Maybe it was the roll on effect of watching these three in one sitting, but by the time I got to this one, I really found it hard to endure. Once again Miss Temple is placed in questionable adult care, a criminal and his girl trying their best to go straight. It has a lot more in the way of story than the other two I watched this night; and for an early-30s production it’s perhaps surprising how harshly it confronts reality.

But again, it’s just not a Shirley Temple movie … whatever that is. Aside from Stand Up and Cheer, which as I’ve already said was entertaining for many reasons other than Shirley, I’ve not yet seen anything to change my view of her as really quite far from talented. She’s adorable, it’s true; and she hits her marks and notes etc like a seasoned pro. But there’s absolutely nothing natural about her performances, and it’s frequently so controlled and choreographed as to be frankly unsettling. In a stylised musical like Stand Up it works perfectly … but in a “real” movie like this, alongside Carole Lombard and Gary Cooper? It really jars, I’m afraid. The whole movie is just a real downer.

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