Family Fun Saturday - Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)

20th Century Fox, 1938
Starring Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, and Gloria Stuart
Directed by Allan Dwan
Music by various

Most of Bill Robinson's roles in Hollywood were closer to comic relief servant, as in this Shirley Temple vehicle where he's a goofy hired hand. This is about as typical of one of her movies as you can get, with cheer-up songs and a pretty decent cast. How does this modernized retelling of the 1903 novel of the same title look now? Let's head to an audition for a kids' radio show in New York City and find out...

The Story: Rebecca Winstead (Temple) and her stepfather Harry Kipper (William Demarest) are upset when they think she's lost a big radio audition. Out a home and desperate for money, he leaves the child with her Aunt Miranda (Westley). Miranda hates show business after Rebecca's mother couldn't make it and insists she stays out of it. Rebecca loves her new home and easily makes friends with Miranda's daughter Gwen (Gloria Stuart) and her handsome next-door neighbor Tony Kent (Scott).

Turns out Tony's the executive in charge of that radio show Rebecca auditioned for, and he really wanted her for the role. When Miranda refuses to allow Rebecca on the show, they sneak her out anyway. She finally relents after hearing her sing on the show. Unfortunately, Harry also heard her. He asserts his guardianship of Rebecca, takes her from the farm, and puts her in another show. It's Rebecca who takes matters into her own hands...or voice...and figures out how to get back to the people she loves most.

The Song and Dance: There's some adorable performances in this blend of down-home antics and radio shenanigans. Scott comes off as slightly more animated here than in his appearances with Fred and Ginger, and Wesley does well as grouchy Aunt Miranda. Rebecca auditioning for a radio show, rather than being involved in a more typical stage show or movie, gives the film a slightly topical edge that most "backstagers" often lack.

Favorite Number: "An Old Straw Hat" turns up several times; the best are a duet between Rebecca and Aloysius (Bill Robinson) the farm hand when they're picking berries and her singing it on the telephone for Tony's boss. Temple also gets to perform the cheer-up ballad "Come and Get Your Happiness" during the radio show, along with a medley of her older hits that includes "On the Good Ship Lollipop" and "Animal Crackers In Your Soup." The movie ends with her and Robinson again, this time dressed as soldiers dancing on steps to "The Toy Trumpet."

What I Don't Like: Temple's movies are pretty much all the same - she's adopted by people who love her and a grump who warms up to her, but she's eventually taken away by the authorities or other guardians before returning to her family and the young lovers for a happy ending. This one is no different...and I really wish it was. I wonder what would have happened if they'd put Temple into an actual retelling of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. This has nothing in common with the book but Rebecca, her grouchy Aunt Miranda, and them living on a farm. Using all of Temple's big hits in that one radio number shows just how dull the score for this movie is. The side romances with Tony and Gwen and Aunt Miranda and Tony's servant Homer (Slim Summerville) do nothing but pad out the plot.

The Big Finale: As with most of Temple's movies, this is mainly for families with younger kids, her fans, or fans of 30's musicals.

Home Media: Out of print as a solo DVD, but it can be found in several collections of Temple films and most streaming companies.

DVD - The Shirley Temple Collection Volume 2
Amazon Prime