Product Description

SShe was America's princess an adorable little girl who captured the hearts of millions with her charm and talent. But by the age of 12 her career was over, leaving her to create a new private life. Shirley Temple was born in 1928. By the time she was four, she had played in a number of short films known as ""baby burlesques."" But a star was born when her ambitious mother landed the girl the lead role in Little Miss Marker, the box-office sensation of 1933. BIOGRAPHY; traces her short, bright career, when depression-era America found a welcome escape in her singing and dancing. See her charms in clips from Bright Eyes, Curly Top, Dimples and The Littlest Rebel, and hear from costars like Alice Faye. After her career fizzled in the late '30s, she receded from the public eye, returning to attention as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations. She would remain in politics for the better part of two decades, an active and effective force for the Republican Party. From a childhood of innocence and stardom to her attention-getting battle with breast cancer, this is the compelling story of Shirley Temple."

Product Details

• #7660 in VHS
• Released on: 1999-10-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
"The Biggest Little Star," as this 100-minute video is titled, child actor-singer-dancer Shirley Temple saved a Hollywood studio and brightened the lives of Depression-era filmgoers. Peter Graves's narration is complemented by interviews of actors such as Gloria Stuart and the late Roddy McDowall, President Gerald Ford, as well as biographers and her on-set tutor. From her beginnings in a series of disquietingly sexual low-budget "Kiddie Burlesk" spoofs to her heyday in wholesome pictures such as The Little Colonel and Heidi, the sausage-curled Temple grew up onscreen before an adoring public. An accomplished dancer she was paired with the likes of Buddy Ebsen and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. When she held hands with the latter, a black man, the pint-sized reformer not only made a small step for race relations, she inspired theaters in the Deep South to edit those parts out of her films. Her costars included Ronald Reagan and, as a pre-reader, she learned her lines from her mother before bedtime. But by age 12 she was a has-been and the very studio she had saved from bankruptcy, 20th Century Fox, released her from her contract. The resilient Temple went on to a second career in Republican politics, losing a California congressional run, but securing appointments under presidents Nixon, Ford, and Bush. This video biography, part of the excellent A&E series, is crammed with clips from her movies and offers plenty of information on her two careers. Unlike others in the series, however, it provides scant details on the personal front, shedding little light on her relationships with her stage mother and apparently somewhat uninvolved father or on her two marriages. --Kimberly Heinrichs

From the back cover
She was the top box office draw in America before the age of ten. With her popularity fading a few short years later, this young girl went on to have a remarkable life and career. Shirley Temple remains the most successful child star ever. As Depression-era America hungered for a distraction, they found it in this adorable song-and-dance sensation. Biography captures the spirit, spunk and appeal of the young Temple through rare newsreel footage and outtakes and goes on to explore her remarkable adult life with the help of friends and colleagues, including former President Gerald Ford. She has become a respected diplomat, holding posts in three administrations; she has battled breast cancer and in the process, raised public awareness about the disease. Activist, ambassador, wife, mother and child star, explore the extraordinary life of Shirley Temple Black.