Bright Eyes (1934)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

William M. Conselman (screenplay)
David Butler (story) ...

Release Date:

28 December 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical

Plot:

An orphaned girl is taken in by a snobbish family at the insistence of their rich, crotchety uncle, even as her devoted aviator godfather fights for custody.

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Aviator | Custody Battle | Godfather | Maid

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Shirley Blake
James Dunn	...	Loop Merritt
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Higgins
Judith Allen	...	Adele Martin
Lois Wilson	...	Mary Blake
Charles Sellon	...	Uncle Ned Smith
Walter Johnson	...	Thomas
Jane Withers	...	Joy Smythe
Theodore von Eltz	...	J. Wellington Smythe (as Theodor von Eltz)
Dorothy Christy	...	Anita Smythe
Brandon Hurst	...	Higgins
George Irving	...	Judge Thompson

Runtime:

85 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #427) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | USA:PG (re-release)

Filming Locations:

Glendale Grand Central Air Terminal - Grandview Avenue, Glendale, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Director David Butler wrote the story based on an incident that happened in his childhood. His parents had advertised for a live-in maid, and a woman answered the ad who had just arrived from Scotland. She had a little girl and was separated from her husband--an unusual circumstance at the time--and said she wouldn't take the job unless her daughter was allowed to live in the house with her, also an unusual circumstance at the time. Butler's parents agreed, and the woman and her daughter moved in with the family.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the song "On the Good Ship Lollipop" while the plane is taxiing you can see the edge of the screen where they are projecting the outside. This is most obvious when she sings the line "...and there you are..." just after "Cracker Jack Bands fill the air" the first time.

Quotes:

James 'Loop' Merritt: Now I've got a present for you. This isn't from Santa Claus. This is from me to you. This is a magic ring, see? Just like in the fairy tales. If ever you're in trouble, or if you ever want me to do anything for you, you send me this ring, and I'll come.
Shirley Blake: Oh, it's so pretty. Thank you, Loop.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Private Screenings: Child Stars" (2006)

Soundtrack:

On the Good Ship Lollipop

Shirley's the star but Jane's the scene-stealer...

Author/Director David Butler put together a script that showcases SHIRLEY TEMPLE as a lovable little girl who gets caught up in a nasty custody battle when her mother dies and her aviator god-father (JAMES DUNN)wants to adopt her. Scenes between Temple and Dunn are so natural that you'll have a hard time not getting a lump in your throat in the scene where he assures her that her mother (who has just died) is in heaven with the angels. Yes, it does get a little sticky at times.

But wait!! Before things become to saccharine and predictable, little JANE WITHERS, America's most lovable brat, shows up as a nasty rich girl who delights in tormenting everyone around her, especially Shirley. It's a great role for Jane and she makes the most of it, whether imitating a machine-gunner or threatening to make mincemeat of Shirley's dolls.

And believe me, she's a welcome presence in a Shirley Temple vehicle that does tend to get all dewy-eyed over the adorable princess. Watch the scene on the plane where the aviators all watch Temple as she sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop", strolling down the aisle and enjoying all the male attention. You can almost sense something darker than is supposed to meet the eye with the way they all leer at her. But she is, quite simply, at her most fetching in that casually charming little number.

Shirley's first film tailored just for her, and it opened at Radio City Music Hall in 1934 to cheer Depression-era audiences with its innocent star at her most disarming. Easy to see why she would become the nation's number one box-office star four years in a row.