The Little Princess (1939)

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Ethel Hill (screenplay) and
Walter Ferris (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical

Plot:

A little girl is left by her father in an exclusive seminary for girls, due to her father having to go to Africa with the army.

Plot Keywords:

Servant | Victoria | Queen Victoria | School | Teacher

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Sara Crewe
Richard Greene	...	Geoffrey Hamilton
Anita Louise	...	Rose
Ian Hunter	...	Captain Crewe
Cesar Romero	...	Ram Dass
Arthur Treacher	...	Bertie Minchin
Mary Nash	...	Amanda Minchin
Sybil Jason	...	Becky
Miles Mander	...	Lord Wickham
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Lavinia
Beryl Mercer	...	Queen Victoria
Deidre Gale	...	Jessie
Ira Stevens	...	Ermengarde
E.E. Clive	...	Mr. Barrows
Eily Malyon	...	Cook

Runtime:

93 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | USA:Approved (PCA #4712)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original source of the movie was a novel called "Sara Crewe; or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and it was published in 1888. She later adapted her book for the stage calling it "A Little Princess" (in London, 1902) and "The Little Princess" (in New York, 1903). It was successful enough that her publisher, C. Scribner's Sons, requested that she expand her original novel to include scenes from the play. The result was the final novel, "A Little Princess; being the whole story of Sara Crewe," which was published in 1905, and is the secondary source for the movie.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sara Crewe: Why are they sending so many soldiers, daddy, if it's only going to be a little war?
Captain Reginald Crewe: To make those stubborn Boers take us seriously this time, my darling. When they realize Her Majesty intends to put a stop to their nonsense, they'll quiet down.
Sara Crewe: They'd better. Anyhow, when you get there, you'll stop them. Won't you, daddy?
Captain Reginald Crewe: I'll do my best, dear.

Movie Connections:

Edited into "The 20th Century: A Moving Visual History" (1999)

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

One More Triumph For Our Shirley

A small child, affectionately known as THE LITTLE PRINCESS, must endure great hardship after her father is killed in the Boer War.

Shirley Temple had her last great box-office triumph in this splendid Technicolor adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett childhood classic. No longer a tiny tot - she turned eleven the year THE LITTLE PRINCESS was released - but still a little trooper, Shirley exhibits once again the tremendous charm & talent which made her Hollywood's top box office draw. With wrinkled brow & tremulous lip or bouncing curls & joyous smile, she adeptly displays just the right mood or mannerism to keep the focus of the audience's attention firmly grasped in her chubby fists.

The supporting players' roster is abundantly well cast: stalwart Ian Hunter appears as Shirley's soldier father - this very fine actor wisely uses his acting skills to keep from being completely upstaged by the mighty moppet; handsome Richard Greene & lovely Anita Louise play the riding master & teacher who befriend Shirley - their roles aren't terribly significant, but they fill them quite well.

Mary Nash is once again cast as Shirley's tormentor, this time playing the evil-spirited headmistress of an exclusive girls' seminary. This accomplished actress did not appear in many films, but she could generally be counted on to provide a vivid performance - notice the relish with which she essays her small part in the medieval fantasy sequence (`I know my rights, I know the law and what I say I saw, I saw!'). Long-legged, adenoidal Arthur Treacher plays her henpecked brother; he is a delight during his two romps with Shirley to the music hall ditty ‘Knocked ‘Em In The Old Kent Road.'

Cesar Romero quietly portrays an Indian servant in a small, but important, role; Miles Mander & E. E. Clive both appear as hardhearted, crusty old gentlemen - only one is regenerated by film's end. Sweet Beryl Mercer makes the most of her few moments as a stately, kindhearted Queen Victoria - while Eily Malyon is a true fright as the school's slatternly cook. Marcia Mae Jones participates in one of the film's most memorable moments, when, as a particularly vile teenager, she receives a face full of fireplace ashes, courtesy of sweet Shirley.

Special attention should be given to ten-year-old South African Sybil Jason, who plays the wistful waifish charmaid who idolizes Shirley. In her American film debut, Warner's LITTLE BIG SHOT (1935), she proved wonderfully winsome & winning, but the storm of attention surrounding Miss Temple (exactly 19 months older than Miss Jason) tends, at this remove, to swamp the boats of the other female child stars of the period. However, delightful Sybil deserves to be remembered & appreciated for her own accomplishments.

The Stolen Kiss, a lavish fantasy dream sequence, provides a welcome few minutes change of pace for Temple, Nash, Louise, Greene, Treacher & Romero.