Amazon.com essential video: Shirley Temple stars in this 1939 version of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel about a little, motherless girl left in the care of a girls boarding school by her soldier father, and then made into a servant there when he's missing in action during World War I. The fine tear-jerking film is a good vehicle for the famous moppet, and director Walter Lang (The King and I) makes a memorably lavish production of the Victorian milieu. The final scene, in which our Shirley is helped by one of the most famous women in history, brings down the house. --Tom Keogh
As a kid... The Little PrincessAs a kid I would watch this movie over and over again on VHS. It has been about 21 years since I saw it and I am thoroughly impressed with the masterful acting and song in this movie. Child actors today don't have the acting talent or musical ability of Shirley Temple.
with grace, talent and natural charm, Shirley made this movie fly !!! The Little Princess is an excellent movie starring the great child star Shirley Temple. Shirley and the rest of the cast act very convincingly throughout the film; and the plot held my interest. The choreography and cinematography enhance the movie quite a bit.
The action begins in England in 1899 at the start of the Boer War. Captain Reginald Crewe (Ian Hunter) is being deployed to South Africa to fight in the Boer War; and he is leaving his rather pampered and emotionally vulnerable child Sara (Shirley Temple) at a prestigious seminary for girls run by a nasty old lady named Amanda Minchin (Mary Nash). Amanda Minchin runs the school although Hubert 'Bertie' Minchin (Arthur Treacher) also lives with her.
It isn't long before Sara befriends two of the staff at the school: Geoffrey Hamilton (Richard Greene) and Rose (Anita Louise), her teacher. She also befriends a young servant girl at the seminary named Becky (Sybil Jason).
The war doesn't end quite as quickly as planned. In fact, things become rather nasty--and, after several long months Sara must celebrate her birthday in the seminary without her father. There is a sweet exchange of presents just before the horrific news comes that Sara's father was killed in the war and Sara is left penniless. Amanda Minchin suddenly isn't so accommodating toward Sara; she makes Sara a servant at the seminary until her bills can be paid off; and Sara must live in a dingy old and dirty room in the attic that isn't even fit for a dog.
Of course, from here the plot can go anywhere. How will Sara handle the huge change going from pampered little rich girl to servant in the seminary? Will the other girls tease her or show sympathy for Sara? What about Sara's insistence that her father is alive--is Sara dreaming this all up or could it be true? Sara even goes so far as to search army hospitals to try to find her father. Well, there are no plot spoilers here--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!
The ballet sequence is marvelous to behold; this is Sara's dream of being out of the hands of the evil villain, that nasty Amanda Minchin. The dancing and the music are quite good.
The DVD has few extras. There is a brief trivia quiz about the movie; and we get a brief one screen long biography about Shirley Temple's career and her life after leaving show business. Sorry, folks!
Overall, The Little Princess is a fine movie vehicle for Shirley Temple. Expect some great performances from Mary Nash as Amanda Minchin and Arthur Treacher as Bertie Minchin looks great dancing with little Shirley. I highly recommend this film for fans of Shirley Temple; and people who enjoy classic movies from the golden era of Hollywood would do well to get this film.
The Little Princess The Little Princess is a book about a wealthy girl. She and her father have a very strong relationship because her mother passed away at the girl's birth. Unfortunately for the girl, when she turns five she must go to boarding school in England. Before her father leaves her he buys her a doll in a shop. She names the doll Emily. She talks to the doll and confides in it for she becomes lonely. She makes few friends. But she misses her father greatly and the teachers treat her poorly. But what happens when the girl's father passes away and his wealth is gone? Overall I thought this was a good book, it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't terrible. It was written beautifully it just wasn't exciting enough for me and I wasn't motivated to read it.
A Little Girl's Unshakable Faith is Rewarded Sara, played by Shirley Temple, is sent by her father to a boarding school. He is her only surviving parent. He tells her to remain strong. He says that, on her birthday, he will think of her at a specific hour, and he tells her to do the same about him at that hour. She does this.
So long as the father's wealth is relevant, the girl enjoys the status of a privileged child. She is treated to a lavish birthday party. But when news comes of her father's death in the Boer War, however, the party is stopped immediately, and she is henceforth treated as the lowest of servants. Other girls laugh at her. In a moment of rage, Sara dumps a bucket of coal-ashes over the head of one of her tormentors.
Sara never believes that her father is actually dead. Others try to convince her to "accept reality." She makes many desperate trips to a wounded-men's shelter in hopes of finding her father. The headmaster of the school realizes that Sara is skipping out of school.
The father indeed is not dead, but he is either wounded or very ill. He is in some sort of coma, and is unable to identify himself. There is no other identification on him. All the hospital staff can say about him is the fact that he keeps repeated the word, "Sara".
The suspense builds. Will Sara encounter and identify him before he is shipped away? Sara eventually gets an audience before Queen Victoria and begs that the entire premises be searched for her father. The Queen agrees, and gives the order for this to take place. Sara gets to examine every ward in the hospital. Meanwhile, her semi-comatose father is about to be taken away in an ambulance to another institution. At one point, they pass within a few feet of each other, unawares.
Sara's father is wheeled into a waiting room for the next ambulance. Sarah goes into hiding in the waiting room when she hears the headmaster and the police seeking her. At that point, Sara hears the word "Sara" uttered by her semi-comatose father. What happens next is a tear-jerker.
Shirley Temple's Version Shirley Temple was in the waning years of being a child star when she starred as Sara Crewe in this movie, her first completely in Technicolor. Shirley brings her own interpretation to this classic story, and this movie has a lot of appeal to Shirley Temple fans.
Sara Crewe's father Captain Reginald Crewe (Ian Hunter) is off to fight in the Second Boer War and leaves Sara at Miss Minchin's academy. Mary Nash, who played Fräulein Rottenmeier in the 1937 Shirley Temple film "Heidi", plays Miss Minchin. Life is good for Sara until Captain Crewe appears on a list of those killed in the war. Suddenly Sara's life is thrown into turmoil as she is relegated to a dark cold attic and all her possessions are taken away.
Sara manages to persevere against adversity and continues to look for her father among the wounded returning from the war. One of the most charming scenes from the movie occurs around the point when Ram Dass (the late and always excellent Cesar Romero) aids Sara by providing her with food, blankets and coal for her usually unlit stove.
As this film goes into its final scenes, Miss Minchin accuses Sara of stealing, she meets the Queen of England, and the police and Miss Minchin chases Sara through a hospital, ever hopeful that she will find her father. How will Sara manage to avoid jail? Will she ever find her father? Watch and see!
There have been at least half a dozen versions of "A Little Princess" filmed. Shirley Temple's version deviates quite a bit from the Frances Hodgson Burnett classic. Excluding the vague relationship between this movie and Burnett's classic, this movie is enjoyable as a Shirley Temple movie. Shirley does a fine job of keeping her spirits up while suffering significant changes in her life. She always finds the sunny side even though she admits that it is sometimes difficult to do that.
If you are looking for a version of "A Little Princess" that is closer to the Burnett classic, try the 1995 version starring Liesel Matthews as Sara Crewe.
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