A BABY BERLESK Short Subject.
Madam Cradlebait, Converter of Cannibals, arrives in the jungle in time to be captured by savages and popped into a big black cooking pot. Can the resident Ape Boy save this KID'IN' AFRICA in time?
Short, mildly amusing and thoroughly racist, this little film (which is a spoof of both TRADER HORN & TARZAN) is notable only as one of the early, pre-celebrity movie appearances by Shirley Temple. As ever, she is abundantly talented & cute as a button. The racism, while rather embarrassing, was not at all unusual in Hollywood films of this period.
Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.
