Greetings,
I should hate this movie. I really should. Not because it ever did anything bad to me, but because of the countless people who always thought it was hiLARious to call me Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm when I was a kid. Maybe even longer than that. Hey, grown ups! Not funny then; not funny now. Still, I should not hold any of my anger about their misplaced humor against this great film of Shirley Temple's. And it is quite great. Here's the story.
The titular character played by Shirley in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is Rebecca Winstead. At the start of the film, she is in the custody of her stepfather, Harry Kipper, because her parents are...well, you know the drill. Sucks for her where this is concerned, because this guy is kind of creepy. Not as creepy as the guy who was stalking her in Poor, Little, Rich Girl but still. Also, he is obviously trying to capitalize on her talent to make money as he takes her to audition for something called Little Miss America, a radio role being spearheaded by a guy named Tony Kent, played by Randolph Scott. He hears her sing and wants to hire her, but through some miscommunication thanks to Jack Haley's character, Orville, she thinks she didn't get it. So, believing that his chance of making money on her is no more, Harry takes Rebecca to live on a farm with her Aunt Miranda, played by Helen Westley, and her cousin Gwen, played by Gloria Stuart. Now Aunt Miranda is a slightly bitter woman who hates show business people. She says she'll take Rebecca, but Harry can never come back for her. Gee, I hope he doesn't come back and try to take her later!!! Yeah, if there is one lesson we can learn from these movies, it's that if someone leaves a Shirley Temple on your doorstep, they'll be back for her.
In a crazy twist, the house next to Aunt Miranda's is owned by Tony Kent, the guy who wanted to hire Rebecca to sing. What are the odds! He's there on vacation, because farmland for rich people was the Hamptons of the 1930's. He meets Rebecca and Gwen, with whom he begins a ongoing flirt session, but, of course, it takes a while for him to find out who the little girl is. When he does, he still wants her for his radio show, but Aunt Miranda says NO! I'm not kidding. She just shouts "NO!" You know, because she hates showbiz people. It also doesn't help that Tony employs a guy named Homer Busby, who was an old sweetheart of Aunt Miranda's and she is not fond of him at all anymore. And I'm sure that won't change. Not at all. Oh, yeah. They went there, alright.
A big part of the movie after this has to do with everyone trying to trick Aunt Miranda so Rebecca can get on the radio anyway. They do, but she finds out and gets mad. For like two seconds. Sometimes I wonder if this whole thing was just to pad the movie a bit, since she had to get on the radio anyway. Her being on the radio is what brings back her stepfather (no kidding!), along with his new and hilariously awful wife, and turns the last chunk of this film into a big custody battle, which is resolved as you would expect in these movies. You know, where somebody knows what should be done, but decides that Shirley getting whatever she wants is more important. And you know what? IT IS!!!
The highlights in this film certainly include the radio show wherein Shirley does a medley of some of the songs for which she has been known over the years. I can't decide if it was meta or breaking the fourth wall. You pick, but I think it might be both. Also, we get some more dancing with her and Bill Robinson, who plays Aloysius, Aunt Miranda's farmhand. I can never complain about a movie that has that in it. I should also point out that they gave us quite an interesting subplot concerning a love quadrangle. Seriously. I know I mentioned that Tony was getting flirty with Gwen, but I failed to mention that he already had a sort of girlfriend-ish named Lola. She's nuts about him, though you can see that he might not be so much into her. Who is into her? Orville, of course. He knows his chances are slim, but they do have some chemistry. Especially when they sing "Alone With You" together. It's another major highlight, I must say.
So, despite people's efforts to make me hate this movie, as I mentioned at the start of this review, I actually love it, a lot. It doesn't have a ton of music, yet it is some of the best. Same goes for the comedy, and all the performances are fantastic. It's another of the must see films. Oh, who am I kidding? All of Shirley Temple's movies are must see!
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
