User Reviews

The first few films that Shirley made showed her as a cute, talented youngster in situations were the adults were adults and made most of the decisions. This was one of the few films where she had both a father and mother (who were fit and well). With "The Little Colonel" (1935) she became a star and appropriate vehicles were written so all the other actors supported her. I prefer the earlier films (when I watch Shirley Temple at all) when she was just a cute kid who was treated like a child by the adults around her.

Kay (gorgeous Claire Trevor) is going to Ossining to meet Eddie Ellison who has just got out of Sing Sing. They are then off to Niagara Falls to be married. On the train she bumps into Welch (Alan Dinehart), a sleazy private investigator. He has always had a soft spot for her but she has never forgiven him for sending Eddie to jail. There is a nice scene at Niagara Falls where Eddie and Kay plan their future. (Dunn and Trevor made a couple of films together and have an easy camaraderie). Six years later Eddie is a chauffeur at the wealthy Carson residence and he has also secured his friend Larry Scott a job. Adorable Shirley Temple plays their little daughter Shirley, who we first meet at a dancing school where she is showing her mother a new step she has learned. There are several scenes involving Shirley doing cute things (playing hide and seek with her daddy, doing morning exercises with her mother).

The main story is more dramatic than the usual Temple fare with Ellison and Scott trying to go straight. They are being stymied at every turn by Welch, who has a vendetta against them. Another inmate, Trigger,(Ralf Harolde) is released and steals some pearls from the Carson residence. Ellison and Scott, who have kept quiet about their stay in the big house are found out and reluctantly asked to leave their jobs. That night there is a big rooftop party for Shirley and she (looking completely gorgeous in a frilly pink party dress) and Eddie steal the show with a catchy and comic rendition of "On Accounta I Love You". They also do a cute dance. It is clear that she and Dunn had great chemistry together.

Trigger sees Shirley playing in the street and gives her the pearls to hide - she instantly starts a hide and seek game with her unsuspecting dad, his friend Larry and Welch. The pearls eventually end up in a carpet sweeper, the carpet sweeper is emptied in the trash and the pearls are gone. There is an exciting chase across the rooftops with Trigger kidnapping little Shirley. (Is this the first and only time Shirley was manhandled by a baddie???) There is a shoot out with Eddie hurt but in the end triumphant.

You somehow know Claire Trevor is destined for better things. She doesn't have a lot to do but makes the most of the key scenes she has.

Greatly Recommended.

That's what practically everybody is wondering here. Ex-con James Dunn has been sacked from his job as a chauffeur because of a jewel heist at his employer's. But the real thief makes sure that his daughter (Shirley Temple) ends up with them so the police won't catch him with the stolen goods. With obnoxious detective Alan Dinehart on Dunn's trail, this threatens Dunn's freedom. But with "Little Miss Fix It" (Temple) on hand, its only a matter of time before everything is resolved.

Having sung the song "Baby, Take a Bow!" in the same year's "Stand Up and Cheer!" (a homage to surviving the depression), Temple rose to top billing with this film. Dunn and his frequent co-star Claire Trevor play her loving parents and are just as good. This film gets a little agitating when Dinehart is on screen; He invades Dunn's house without a search warrant, and they simply let him go about his business. But these types of movies aren't always about reality; After all, this wasn't made at Warner Brothers where gangster films were a lot grittier and New York kids spoke with a tougher edge than Shirley can muster. Dunn and Temple perform a cute little number (a must in one of Shirley's films) that is the highlight of the film.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.

More dancing needed by Shirley. There was not enough.

She was subject of her birthday party, just like in Little Princess. There was a similar scene like look at me, I'm a spoiled brat here, too.

The black and white ruined it for me. The long criminal scenes made it even worse.

The mother was nice. James Dunn as the father, I always enjoy seeing with Shirley.

Too many thigh and crotch shots of Shirley, including skin tight undies. It reminded me of a toddler Shirley in her child prostitute scene in one of her earlier films -- satiric parody maybe like Polly Tix in Washington. Ugh. You talk about juvenile exploitation.

This moppet made big bucks for 20th in the Great Depression? At the end of the 1930s, her short and full career was about finished.

I am a degreed historian, film critic, movie reviewer, theatrical researcher, actress, singer, dancer and stage makeup artist.

Copyright 20 June 1934 by Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy, 29 June 1934. U.K. release: December 1934. Australian release: 1 August 1934. New Zealand release: 26 January 1935. New Zealand length: 6,955 feet. 77 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Ex-criminal Eddie Ellison (James Dunn) has a hard time going straight.

NOTES: Shirley Temple, acknowledged as the best juvenile performer of 1934, received a miniature statuette from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Awards Ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel, 27 February, 1935.

The stage play opened on Broadway at Daly's on 1 March 1926, and ran a surprisingly successful 144 performances. Russell Mack starred as the jittery ex-thief who tries to go straight, although everything conspires to send him back to jail. The play was directed by Albert Bannister, and produced by Bannister in association with Elmer Powell.

COMMENT: Although this was Shirley's 23rd film, it was her first starring vehicle at Fox, following her huge success on loan-out to Paramount for "Little Miss Marker".

For many years, all prints of this film were thought to be lost as the original negative and master prints were destroyed in a laboratory fire in 1935. However, a projection print in good condition, with only about 3 minutes of footage missing, credit and end titles complete and only a few minor scratches throughout, has come to light and from this a dupe negative has been made. From this unpromising material, the present colorized but otherwise very satisfactory, digitally restored release prints derive.

Unfortunately, the film itself does not repay all this trouble, but at least it will not gain a totally undeserved reputation as a lost masterpiece by default. And besides its curiosity value, "Baby Take a Bow" boasts a cast of seasoned players — all of whom over-act atrociously. There is some excuse for this theatricality, however, in view of the melodramatic nature of the script. The whole film resembles an enthusiastic but distinctly amateur stage production. In fact, the script makes few attempts, other than the intriguing opening sequence and the roof-top climax, to open up the action of the original stage play.

Harry Lachman's direction, for the most part, is disappointingly routine. Lachman was (and is still regarded as) a most distinguished painter in the post-impressionist tradition, but there is nothing in this movie that betrays an artistic eye. True, L. William O'Connell's photography does bring off a few attractively sinister effects with cross shadows on the faces of Ralf Harolde and Alan Dinehart, but otherwise the film has little visual appeal. In fact, production values generally are rather mediocre. In short, the Shirley Temple presented here isn't half as attractive as she was to become in her succeeding Fox pictures.

It's interesting to note that in overseas markets, such as England and Australia, neither this film nor Shirley achieved either a good press or box-office success. However, her next film, "Now and Forever", in which she was billed third to Cooper and Lombard, proved to be a great money-spinner everywhere.

Released in mid '34, just after the Hays film censor code went into full effect. As usual during her Fox years, Shirley was cast as younger than her actual age(presumably 5, rather than 6). This is one of her earliest feature-length films, in which she is given top billing. Actually nearly all her films were on the short side of feature length, this one a mere 76 min.. She seems noticeably younger than in "Bright Eyes", released at the end of that year, being treated more like a young child than a little girl with grown up ambitions. Of course, it was released in B&W, although I watched the colorized version. The screenplay is based on the '27 play and '28 silent film titled "Square Crooks", which lacked Shirley's character. This title may seem self-contradictory, but the point is that 2 men(Eddie Ellison and Larry Scott), who spent time in prison for some undisclosed crimes are trying to go straight after their release. We know that, in real life, this is often difficult, partly due to employer's prejudice against ex-cons. In this film, these two have some things going for them as well as against them. Ellison earns a recommendation from the prison superintendent, and has a beautiful girl(Claire Trevor, as Kay) waiting to marry him upon his release. They spend a romantic honeymoon at Niagara Falls, and make plans for the future.

However, Eddie and Scott have two important nemeses in the context of the plot. Cigar-chomping detective Welch(played by 'heavy' Alan Dinehart) has a fixation on trying to catch or frame Eddie relating to some crime, so that he can send him back to prison. His motto is "Once a crook, always a crook". He tries to make it impossible for Eddie to land or keep a job, by revealing to the employer his ex-con status. The same goes for Scott. Although not much emphasized, one scene early in the film suggests that Welch is particularly keen to make normal life for Eddie impossible because he has long lusted for his wife Kay, beginning with his involvement in Eddie's conviction. But, Kay hates Welch....Their second nemesis is 'Trigger' Stone(Ralf Harolde), an acquaintance of Eddie, who was sent to Sing Sing the same day that Eddie was released. In contrast to Eddie and Scott, who got out early for good behavior, Trigger brags about what mischief he will do when he gets out. When he gets out, just before Shirley's birthday, he heads back to NYC, steals a valuable necklace from the employer of Eddie and Scott (the Carsons), then looks for Eddie and Scott to help him 'dispose' of the necklace. But they refuse.

Before Trigger's release, we've spent some time getting acquainted with Shirley: the adorable young daughter of Eddie and Kay, seeing the love between her and her parents and between her parents. Welch now tells Carson about the ex-con status of Eddie and Scott, and that he suspects them of stealing the necklace. Carson fires them, in response. Nonetheless, a big birthday party for Shirley goes ahead. She puts on a demonstration of some of the dancing skills she has learned. She sings the catchy "On Account'a I Love You" , with Eddie participating in the singing and dancing later in the act. At the end, 'baby takes a bow'. Next morning, Trigger again comes looking for Eddie and Scott, but spies a familiar detective on the street, causing him to sneak the necklace to Shirley, as a 'birthday present', then disappears. Shirley slips it into Eddie's jacket pocket, and tries to play hide and seek with the preoccupied Eddie. Just then, Welch shows up looking for the necklace. Of course, Eddie and Scott are sure he won't find it there, until Eddie checks his jacket pocket. It's then hidden in the coffee pot, and they sweat it out when Welch wants a cup of coffee. Shirley latter pulls it out of the coffee pot, and gives it to Eddie when Welch is searching another room. It's now hidden in the carpet sweeper, which is borrowed by a neighbor, who then empties the contents into the outside trash can. All, including Welch, have quite a time trying to find the necklace in the retrieved sweeper. Fortuitously, Shirley later finds it in the trash. Trigger comes looking for the necklace, but is knocked unconscious by Eddie and tied up, before Eddie runs for the police. Shirley then encounters Trigger, who convincers her to cut his ropes. He takes the necklace from her and grabs her as a shield against capture. In the following chase, wounded Eddie finally knocks Trigger out with a head blow from behind. Detectives arrive, and Shirley pulls the necklace out of Trigger's pocket. Welch arrives and claims that Eddie and Scott had the necklace all the time. But, the detectives don't buy that, and announce that Shirley will get the reward for recovering the necklace. The still arguing Welch is backed up until he falls through a skylight onto the Ellison's bed, causing the pillows to burst their feathers, which cover him, for a happy ending.

Despite all the contrived coincidences. this was a fun film. Shirley is cute, cuddly, and, for once, in a stable family relationship from start to finish. Obviously, she had great rapport with James Dunn, as again shown in "Bright Eyes", as well as with Claire Trevor, as her mother. Alan Dinehart was as much fun, as the butt of verbal and physical humor, as he was sinister. ..It's true that Dunn and Ray Walker, as Scott, seem far too nice to have been crooks, in contrast to Trigger's sinister demeanor.