Dimples (1936)

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Arthur Sheekman (screenplay) and
Nat Perrin (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

Shirley Temple lives with the pick-pocket grandfather in 19th century New York City. She entertains the crowds while he works his racket...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | 19th Century | Minstrel Show | Street Entertainer | Slum

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Dimples Appleby
Frank Morgan	...	Prof. Eustace Appleby
Robert Kent	...	Allen Drew
Helen Westley	...	Mrs. Caroline Drew
Stepin Fetchit	...	Cicero
Astrid Allwyn	...	Cleo Marsh
Brook Byron	...	Betty Loring (as Delma Byron)
Hall Johnson Choir	...	Choir (as The Hall Johnson Choir)
Berton Churchill	...	Colonel Loring
Paul Stanton	...	Mr. St. Clair
Julius Tannen	...	Hawkins
John Carradine	...	Richards
Billy McClain	...	Rufus
Jack Clifford	...	Uncle Tom
Betty Jean Hainey	...	Topsy

Also Known As:

The Bowery Princess (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #2352)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Two lines in the end cast list credits are subject to two different interpretations: "Children's Band ... Leonard Kibrick Warner," and "Walter and George Weidler." The IMDb cast lists 3 actors: Leonard Kibrick Warner, Walter Weidler and George Weidler. However, The AFI Catalogue lists 4 actors: Leonard Kibrick, Warner Weidler, Walter Weidler and George Weidler.

Quotes:

Prof. Eustace Appleby: But I didn't mean to do it, Dimples. Don't you see?
Dimples: You broke your promise to me!
Prof. Eustace Appleby: But the man swore to me. He gave me his word.
Dimples: You told me you wouldn't steal anymore! You said you were gonna be honest!
Prof. Eustace Appleby: But I didn't take that watch for myself, I - well, uh, I - I guess I'm not much good to you. Maybe you'd be better off without me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dimples (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Gospel Train

interesting racial angles

People are often made uncomfortable by elements that reveal racial attitudes in old movies, but those elements can make the movie fascinating. "Dimples", which is set in the 1850s before the Civil War, often makes explicit references to slavery and also reveals 1930s stereotypes. (Also, the movie keeps referring to "the depression," drawing parallels to the '30s.)

The opening legend calls attention, with deliberate irony, to the fact that some young radicals are questioning "that respectable institution of slavery". Then we see Shirley dancing with black and white street orphans, implying that they are equal in their economic straits. Stepin Fetchit has an important but unbilled role as Frank Morgan's servant (who isn't a slave, but isn't getting paid either). Black servants are shown everywhere, especially at Mrs. Drew's house.

Two plot points are important. The central question is whether Mrs. Drew will "buy" Shirley for $5000, and the characters go back and forth on this question. On the night of the debut of the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" play, Mrs. Drew arrests Frank Morgan (in disguise as Uncle Tom). Then while watching Shirley's death scene in the play, where she begs for Uncle Tom to be free, Mrs. Drew "frees Uncle Tom" (letting Morgan go). Shirley converts Mrs. Drew's impulse to "enslave" people.

We see (with historical accuracy) that the play uses white actors in blackface--but in a curious twist, the play closes with a "new entertainment from the South," a minstrel show with the actual black performers (including Fetchit) pretending to be white actors in blackface. These elements make some viewers uncomfortable, but if you can watch critically, it reveals how the movie was attempting at some level to recognize and deal with unpleasant realities of U.S. history and address freedom, equality, and integration in disguise as entertainment. The Hall Johnson Choir appear, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson choreographed the dances.