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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
(1938) comes near the end of kiddy-Temple's
reigning popularity as America's most beloved
child star. The film begins in earnest with a
heartrending separation, this one between tearful
Rebecca (Temple) and her Uncle Harry Kipper
(William Demarest) who leaves his niece with
decidedly unlovable Aunt Miranda Wilkins (Helen
Westley). Perhaps fearful of the vagabond ways of
life upon the wicked stage, Miranda forbids
Rebecca to associate with any of the 'show people'
passing through town.
Miranda puts the girl to work on the farm.
However, as with all of Shirley's good time galas,
it isn't long before Rebecca discovers a kinship
with her four-legged friends and decides to turn
every chore into a game. Who said Julie Andrews
was the first to discover that 'spoonful of sugar'
mentality?
There's no denying the innate talent and interest
that Rebecca has for performing. Her angelic
qualities and good humor seem a natural for the
radio; at least according to delightfully
light-hearted neighbor Anthony Kent (Randolph
Scott) who just happens to turn out to be a talent
scout. He secretly pitches Rebecca to a local
radio station and then sets up her first public
broadcast. Ah me…the naiveté that used to
accompany such feel good fluff. Today, Tony Kent
would be a serial child rapist and Rebecca would
find her way on the back of a milk carton quicker
than you can say the call letters of your favorite
radio station.
But such is the stuff that froth is made of and,
for the most part, the film is entirely engaging.
Rebecca bakes cookies, sings, dances and even
tries her hand at a bit of matchmaking. On any
other child these qualities would have translated
to showy pest. On Temple, they are the tip of the
berg that made her so warm, engaging and classic.
Fox hasn't really maximized the potential of
Shirley Temple on DVD and that trend continues on
these newly minted versions of her classic films.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is presented in both
its original B&W and colorized versions. There's
really no good reason to watch Shirley in
jaundiced pastels though I suspect some will. The
film fairs better transfer wise than most
currently available. The B&W image is fairly clean
with good details and fine contrast. Occasionally
pixelization breaks apart background information
but nothing that will terribly distract. The audio
is better than average but continues to exhibit
some slight hiss and pop, which could have been
removed. The only extra is a charm bracelet that
being a male admirer of Temple's work I will
decidedly have zero use for. Honestly, why didn't
Fox simply offer a mail in rebate for those
interested in collecting Shirley's charm in
tangible format? |
