Product Description

Shirley Temple stars in this entertaining musical, co-staring tap dancing George Murphy and the legendary Jimmy Durante. Shirley stars as Betsy, an orphan adopted by a kind hotel manager (Edward Ellis) who rents rooms out to down-on-their-luck entertainers. When the owner of the hotel (Edna Mae Oliver) complains about the noise her show biz tenants make and the back rent they owe her, she threatens to have the hotel closed and Betsy sent back to the orphanage.

The film is highlighted by Shirley's delightful "We should Be Together" song and tap dance routine with George Murphy, and the upbeat "Be Optimistic."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54894 in DVD
• Brand: TEMPLE,SHIRLEY
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Amazon.com
Sheer and irresistible hokum, Little Miss Broadway is classic Shirley Temple entertainment, with the moonfaced, squeaky-voiced starlet playing the singin'-est, dancin'-est orphan in New York City. Adopted by the elderly manager of a show-biz hotel, Shirley gets caught between the lovable show folk and the tyrannical landlady (superlative sourpuss Edna Mae Oliver) who wants to tear the hotel down. Naturally, there's a wealthy but kindhearted nephew on one side of the fight and a poor but lovely niece on the other, along with a cast of colorful characters, including Jimmy Durante and assorted musicians, jugglers, tap-dancing little people, and a trained penguin. It all comes to a crescendo in the most preposterous art-deco courtroom you've ever seen. Temple set the standard for precocious moppets to come; as corny as her antics may be, even contemporary cynics will fall for her radiant charm. This DVD includes both a spruced-up black-and-white version and a colorized version--though the colorization is much improved, skin tones still end up with the unsettling amber of a bad tanning salon job. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Little Miss Broadway
My daughter loves this video - the only drawback to it is that she wants to watch it all the time! She sings and dances along with "Betsy" (Shirley Temple) through the whole movie. It's great for little girls who love to dance and sing.

it's all here in one great big package
Little Miss Broadway is yet another charming movie that stars the great Shirley Temple. The plot moves along at a good pace and I thought that the acting was very convincing.

The action begins when Betsy Shea (Shirley Temple) is adopted out of a girl's orphanage by William J. "Pop" Shea (Edward Ellis), who manages the Hotel Variety in New York. Betsy will be living in the Hotel with "Pop," his daughter Barbara Shea (Phyllis Brooks) and a host of actors and vaudevillians who are mostly out of work.

Things heat up when Sarah Wendling (Edna May Oliver), who owns the Hotel Variety, finds out that the hotel is back due on the rent--to the tune of $2,500! That was very big money in those days; and Sarah Wendling eventually gets so angry with the situation she plans to tear down the hotel. Meanwhile, her nephew Roger Wendling (George Murphy) falls in love with Barbara Shea--and things get very complicated and messy.

Will Sarah Wendling tear down the hotel and leave dozens of people homeless? She certainly won't be willing to help her nephew Roger financially if he has anything to do with Barbara Shea. Will "Pop" Shea and the others living in the hotel be able to raise the required back due rent money? How does Betsy figure into the plot? Will she stay at the hotel or will she return to the orphanage? No spoilers here, folks--you'll have to watch the movie to find out.

The choreography shines in the final ten minutes of the film when there's a lot of singing and dancing numbers; look for a wonderful number featuring George Murphy and Shirley Temple.

The DVD comes with the glorious black and white version of the movie; the restoration is wonderful. There is also an option to watch a colorized version of the movie instead.

Overall, Little Miss Broadway is a charming Shirley Temple vehicle that leaves you smiling and wanting more. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I recommend it for Shirley Temple fans and people who want their children to "discover" Shirley Temple. Look also for a fine performance by Jimmy Durante as one of the entertainers living in the hotel.

One of Temple's Best
Shirley Temple shines in this delightful tale of an orphan who saves a hotel,along with a group of aspiring entertainers, from financial ruin. The songs are adorable and the rest of the cast is wonderful including Jimmy Durante. This is one of my personal favorites.