Just Around the Corner (1938)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Paul Girard Smith (story)
Ethel Hill (writer) ...

Release Date:

11 November 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Once rich architect ruined by the Depression and working as a janitor has a daughter who befriends a...

Plot Keywords:

Melodrama

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Penny Hale
Joan Davis	...	Kitty
Charles Farrell	...	Jeff Hale
Amanda Duff	...	Lola Ramsby
Bill Robinson	...	Cpl. Jones
Bert Lahr	...	Gus
Franklin Pangborn	...	Waters
Cora Witherspoon	...	Aunt Julia Ramsby
Claude Gillingwater	...	Samuel G. Henshaw (as Claude Gillingwater Sr.)
Benny Bartlett	...	Milton Ramsby (as Bennie Bartlett)

Also Known As:

Lucky Penny (USA) (working title)
Sunnyside Up (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This was the last of four films to pair Shirley Temple with Bill Robinson.

Quotes:

Penny Hale: This is a benefit for Uncle Sam.
Reporter: Uncle Sam?
Penny Hale: Yes. Samuel G. Henshaw. He's in a bad way, you know.
Reporter: Samuel G. Henshaw is in a bad way?
Penny Hale: Yes. There's a slump, and everyone's hanging on his neck.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Love to Walk in the Rain

The Good & Bad Of 'Just Around The Corner'

Here's a so-so Shirley Temple entry with a catchy song that plays throughout the film. The movie features a bunch of nice characters. The "bad guys" in here - a snotty woman, her butler and a crabby "Uncle Sam" - aren't overly mean and don't have huge roles in here so the atmosphere, for the most part, is very genial.

In addition to the main song ("This Is A Happy Little Ditty," a very catchy song), there is a good production number near the end of the film. Both of those numbers feature Shirley and Bill Robinson. Those two were always fun to watch dance and sing together.

There are two negatives in here: some of the spoken lines are a little stupid and poorly delivered, mostly by the male rich kid "Milton Ramsby" (Bennie Bartlett) who looked like he was reading his lines and the female adult lead, "Lola Ramsby," played by Amanda Duff, was weak. I can see why Duff never had much of a screen career.

I would like to have heard a few more songs, too, but it's still a charming film: not her best, but not the worst, either.