It is to the great credit of Daryl F Zanuck that although he made millions cranking out crappy Shirley Temple films, he then tried to improve them - basing them on stronger source material, working on the scripts, hiring better writers and directors, etc. The result is the quality of her vehicles actually improved as they went along, and the 1937/38 period saw her hitting her peak.
This isn't as good as Wee Willie Winkie (Allan Dwan was good but no John Ford) but still holds up well, especially in the second half. The first bit is solid rather than sensational, with Shirley's Heidi arriving in a little village and melting the heart of her gruff grandpa (Jean Hersholt). Then Heidi gets kidnapped by a nasty lady and is forced to be a slave for a rich crippled girl... then the climax involves an attempt to sell her to the gypsies.
There's lots of emotional, heart wringing scenes - Shirley really going for it, screaming as she's separated from her grandfather; the little crippled girl learning to walk (yeah yeah, I know, but it works); singing "Silent Night". Mary Nash goes all out as the villain, Marcia Mae Jones is good value as the crippled girl and Arthur Treacher fun as a butler. There is a silly fantasy song number and a bit too much God, but even that has camp value.
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