INEVITABLE SUCCESS

Evening Star, Issue 22572, 13 February 1937, Page 13

INEVITABLE SUCCESS

SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S BRIGHTEST FILM A bright and entertaining film which may confidently be recommended to any type ot audience is ‘ Poor Little Rich Uirl,’ star-ring Shirley Temple, which has entered tno second week of its popular season at tho State. It is tne first Shirley Temple film that has been seen here for some time, and it proves that without a doubt the popular little star has lost none of that winning charm that made her so captivating when she originally took her place in the front rank of screen stars. In each successsive film she seems to develop a new factor in, her niany and varied capabilities,; and her latest effort, as' displayed in ‘Poor Little Rich Girl,’ is the imitating of tho characteristics of other screen stars, notably the crooning of Bing Crosby. The elements of comedy and drama are appropriately intermingled in the film, and the musical side of the production has also been well looked after, for the opportunity has been taken to introduce a good many songs, giving the little actress ample opportunity to entertain in her cleverest style.

At the outset of the film she is seen as the pampered child of a wealthy father, surrounded by every luxury and with the most elaborate and costly playthings that any child could desire. Yet, she is not happy, for she is denied the company of and in order to make up for the deficiency she conjures up adventures of the imagination. Fairy stories hold a particular interest for her, and one fanciful adventure leads her to see the world for herself when an accident to her nurse suddenly frees her from the ties that have always been flung about her. She meets an Italian organgrinder, whom she imagines as a character from one of her books, and telling him that she has run away from an orphanage, she is taken into his family, where she finds a temporary home. A young couple in the same apartment, who are haying some difficulty in securing a radio engagement, observe a novelty in training the little girl for their act, and so successfully does she carry out her part that they are signed up by a firm of soap manufacturers. This introduces a complication, for this particular manufacturer is the only serious competitor of Shirley’s father, but in the end a merger, in more ways than one, is brought about, and everything ends just as it should. The supporting cast, which is a thoroughly competent one, includes Claude Gillingwater, Henry Axmetta, Alice Faye, Gloria Stuart, and Jack Haley. There is a good programme of short subjects.