Dimples (1936)

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Arthur Sheekman (screen play) and
Nat Perrin (screen play)
(more)

Release Date:

16 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Musical

Plot:

Dimples Appleby lives with the pick-pocket grandfather in 19th century New York City. She entertains the crowds while he works his racket. A rich lady makes it possible for the girl to go legit. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is performed.

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
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Pawnbroker
Leonard Kibrick	...	Children's Band Member (as Leonard Kibrick Warner)
Walter Weidler	...	Children's Band Member
George Weidler	...	Children's Band Member
Jesse Scott	...	One of The Two Black Dots
Thurman Black	...	One of The Two Black Dots
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herbert Ashley	...	Policeman at Theater (uncredited)
Margaret Bloodgood	...	Mrs. O'Casey (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Policeman at Drew Home (uncredited)
A.S. 'Pop' Byron	...	Policeman at Theater (uncredited)
Eddie Coke	...	Children's Band Member (uncredited)
Walter Dennis	...	Children's Band Member (uncredited)
Homer Dickenson	...	Creditor (uncredited)
Douglas Fowley	...	Stranger (uncredited)
Alex Hirschfield	...	Children's Band Member (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Policeman at Drew Home (uncredited)
Edward LeSaint	...	Creditor (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Creditor (uncredited)
Harry McCrillis	...	Children's Band Member (uncredited)
Francis McDonald	...	Stranger (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Bob Murphy	...	Policeman at Theater (uncredited)
Maybelle Palmer	...	Woman (uncredited)
Frank Silva	...	Call Boy (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Box Office Man (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Theater Box Office Customer (uncredited)
Martin Turner	...	Coachman (uncredited)
William H. Turner	...	Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Fred Wallace	...	Usher (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Seiter

Writing credits
Arthur Sheekman		(screen play) and
Nat Perrin		(screen play)
Nunnally Johnson		original idea (uncredited)

Produced by
Nunnally Johnson	....	associate producer

Original Music by
R.H. Bassett		(uncredited)
David Buttolph		(uncredited)
Cyril J. Mockridge		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon		(photography)

Film Editing by
Herbert Levy		(film editor)

Art Direction by
William S. Darling		(as William Darling)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling		(costumes)

Production Management
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Booth McCracken	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Eugene Grossman	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ted Koehler	....	music and lyrics by
Jimmy McHugh	....	music and lyrics by
Louis Silvers	....	musical director

Other crew
Bill Robinson	....	dances directed by

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (as 20th Century Fox)
• 20th Century Fox (1937) (Austria) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Vídeo Kids (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #2352) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:PG (1994 re-issue)

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Herman Bing as "Proprietor" and Greta Meyer as "Proprietor's Wife" are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but they did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film takes place in the early 1850s. Towards the end, in a scene set in a theater, the producer announces to the audience that "a new form of entertainment has come from the South," and he would like to be the first to present it in New York City. We then see a minstrel show. But by that time minstrel shows had been staged in New York for a decade, since the Virginia Minstrels performed at the New York Bowery Amphitheatre in 1843.

Quotes:

Prof. Eustace Appleby:I was quite a matinee idol in those days, you know. I still get letters from ladies in the towns where I played.
Dimples:Yes, landladies.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "20 to 1: Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (#6.6)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Little Brown Jug

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.