Little Miss Broadway

Darryl F. Zanuck gave Shirley Temple a really great supporting cast for Little Miss Broadway. You can't go wrong with a cast that includes Donald Meek, Claude Gillingwater, Edna Mae Oliver, El Brendel, and the great Jimmy Durante.

Shirley is adopted from Jane Darwell's orphanage by Edward Ellis a friend of her deceased parents and his daughter Phyllis Brooks who run a hotel for theatrical types. Ellis is a guy who gives easy credit so when the imperious dowager landlady of the hotel wants what is due he's caught in a bad cash flow situation.

It's more than that, Oliver hates theatrical folks and is determined to close the hotel even going against her brother Donald Meek and their dancing nephew George Murphy who likes Ellis, Temple, and especially Brooks.

The finale is a courtroom scene where Shirley pleads the case of the performers who have to prove how good they are to the satisfaction of Judge Gillingwater. Shirley is a persuasive advocate.

For fans of Fox's eternal moppet and fans to be.

This might be the best of all the Shirley Temple movies of the 1930s because its so interesting start-to-finish.

The only annoying person is Edna May Oliver, who plays the standard mean old lady who is out to ruin things for the ""good guys" Fortunately, she's not in a lot of scenes and eventually even changes her thoughts for the better.

The rest of the film is nothing but nice people who are a lot of fun to watch. George Murphy and Phyllis Brooks are the typical (for Temple movies) super nice, handsome young couple which gets together in the end.

Edward Ellis plays a nice old man and Donald Meek nearly steals the show with some funny lines and funny faces. I thought James Durante would be funny, but he had more of a straight than comedic role.

Other features which make this movie stand out from normal Temple fare were unique characters (midgets, twins, penguins and more) and a tremendous amount of songs and dances (much more than normally heard).

All the elements that made Shirley Temple's films so successful are rolled up into this movie. Great stuff!

Mean old Edna May Oliver wants to take Shirley Temple from Edward Ellis and send her back to the orphanage. Ellis lives at the old actors' hotel next to her mansion, and since its owned by the estate she controls.

It makes considerably less dramatic sense than most of Miss Temple's vehicles, and the songs by Harold Spina and Walter Bullock are not up to standard. This means that director Irving Cummings must through a lot of talent at the the audience and see what sticks: George Murphy, Jimmy Durante, George Barbier, Jane Darwell, El Brendel, and Donald Meek, each take a few minutes to charm us before judge Claude Gillingwater orders them all to appear in a vaudeville show in his court room for the big finale.

20th Century Fox was having a hard time coming up with original story material for Shirley Temple and this is one of their least inspired efforts. Yet, despite a weak script and the obvious fact that Shirley herself was getting a little too plump for her diminutive figure, there is a generous sprinkling of song routines to keep Shirley's fans satisfied. The added bonus is George Murphy as her dancing partner, no slouch in the tap-dance department.

Edna May Oliver comes on strong as a cantankerous old woman who wants to close a theatrical hotel for boarders. Jimmy Durante has a few fun moments but one of his routines with Temple was cut from the final print.

The courtroom finale has everyone doing a musical revue in court--something that could happen only in a Temple film! Shirley has a few pleasant ditties to sing: "Be Optimistic" and a song-and-dance routine with Murphy to "We Should Be Together".

Not one of Shirley's best. Recommended only for Temple fans.

I'm not the biggest fan of black and white films but this was still good. That shouldn't interfere with the acting and story itself, but that's just me.

I actually enjoyed this even though it lacked color. During the first ten or fifteen minutes, I was pretty determined that I was going to hate this film. It was kind of slow and the writing wasn't all that great. Then I realized that it was made in the '30s and should think how this would have appeared back then. I thought and began to enjoy it.

I'll be honest, this is the first Shirley Temple film that I have ever seen. I've heard of her and had been wanting to see her in something for a while, but never did. I was so impressed with her acting ability. Plus, she's so cute dancing around that office. The rest of the cast is pretty good but I especially liked the part of Betsy Brown.

While 'Little Miss Broadway' was still very slow, I enjoyed it because of the dancing number(s). Also, the writing was somewhat comical.

This isn't one of the best films I have ever seen, not even close, but it was/is something good to see on a quiet afternoon when there is nothing else on.