Mr. Wycoff insists Elizabeth be institutionalized. Morgan immediately threatens to pull his funding, so Wycoff relents. After a conversation with Elizabeth, who quickly charms him, Morgan asks Miss Denham if he can adopt her, under the guise of being hired to take care of her by the fictitious wealthy benefactor "Hiram Jones". This is because he has seen how the children at the orphanage are constantly forced to express gratitude for the most trivial things, and he does not want Elizabeth to feel she owes him anything. However, when the subject is broached with the Blair sisters, Elizabeth is hesitant to leave Mary, and Mary reveals she made a deathbed promise to her parents to never abandon Elizabeth.
After going home to think it over, Morgan decides to go through with his plan anyway, inviting both the Blair sisters to the summer home of "Mr. Jones" (really his own). There, Elizabeth quickly wins over the stuffy butler Mr. Reynolds, and Morgan's eccentric Aunt Genevieve. Morgan also allows Betsy and Spunky to move in as well, buying a cart so Spunky can pull the sisters around the coast. The newly augmented family spends a wonderful summer together; the sisters also put on a benefit concert to buy playthings for the girls at the Orphanage, as Mr. Wycoff had earlier stated he refused to allow money to be spent on a playground.
Morgan begins to fall in love with Mary, but before he can propose to her, she is proposed to by pilot Jimmie Rogers, one of several young men and women she has been spending time with on the beach. Mistakenly believing Morgan is not interested in her, Mary accepts. Elizabeth, not wanting to move in with Jimmie and accidentally confusing the concepts of adoption and marriage, decides to directly ask Morgan to marry her sister. Mary is mortified when she finds out, but admits she had almost immediately broken her engagement, realizing she liked but did not love Jimmie. Morgan confesses he is the real benefactor of the girls, and he and Mary become engaged, causing a surprised Elizabeth to mimic Mr. Reynold's catchphrase "Oh My Word!"
Cast
- Shirley Temple as Elizabeth Blair
- John Boles as Edward Morgan
- Rochelle Hudson as Mary Blair
- Jane Darwell as Mrs. Denham
- Rafaela Ottiano as Mrs. Higgins
- Esther Dale as Aunt Genevieve Graham
- Etienne Girardot as Mr. Wyckoff
- Arthur Treacher as Butler
- Maurice Murphy as Jimmie Rogers
- Billy Gilbert as The Cook (uncredited)
- Lynn Bari as Beach Girl (uncredited cameo)
Reception
Helen Brown Norden wrote in Vanity Fair that Temple "has great charm and a phenomenal ease which permit her to dominate even such an absurd situation and stupid dialogue as are forced on her in her latest picture, Curly Top.[1] Maclean's critic Ann Ross was of the opinion that "Admirers of the screen's first child wonder will dote on Curly Top. People who find that all child performances on the screen, even Temple performances, stir up the wicked old Herod in them, had better stay away."[2]
Songs
- "Animal Crackers in My Soup" sung by Shirley Temple
- "It's All So New to Me" sung by John Boles
- "The Simple Things in Life" sung by Rochelle Hudson
- "When I Grow Up" sung by Shirley Temple
- "Curly Top" sung by John Boles
References
- ^ Norden, Helen Brown (September 1935). "Hollywood on parade". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ Ross, Ann. "Shorts and Angles". Maclean's. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
External links
- Curly Top at IMDb
- Curly Top at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)
- Curly Top in the American Film Institute catalog
