Bright Eyes (film)


Bright Eyes
Directed by David Butler
Produced by Sol M. Wurtzel
Written by David Butler
Edwin J. Burke
William M. Conselman
Starring Shirley Temple
James Dunn
Lois Wilson
Jane Withers
Jane Darwell
Charles Sellon
Music by David Buttolph
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Distributed by Fox Film (USA)
Release date(s) December 28, 1934 (USA general release)
Running time 83 min
Country  United States
Language English

Bright Eyes is a 1934 musical/comedy film, starring Shirley Temple and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel. David Butler directed and co-wrote the movie. Also in the cast were James Dunn, Jane Darwell, and Jane Withers.

Originally filmed in black-and-white, it is also shown in a computer colorized version.[1]

Contents

Synopsis

Shirley Temple plays Shirley Blake. Her mother, Mary (Lois Wilson) is employed as a maid by the haughty, ornery Smythe family; they both reside in the Smythe home. Shirley's father, an aviator, has "cracked up" (crashed) in an airplane accident, leaving the family with little money. Shirley spends most of her time at the airport with her godfather, pilot James "Loop" Merritt (James Dunn).

When her mother is killed in a car accident, the Smythe family wishes to send Shirley to an orphanage. However, the old patriarch of the family, Uncle Ned (Charles Sellon) is fond of the girl and insists that she stay. The other Smythes grudgingly agree, although they go out of their way to make Shirley feel unwelcome.

Loop wants Shirley to live with him; Uncle Ned refuses to give her up. A custody battle ensues.

In addition to Temple, this film is memorable for the presence of child star Jane Withers as a spoiled, obnoxious brat, the Smythe's daughter Joy. In a 2006 interview on TCM's Private Screenings with Robert Osborne, Withers recalled that she was hesitant to take this role because she had to be so "mean" to Shirley Temple and she thought the public would hate her for it (video clip). In a humorous scene of the two little girls playing with dolls, Withers tells Temple that she is going to the kitchen to get "the biggest knife I can find and operate on YOUR doll!" She also tells Temple: "There ain't any Santa Claus, because my psychoanalyst told me so!" Withers received accolades for her performance in Bright Eyes. After this film, she received a long-term contract with Fox, and enjoyed a successful career as a child star herself.

Cast

Awards

Temple received a Special Juvenile Academy Award, largely because of her dramatic performance in this film. Bright Eyes and other Temple vehicles are credited with saving Fox Films from bankruptcy. Nevertheless, Fox Film Corporation was ultimately forced to seek a merger, resulted in Twentieth Century-Fox.

Miscellaneous

The movie is mostly set in the Grand Central Airport of Glendale, California. Temple's character performs what was to become her signature song, "On the Good Ship Lollipop", which actually refers to, and was sung aboard, a Douglas DC-2 airliner. The song went on to sell 500,000 copies.

In 2002, a colorized version of the film was produced by Legend Films.

Conor Oberst named his band Bright Eyes after watching the film.

This film features Terry the dog as Rags. Terry was most famous for playing Toto in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

See also

References

  1. ^ Maltin, Leonard, ed (2007). Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide. New York: Signet. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-451-22186-5. 

External links








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