Saturday, July 13, 2013

Movie review - "Just Around the Corner" (1938) ***

Shirley Temple later became a Republican - as most child stars seem to do in Hollywood - so it's fun to see scenes between her and her father (Charles Farrell) where he explains about the Depression to her: people are nagging Uncle Sam, he's giving out too much money, they've got to help him for a change. No doubt Daryl F Zanuck would approve!

It does provide the plot for the movie - Shirley gets inspired, but thinks a crochety old millionaire called Sam is the Uncle Sam and sets about arranging a benefit concert for him. This is a fun idea and this was a fun movie, with Shirley getting up to escapades around a hotel (her father is a now impoverished architect working as a tradie at a hotel), playing pranks on a butler and having urst with a young rich kid.

None of it is original but its high spirits with an excellent support cast (including Joan Davis, Bert Lahr, Claude Gillingwater and Bill Robinson who dances with Shirley). Amanda Duff is an engaging love interest, Farrell impressed me in a thankless role and there's some cute stuff with Shirley mucking around with the equivalent of the Dead End Kids (she pretends to be a G-woman).

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