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The Story of Seabiscuit was Shirley Temple's last movie, and it's really too bad she didn't have a different trajectory in her adult years. She was a beautiful young woman with a lovely figure, and yet, she got stuck playing snotty brats (I'll Be Seeing You, Since You Went Away, Kiss and Tell, A Kiss for Corliss, etc.) or parts that no one could shine in. Seabiscuit and That Hagen Girl fall into the latter. This equine biopic is just a lousy movie. No one could save it. And poor Shirley had just had enough. Hollywood didn't want her to grow up, and when she finally did, they didn't know what to do with her. She could have done any Deanna Durbin film in the 1940s, and in the 1950s, she probably could have handled half of Doris Day's sweet comedies.

There's no reason to rent this one, unless you love Shirley so much you want to support her even in the low times. She plays Barry Fitzgerald's niece (with no trace of accent) who moves from America from Ireland to work alongside her uncle and his horses. She falls in love with Lon McCallister, but they might have hated each other for all the chemistry they had. They were practically gritting their teeth to get the lines out. The script was stinky, the acting painful, and the story not interesting in the slightest. Shirley must have known that she didn't want to do this anymore, and it's not hard to understand why.

Back in the 1930s, divorce wasn't nearly as common as it is today. In fact, it wasn't common at all! So, even though a lot of Shirley Temple movies feature her as an orphan or motherless and needing care and comfort, Our Little Girl tackles the terrible subject of divorce. Her parents, Joel McCrea and Rosemary Ames, are having a lot of problems, and their happy home is being threatened on three fronts: Joel is tempted by his secretary, Erin O'Brien-Moore; Rosemary is tempted by an old friend, Lyle Talbot; and they both feel stale and unseen. So, while Shirley treasures their family picnics, she doesn't know that those rituals are about to be taken away.

Although this one isn't really as dark as Shirley's movies can sometimes be, because it doesn't involve death, it does have a dark cloud hanging over it. From a child's perspective, this probably won't be anyone's favorite. There are no "animal crackers" or jump rope tap dancing. But from an adult's point of view, it's a very thoughtful movie. The parents aren't just parents, they are people. They have feelings and frustrations, and even though they have the greatest little girl in the entire world in their family, it sometimes isn't enough. When Lyle treats Rosemary like a woman, it's really refreshing for her. She has to weigh the importance of her own life versus giving up everything for her child. Of course, making the decision to become a parent means that you agree to come second for the rest of your life. But sometimes in movies, and in life, parents forget about that bargain. What will Rosemary and Joel decide? Will Shirley come first, or will she do something terrible and extremely dangerous, like run away from home? You'll have to watch Our Little Girl to find out.

Shirley Temple as part of the Confederacy? How can we bear it? Because she's adorable, and because we know she'll never do anything wrong. She may sing "Dixie" and put on blackface, but that's just "liberal" Hollywood for you. If you really need your movies to be politically correct, you'll want to skip this one. But if you just love Shirley Temple, and you understand that she (and most likely the screenwriters) didn't mean to offend anyone, you can add it to your list. It's still included in most Shirley Temple DVD collections, so there are a lot of people who love it.

In this one, John Boles plays her father, a Confederate soldier. He's called to serve when the war breaks out, and Shirley and her mother, Karen Morley, have to hold down the fort while he's away. This is a far cry from Gone With the Wind; instead, Shirley doesn't understand why there is a war, what the end game is, and why there are different attitudes toward her family's slaves. So, imagine her confusion when her father just tries to visit his family, and he nearly gets arrested for it! The plantation has been commandeered by the Yankees, so Shirley and Karen aren't really safe there anymore. Together, with their favorite slave (played by Bill Robinson - remember this is 1935 and it was the only way Hollywood could justify him having a sizable role), they escape to safer territory. Even though this is a sweet Shirley Temple movie, there are definitely some darker moments. Surprisingly, she doesn't sing too much in this one, and John Boles doesn't sing at all! Stick with Curly Top if you want something that's entirely light and fluffy.