Shirley Temple has continually reassured her fans that her unique Hollywood childhood was as normal and trauma-free as any other 1930's kid. People simply assume that an actress as young as she must have suffered some sort of psychological scarring along the way, Mrs. Black's denials notwithstanding. I, however, have always chosen to believe her, the conventional, scandal-free adulthood she's led since her retirement being proof enough for me, and I also believe this movie is an accurate portrait of Shirley's childhood memories. The film itself is a little too glossy and it certainly could have used more authentic 1930's atmosphere, but I'm not here to nitpick. Like all of Shirley's films, the less you analyze, the more you enjoy.
On the other hand, it would be interesting to see this same subject redone, unauthorized. I never entirely trust autobiographies; the human ego is simply too fragile to reveal all of it's secrets and shames. Not that I expect to hear many tantrum tales, (if stories like those did exist, I'm sure we would have heard them by now,) but it would make Shirley Temple's life story more believable if her life weren't so darn perfect. There must be someone out there who can tell us about the line she refused to say or the song she refused to sing, or the time she slapped Jane Withers in the mush (I'm just assuming, here), but either the people who know of this darker side of the Shirley Temple story are keeping quiet or else the dark side doesn't exist. Sadly, for a lover of Hollywood dirt like me, it's probably the latter.
On the other hand, it would be interesting to see this same subject redone, unauthorized. I never entirely trust autobiographies; the human ego is simply too fragile to reveal all of it's secrets and shames. Not that I expect to hear many tantrum tales, (if stories like those did exist, I'm sure we would have heard them by now,) but it would make Shirley Temple's life story more believable if her life weren't so darn perfect. There must be someone out there who can tell us about the line she refused to say or the song she refused to sing, or the time she slapped Jane Withers in the mush (I'm just assuming, here), but either the people who know of this darker side of the Shirley Temple story are keeping quiet or else the dark side doesn't exist. Sadly, for a lover of Hollywood dirt like me, it's probably the latter.