The Little Princess (1939), 7- Color

A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, due to her father having to go to South Africa to fight in the Second Boer War.
(93 min) Released 1939-03-10
Directors: Walter Lang, William A. Seiter (uncredited)
Stars: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Cesar Romero, Arthur Treacher, Sybil Jason

Genres: Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031580/

This is one of the best ST flicks. I deemed it a 7- today before realizing I'd rated it before ... as a 7 (no +/- available).

Good story, although she's a semi-orphan again, with father off to war. I don't want to recount what happens in the hope that I won't remember the next time I watch it. But yes, there's a cranky old rich man, but we don't see ST charming him.

As a musical, this is pale. We get one fantasy number at 1:07:00 which is somewhat musical (actual dancing starts at 1:12:~~ for about a minute), then it's a just a small bit here and a bit there, and nothing as good as Bill Robinson tapping her up the stairs to bed, much less The Toy Trumpet.

As the film's poster above indicates, this was filmed in Technicolor. Amazingly, it fell into public domain. The copy I watched is a p.d. copy, but really very good quality. I mean, the color looks faded, but the story is set in Victorian times, in a boarding school with uniforms, not a colorful combo. Then again, we see some royal guards that I thought wore red coats, but not here.

Richard Greene and Anita Louise are the secondary couple (ST and her father are primary, plotwise), and RG is better suited for that slot than as the leading man opposite Sonja Henie in My Lucky Star ('38).

Interesting that Sybil Jason, playing the urchin servant at the school does not sing/dance here; maybe they planned something and cut it for time, because this one is long for ST. Sybil's effective at being plucky yet pathetic, which is quite different than her role as Jolson's country neighbor in The Singing Kid ('36).

Ian Hunter as the father is spot on. Arthur Treacher as the former music hall hoofer is fun. Cesar Romero as the Hindi servant of the cranky old man is wonderful. And the parrot's colors really pop.

Fox, dir. Lang & Seiter; 7-