The Little Colonel

The Little Colonel
VHS cover
Directed by	David Butler
Produced by	Buddy G. DeSylva
Written by	Screenplay: William M. Conselman Novel: Annie Fellows Johnston
Starring	Shirley Temple Lionel Barrymore Evelyn Venable John Lodge Bill Robinson Hattie McDaniel
Music by	Cyril J. Mockridge
Cinematography	Arthur C. Miller
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 22, 1935 (1935-02-22)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from a novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, and focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American Civil War. The film stars Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Evelyn Venable, John Lodge, Bill Robinson, and Hattie McDaniel.

The Little Colonel was the first of four cinematic pairings between Temple and Robinson, and features the duo's famous staircase dance. The film was well received, and, in 2009, was available on videocassette and DVD in both black-and-white and computer-colorized versions.

Plot

Shortly after the American Civil War, southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd (Evelyn Venable) marries a northerner, Jack Sherman (John Lodge). Her father Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns her in anger and retaliation. Elizabeth and Jack move west where they become parents of a girl they name Lloyd Sherman.

Six years later, Lloyd Sherman is made an honorary colonel in the Army. Elizabeth returns to the south with little Lloyd and settles in a cottage near Colonel Lloyd’s mansion while her husband Jack remains in the west prospecting for gold. When Colonel Lloyd discovers his daughter living in the neighborhood, he treats her with disdain. Little Lloyd learns of her parents’ past from housekeeper Mom Beck (Hattie McDaniel), and, when she meets her grandfather for the first time, throws mud at him. The two eventually become contentious friends.

Elizabeth’s husband returns from the west with a fever. He has lost everything in his prospecting venture, but the family is saved from complete ruin when the Union Pacific Railroad requests right of way across Jack’s western property. Jack's former prospecting partners have heard of the Railroad’s offer and try to swindle Jack. They resort to holding the Sherman couple hostage until the deed to their valuable property is located.

Little Lloyd runs through dark woods for her grandfather but he refuses to help. He changes his mind when little Lloyd says she never wants to see him again. They arrive at the cottage just in time to save Elizabeth and Jack. The film ends with a brief Technicolor sequence featuring a 'pink party' for little Lloyd, her friends, and her reconciled family.

Cast

• Shirley Temple as Lloyd Sherman, the daughter of Elizabeth and Jack Sherman, and granddaughter to Colonel Lloyd
• Lionel Barrymore as Colonel Lloyd
• Evelyn Venable as Elizabeth Lloyd Sherman, Jack Sherman’s wife, little Lloyd’s mother, and Colonel Lloyd’s daughter
• John Lodge as Jack Sherman, Elizabeth’s husband and little Lloyd’s father
• Bill Robinson as Walker, Colonel Lloyd’s butler
• Hattie McDaniel as Mom Beck, Elizabeth’s housekeeper
• Avonnie Jackson as May Lily, little Lloyd’s friend
• Nyanza Potts as Henry Clay, little Lloyd’s friend

Production

When Temple and Robinson finished rehearsing the staircase dance, Robinson reportedly knelt, wept, and kissed Temple’s feet. “God, he made her all by herself,” he said, “No series. Just one. Uncle Bill doesn’t tell her feet where to go, her heart tells her.”

Release

Critical responses

Andre Sennwald in his New York Times review of March 22, 1935 thought the film "[a]ll adrip with magnolia whimsy and vast, unashamed portions of synthetic Dixie atmosphere". He further wrote that the film was "so ruthless in its exploitation of Miss Temple's great talent for infant charm that it seldom succeeds in being properly lively and gay". He finished his review noting the audience applauded for a full eleven seconds after the final fade-out, and that the film "ought to bring out the best in every one who sees it."

Home media

In 2009, the film was available on videocassette and DVD in both the original black-and-white version and a computer-colorized version of the original. Some versions included theatrical trailers and other special features.

See also

• Shirley Temple filmography

References

Footnotes

Works cited

• Windeler, Robert (1992) [1978], The Films of Shirley Temple, New York: Carol Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8065-0725-X 

Bibliography

• Thomson, Rosemarie Garland, ed. (1996), Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body, New York: New York University Press, pp. 185–203, ISBN 0-8147-8217-5  In her essay "Cuteness and Commodity Aesthetics: Tom Thumb and Shirley Temple", Lori Merish examines 'the cult of cutemess' in America.

External links

• Annie Fellows Johnston and the Little Colonel
• Kate Matthews Collection (includes illustrations for The Little Colonel books by Johnston's friend and neighbor, photographer Kate Matthews)
• The Little Colonel at the Internet Movie Database
• The Little Colonel at the TCM Movie Database
• The Little Colonel at AllRovi