Our Little Girl (1935)

Shirley Temple might have been the saviour of her studio in the 1930s and wildly popular, but how today's viewer reacts to her is a somewhat different proposition.  One can either be amazed and/or charmed by her precociousness or force back the gag reflex at her saccharine mannerisms.  I veer more to the former camp and find most of her performances both entertaining and palatable, although some of her films are easier to take than others.  I had not viewed this movie before, although I know all the others, and it is not really one of her best.  She has both a mommy and a daddy here (which is unusual in her movies), but daddy is doctor Joel McCrea who is too busy with his work and research and mommy is being wooed by the local playboy.  Misunderstandings occur and divorce seems inevitable, so Shirley tries to run away until a meeting with a gentle old tramp points her in the right direction for the requisite happy ending.  She has no musical numbers in this one and her pouting cuteness does begin to pall, but all in all it is to my mind a perfectly acceptable 62 minutes.