"Curly Top" (1935) Review: Overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way

Shirley Temple was America's sweetheart and saving grace during Depression era America. The little girl was all of 4 when she appeared in her first film The Red-Haired Alibi in 1932 and by 1934 she appeared in Bright Eyes, which was the first film expressly written for her. Curly Top  came on the heels of Bright Eyes, and is in many ways a similar picture. In Bright Eyes, Temple plays a lovable little girl who is the subject of a custody battle between a pilot and her mother's rich employer when her mother passes away. Curly Top follows Temple as an adorable and somewhat mischievious young orphan, who is whisked away to be with a rich orphanage trustee who has told her she has been adopted by a man named Jones, but it is really him. In both films, Temple is overtly cutesy, but not in a bad way. She was a fine and possibly the best child actress there ever was. In looking up information about the film, it was unearthed that Temple's mother coached her through her scenes, but her performance does not show any signs of coaching. She is a natural. Her co-stars in the film were unknown to me, John Boles as the Trustee, and Rochelle Hudson as Temple's sister, Mary, whom Boles fall in love with. The film also has several songs, 2 for Temple, 2 for Boles, and 1 for Hudson. This is the film where Temple's famous "Animal Crackers in my Soup number debuted.

Animal Crackers in my Soup!

The film also includes an expert supporting cast of character actors and actresses including underused Jane Darwell as a kindly matron of the oprhanage, hilarious Arthur Treacher as Reynolds, the butler, and Rafaela Ottiano as a firm matron of the orphanage. Ottiano has minimal screen time, but is immensely memorable. The film contains one of my favorite exchanges in which Ottiano's Mrs. Higgins is scolding Temple for letting her pony she inherited (and she also has a duck) from her parents into the orphanage and out of the rain. Missus Higgins tells Elizabeth that she is going to send her duck and pony away and temple says "My duck can do a wonderful trick! My duck can lay an egg." Mrs Higgins sneered back "Just what is so wonderful about that?" and Temple responds "Well, can you lay an egg?" It's an adorable and funny moment in the show, well executed by Ottiano.

The main conflict in Curly Top is a romantic one. Mary and Mr. Morgan (Boles) have fallen for one another but a young pilot named Jimmy (Maurice Murphy) has also fallen in love with Mary and proposes. Mary accepts, only after she overhears Morgan saying he doesn't love her. In the end of course, all the wrinkles are ironed out and they all live happily ever after.

Boles and Hudson

It's a silly plot line, but just what Depression era audiences craved. Temple was the beacon of hope for early and mid '30's audiences and her roles reflected the times. She was often cast as a young precocious little girl who won everyone over, and she had certainly done that with the American public.

Sheet music for "Animal Crackers" with promotion for the film