The Shirley Temple Collection, Vol. 6 DVD Review (2008)

Sinking ship.

The set includes three films--the 1936 musical “Stowaway,” in which Temple’s “Ching-Ching” leaves Shanghai to work her magic in keeping Robert Young and Alice Faye together; John Ford’s 1937 movie “Wee Willie Winkie,” a so-so retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s story that finds Temple’s Priscilla Williams fighting the good fight in Colonial India; and 1940’s “Young People,” which was Temple’s final film with Fox.

After making dozens of films with Temple, the studio decided that at the tender age of 12, she was too long in the tooth to play the roles that had made her a star.

And so, for viewers armed with this knowledge, it’s now something of a curiosity to watch Temple launch into the title song’s telling lyrics: “We’re not little babies anymore! We don’t play with dollies on the floor! We know how to act our age! We have passed the infant stage! That’s why we are in a rage! We think children are a bore!”

Poor Shirley. The suits at Fox knew they were finished with her long before they hung her out to dry with this movie and that song.

Grade: C