The Littlest Rebel (1935)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Edwin J. Burke (writer)
Edward Peple (play)

Release Date:

22 November 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | War

Tagline:

America's Little Sweetheart . . . The Dimpled Darling You Love in the Greatest of Civil War Dramas !

Plot:

Shirley Temple's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his family and is arrested...

Plot Keywords:

Plantation | Father | Civil War | Troops | Blackface

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Virginia 'Virgie' Cary
John Boles	...	Capt. Herbert Cary
Jack Holt	...	Col. Morrison
Karen Morley	...	Mrs. Cary
Bill Robinson	...	Uncle Billy
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Sgt. Dudley (as Guinn Williams)
Willie Best	...	James Henry
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	President Abraham Lincoln
Bessie Lyle	...	Mammy Rosabelle
Hannah Washington	...	Sally Ann

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) (video rating) (1994) | UK:PG (video rating) (1989) | UK:U (original rating) | Australia:G | USA:PG (1994)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Both John Boles and Bill Robinson nearly drowned while trying to cross a raging, fifteen-foot river for an escape scene that was cut from the film.

Quotes:

Virginia 'Virgie' Cary: My daddy and Colonel Morrison are in prison, and they're going to shoot them.
President Abraham Lincoln: Your father is a captain in the Confederate army.
Virginia 'Virgie' Cary: Yes, sir.
President Abraham Lincoln: Arrested as a spy.
Virginia 'Virgie' Cary: My daddy isn't a spy!
President Abraham Lincoln: Do you know what a spy is?
Virginia 'Virgie' Cary: I know it's something bad, because they shoot you for it, and my daddy could never do anything bad.
President Abraham Lincoln: I don't see how he could either, with a little one like you.
Virginia 'Virgie' Cary: Thank you kindly, sir.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Landlord (1970)

Soundtrack:

Polly Wolly Doodle

Southern Corn

Shirley's comfy confederate life is disrupted by Yankees invading her home and breaking up her family. It is perhaps unfair to criticize the performance of a seven-year-old, but her mugging can become tiresome for those who are not fans of the diminutive star. The acting of the adults is pretty bad, not helped by the corny script, awful dialog, and characters that don't resemble real people. McGlynn makes a laughably goofy Lincoln. The depiction of blacks is embarrassing, particularly Best as a mentally challenged slave, a character meant to be funny. The best thing about this mercifully short film is the dancing of Temple and "Bojangles" Robinson.