Product Description

As America struggled through the Great Depression in the 1930s, a little girl with big dimples and indescribable charm danced her way into the hearts of moviegoers around the world. Based on the true story of child star Shirley Temple, portrayed by look-alike Ashley Rose Orr (Broadway's ANNIE GET YOUR GUN), this delightful film follows Shirley's early career, starting with her discovery by a studio executive at age four. Adored by the public almost overnight, Shirley quickly became Hollywood's top box office draw. But as her fame grew to legendary status, Shirley's parents, George and Gertrude Temple (Connie Britton TV's SPIN CITY), struggled to protect her from overzealous fans, Hollywood exploitation and, eventually, the end of her studio contract and the threat of financial ruin. Filled with famous song-and-dance routines, wonderfully recreated and expertly performed, CHILD STAR: THE SHIRLEY TEMPLE STORY, is pure joy for families and fans worldwide!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46963 in DVD
• Brand: Disney
• Released on: 2001-12-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
Newcomer Ashley Rose Orr sings and dances up a storm in this made-for-TV movie from Disney. Based on Shirley Temple Black's autobiography, Child Star, the movie does an excellent job of depicting her life as a beacon of hope during the depression years. If Orr doesn't look exactly like the pint-sized dynamo (or act as well), she captures her effervescent essence--her sparkle--and is ably supported by Connie Britton and Colin Friels as her naive, if supportive, parents. The story falters when it skips to Temple at 15, three years after Twentieth Century Fox had severed its ties with her. As the movie ends, we see her returning to acting. It isn't made clear that this would only be a temporary return or that she would devote the rest of her life to politics. Until that point, however, this is a compelling portrait of the quintessential child star. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Check out the real Shirley instead
When this movie was first played on TV, I was so excited because I have been a major Shirley fan since I was 9(I'm now 21) but when I was watched I was highly dissapointed. The story is supposed to be based on Shirley Temple Black's autobiography "Child Star" and I only saw a handful of items that were actually taken from the book, the rest of it was just fluff. Plus they didn't go past Shirley's early teens when the book covers up until after she marries her second husband. They seemed to only want to focus on the happy aspects of Shirley's life but she and her family were not always so happy go lucky. Ashley Orr is horrific at playing Shirley-first of all she's too old to play 5,6,7 and even 8 year old Shirley and she was too sticky sweet, I know Shirley was too but not that sweet. I would have actually given this movie 0 stars if I had the option, it was horrible. So if you want to know the real story find her book "Child Star" and if you want to see the real Shirley work her magic on the screen go find any of her movies and stay away from this one.

"Bright eyes" , "Heidi" , and "Poor Little Rich Girl" are good movies to start off with.

Nice Look Back
Based on her autobiography, Child Star tells the story of the fame of Shirley Temple, perhaps the most loved child star of all time. The movie does a good job of setting the time period, the depression by using newsreel footage and radio broadcasts. Many of her most famous routines are faithfully recreated, sometimes as clips from the movies, other times as if they were filming the movie.

The acting is good. Ashley Rose Orr "sparkles" as Shirley (Shirley's mother always told her to "sparkle"). It's tough recreating a living legend, but she can sing and dance and act quite well, although she did say "Oh, my goodness" a bit too many times. Connie Britton is good as Shirley's mother, although Colin Friel is bland as her father. A standout is Hinton Battle as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

Shirley Temple fans will enjoy this movie. She's one of those rare child stars who seems well-adjusted, so there's nothing really controversial in the film. Anything that is controversial, such as Shirley's father spending almost all her money, is sugar-coated, perhaps because Shirley was a consultant on the movie. Unfortunately, the movie veers off course in the end by showing Shirley as a teenager. A much better ending would have been her leaving the 20th Century Fox studios when they terminated her contract.

DVD extras include an audio commentary by Melissa Joan Hart, who produced the movie along with her mother, and an interesting feature on the making of the movie.

Pretty Awful
This movie was awful! Ashley Rose Orr, while a talented tap dancer, and singer (actually a little better than Temple was in terms of the latter), is a terrible actress. She plays the character as the Shirley that we saw on screen in her movies whether she's playing her on screen or off screen persona. So what we get is an overly cutesy, and wholly unrealistic (not to mention uninteresting) portrait. If one wants to see that side of her, one can just watch one of her movies. The only bright light here is Connie Britton's portrayal of Gertrude Temple. I don't think it was terribly realistic, but at least it was well acted. The Poor Little Rich Girl is definitely a better investment.