"Little Miss Broadway" isn't a bad film. However, Shirley Temple sure made a lot of films that were a lot better. Overall, it's watchable but most likely a film for someone who is more the die-hard Shirley Temple fan than anyone else.
George Murphy, Edna May Oliver, Jimmy Durante and Jane Darwell are among the supporting cast for Temple and this is a rare case when the support actually was a bit better than she was. That's because whoever wrote the music for Miss Temple really missed the boat--making quite a few songs which were not particularly suited for her range. Again and again, Shirley sounded off due to this. Plus, there were just too many production numbers and not enough schmaltz--the good sort in which Shirley excelled. It's clearly a second-rate effort overall.
The plot is rather minimal in this one. Shirley is an orphan that's been adopted by a nice old man who owns a hotel for actors. Not surprisingly, the place is awfully loud--with the residents singing, dancing and acting all the time. Their neighbor is a nasty old rich lady (Oliver) and she HATES the noise and is determined to use her money and power to send Shirley back to the orphanage and close the hotel. In many ways, it's a lot like "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", actually! By the end of the film, the nasty old lady's nephew (Murphy) is planning on using his fortune to put the folks in the hotel in a Broadway review. But, the aunt (who is the executor of his estate) is determined not to let this happens and the case goes to court. In an insane move you'd only see in a movie, the judge orders the actors and dancers and singers to put on a show in the courtroom--to convince him whether or not Murphy is throwing away his money. And, the rest is rather predictable.
While some story elements are very familiar, the plot is too thin and the film makes poor use of Temple's amazing talents. Here, she just seems pretty ordinary--and is a testament to poor writing and direction.
George Murphy, Edna May Oliver, Jimmy Durante and Jane Darwell are among the supporting cast for Temple and this is a rare case when the support actually was a bit better than she was. That's because whoever wrote the music for Miss Temple really missed the boat--making quite a few songs which were not particularly suited for her range. Again and again, Shirley sounded off due to this. Plus, there were just too many production numbers and not enough schmaltz--the good sort in which Shirley excelled. It's clearly a second-rate effort overall.
The plot is rather minimal in this one. Shirley is an orphan that's been adopted by a nice old man who owns a hotel for actors. Not surprisingly, the place is awfully loud--with the residents singing, dancing and acting all the time. Their neighbor is a nasty old rich lady (Oliver) and she HATES the noise and is determined to use her money and power to send Shirley back to the orphanage and close the hotel. In many ways, it's a lot like "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", actually! By the end of the film, the nasty old lady's nephew (Murphy) is planning on using his fortune to put the folks in the hotel in a Broadway review. But, the aunt (who is the executor of his estate) is determined not to let this happens and the case goes to court. In an insane move you'd only see in a movie, the judge orders the actors and dancers and singers to put on a show in the courtroom--to convince him whether or not Murphy is throwing away his money. And, the rest is rather predictable.
While some story elements are very familiar, the plot is too thin and the film makes poor use of Temple's amazing talents. Here, she just seems pretty ordinary--and is a testament to poor writing and direction.