A schizophrenic Shirley Temple film, as if Daryl F Zanuck was trying to cover his bets - its an adaptation of a classic children's novel, which is very British in its nature. Indeed, I was surprised how British it was - set during the Boer War, with talk of sorting out the Boers, celebrations on Mafeking night, Indian colonial subjects and cameos from Queen Victoria; there's also lots of costumes and set design (as in you really notice it). The drama is mostly treated straight and quite seriously; there's several intense moments such as Shirley talking to severely traumatised war veterans in hospital, and going into hysterics over her father.
To make sure all this pro British sentiment and full on drama isn't too much, they also throw in some poorly motivated song and dance numbers (one of the people who work at the girls school is a former song and dance man) and a dream ballet sequence. The latter is reminiscent of the dream sequence in Heidi; other features from previous Shirley Temple films include Marcia Mae Jones (here a bitch instead of a friend), Cesar Romero as an Indian friend, plus mean girls and little old ladies as well as kind friends (working class girl).
It is odd to see Shirley playing a Pom and a rich girl, although the latter is soon fixed up. There's a terrific cast - Anita Louise and Richard Greene are engaging lovers, Sybil Jason is a likeable cockney girl, Jones is a great bitch and Mary Nash a wonderful villain. It's all a little bit inconsistent (and how happy is the ending when her dad is clearly still brain injured from his war experiences) but this is easily one of her best movies.
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