The Little Princess (1939)
In Victorian London, a doting army officer enrolls his young daughter as a star pupil at a girls' boarding school before shipping out to the Boer War. When word comes that he has died and the family money is gone, the headmistress puts the girl to work as a servant, but she refuses to believe he is dead and searches the wounded in a military hospital for him.
Loosely adapted from Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Little Princess was 20th Century-Fox’s first Shirley Temple feature shot entirely in Technicolor and is generally regarded as the finest film of her child stardom, which was by then nearly over. The copyright was not renewed, and the film entered the public domain in 1968.
Background
The Little Princess adapts Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel and was produced by 20th Century-Fox and directed by Walter Lang. It was the studio’s first Shirley Temple feature shot in Technicolor, and it is generally regarded as the finest of her films from her child-star years, which were by then nearing their end. Richard Greene is among the cast. The story is set in Victorian London and follows a girl who is a favored pupil at a boarding school until her father, a soldier, is reported dead in the Boer War and the family money is gone. The copyright was not renewed, and the film entered the public domain in 1968.
What to watch for
Watch the boarding-school sequences, where the girl is a favored pupil before her circumstances change. The turn into servitude gives the film its tougher emotional stretch, and her refusal to accept her father’s death drives the later searches through the military hospital. The Technicolor photography, with its rich period costumes and interiors, shows off the production’s investment. At 93 minutes the film has room for its characters, and its sentiment is clear, with Temple’s performance as the anchor of the story. It is a good example of the polished studio family drama of the late 1930s.
