Greetings,
Oh, no! Shirley Temple is eleven-years-old in this one. Eleven! Too old. TOO OLD! I kid, though of all the movies of hers I am reviewing this week, this is the one wherein she is the oldest. And whilst I do, at this point, miss some of the adorable chub that has abandoned her cheeks, I also enjoy seeing her growing up into a young lady and maturing a bit as an actress. And since this is considered a classic, it seems other people felt the same way about The Little Princess. And here's the story of it.
The Little Princess is set against the backdrop of the Second Boer War. A man named Captain Crewe is called to fight and must leave his daughter, Sara, played by Shirley, along with her pony, at Miss Minchin's School for Girls. What's that you say? You're wondering about the pony? Well, Captain Crewe is a very wealthy man and wealthy people give their kids ponies, because why not? And all of this money is why Miss Minchin is overwhelmingly, albeit insincerely, nice to Sara. Now, mind you, the actress playing Miss Minchin is the same one who played Fraulien Rottenmeir in Heidi. Call that foreshadowing, if you must.
Anyway, Sara befriends many people whilst at the school, including many of her fellow students and a servant girl named Becky, who has one of the thickest accents I have ever heard. She also becomes friends with Bertie, Miss Minchin's brother, who is played again by Arthur Treacher. Yes! And then, there is also her riding instructor, Geoffrey Hamilton, and Rose, one of her teachers. There's a bit of a subplot about Geoffrey and Rose having a secret relationship, because...I don't know, Miss Minchin is a control freak? And, sadly, not everyone can love Sara. Enter the 'mean girls' clique. No, I'm not kidding. This squad of wenches is led my Lavinia, the former top dog of the school who resents Sara for seeming to take her place as Miss Minchin's favorite. This girl, amazingly enough, is played by Marcia May Jones, who also played Clara in Heidi. Quite a shift in character, I see. And, yes, you counted correctly. Four actors who were in Heidi, were also in this. It's a thing that happened a lot back then, so, obviously, the Shirley Temple oeuvre was The Avengers of the 1930's. Actually, this was a thing back then, wherein certain actors were signed certain studios and could not make movies with anyone else. I don't think they do this anymore. But I digress. Back to the story.
We soon learn that Captain Crewe has been reported killed in the war, and his money is gone. So that means that Miss Minchin doesn't like Sara anymore, because poor people - ewww! No lie, she does a complete 180 on this little girl, making her live in the attic and work as a servant. I think she even sells off her belongings. That can't be legal. Of course, Sara rarely complains, and she does make yet another friend named Ram Dass, played by the great Cesar Romero, who lives across the way and is servant to a man named Wickham. Holy crap, Sara, don't you read Jane Austen. Never trust a man named Wickham. I kid. He's actually a nice guy.
Now the later part of the story is basically Sara being in denial about her father being dead and running off in the hopes to find him in the hospital. Also, a couple of her other friends are sent off to the war, and we get a cameo from not actually Queen Victoria. I will say this, though. The ending is quite a bit of a tearjerker.
So the highlights of The Little Princess would include pretty much anything involving Arthur Treacher, as per usual, and a very interesting dream sequence. Good times. Also, whilst other of Shirley's movies were eventually released in color instead of black and white, for better or worse, this was the first one actually filmed in Technicolor. And it was the most expensive movie of hers to be made to date. You can certainly see why. Now I don't know if I would call this one of my most favorites, but it certainly is charming enough to be enjoyable. If for no other reason than to see the amazing production and Shirley give her most mature performance at the time, I say check it out.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
