Kid 'in' Africa (1933)

Director:

Jack Hays

Writer:

Charles Lamont (writer)

Release Date:

6 October 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot Keywords:

Cooking | Native | Racial Stereotype | Diaper | Elephant

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Madame Cradlebait
Danny Boone Jr.	...	Diaperzan

Also Known As:

Kid'in' Africa (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Company:

Jack Hays Productions

Trivia:

While filming the scene in which Shirley Temple rides in an ostrich-drawn carriage, the ostrich was startled by the bright lights and bolted forward. Temple was thrown from the carriage, but fortunately, a crew member caught her in midair.

Shirley Gets Potted

A BABY BERLESK Short Subject.

Madam Cradlebait, Converter of Cannibals, arrives in the jungle in time to be captured by savages and popped into a big black cooking pot. Can the resident Ape Boy save this KID'IN' AFRICA in time?

Short, mildly amusing and thoroughly racist, this little film (which is a spoof of both TRADER HORN & TARZAN) is notable only as one of the early, pre-celebrity movie appearances by Shirley Temple. As ever, she is abundantly talented & cute as a button. The racism, while rather embarrassing, was not at all unusual in Hollywood films of this period.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.