Non siamo più bambini

Shirley Temple's last film on her 20th Century Fox contract was a good one. Young People is the story of Shirley and her adoptive parents Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood, a pair of vaudevillians who have decided to settle down on a Vermont farm that Shirley's real father left her to give her a home and some stability. They figure she ought to have some at the ripe old age of twelve after a life of born in a trunk.

Oakie and Greenwood are the Ballantines and they have some nice chemistry between them. They should have been teamed more often.

Sad to say what they get is a bunch of hidebound New Englanders who don't take lightly to strangers telling them what's wrong with their way of living. Especially from a brash show business type and they don't come more brash than Jack Oakie. But in her usual fashion Shirley brings them together. As the Good Book says, 'and a little child will lead them'. Even though the little child is starting to show signs of puberty. No doubt why Darryl Zanuck did not renew her contract.

Shirley Temple left 20th Century Fox on a good note.

This is certainly not a bad film if one accepts the fact that Shirley is growing up. There is a predictability to it, for sure but can anyone deny the all-the-more-so predictability of every Astair-Rogers film? We still love them, don't we? Young People suffers from a mediocrity that gives it a feel of a second rate Andy Hardy film, but it has a way of growing on you. My daughter and wife occasionally can be heard humming "5th Avenue" a very catchy number from the film.

I wonder if anyone out there noticed the scene when Shirley, reading the paper in the parlor, points out casually to her parents that an old show biz acquaintance is going to appear on "television"! This may be the first time the new (very very new) medium is mentioned in a "throw-out" line. Any comments?

It looks as if Fox wasn't prepared to spend anything but a B-picture budget on Shirley's last film for the studio. Even the colorized version that popped up several years ago fails to give the picture an A-picture look that it deserved. All the trappings are on a downscale that makes the film little more than a programmer.

Shirley herself is still a talented girl--still the cheerful disposition, dimples and dancing feet--but while her talent is obviously a modest one, it's Charlotte Greenwood and Jack Oakie that are the real pros. Occasionally Shirley meets their standards and this gives the film the lift it needs. But all too often, it's apparent that the charm she had as a tot isn't enough to maintain her pre-teen appeal.

The story is a simple one about a vaudeville couple who adopt a baby girl and then want to retire to the country so she can have a normal life when she's growing up. The conflict comes when the townspeople refuse to accept the showbiz family in their community. Finally, with the help of George Montgomery and Arleen Whelan, the family overcomes all obstacles. A fierce storm sequence toward the end is extremely well done but fails to save the picture from being anything more than an ordinary yarn.

Clever use of Shirley's earlier film footage as a tot is inserted for the "babe on the road" inserts. It's a pleasant enough show but more funding by Fox would have elevated it to A-status.

Joe and Kitty, a couple who perform on the vaudeville circuit, take in an orphaned baby named Wendy (Shirley Temple), who they raise as their own and eventually incorporate into their act. Eventually, she becomes the star of their trio, The Ballantines, until Joe and Kitty decide to quit the business and put down roots in New England. Their timing is prompted somewhat by the fading of Vaudeville, caused by the popularity of films.

Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood capture the spirit of vaudeville extremely well. He is a perfect "second banana" and she is the prototypical specialty act. When Joe and Kitty arrive in the New England town of Stonefield, their show biz bluster makes them fish out of water. Daughter Wendy, always the upbeat optimist, helps them negotiate with some social situations. But Stonefield is a town of staid citizenry who like tradition; those in power resist any concessions to modernity. In the end, circumstances arise that demonstrate that the Ballantines are valuable citizens of the community.

Miss Temple carries this film and provides the center of the story. And due to some remarkably edited sequences, we see her performing from ages six to twelve, roughly.

As a musical, this film is not a tremendous success, but it is worth seeing due to Shirley.

This movie has touched me with it's warmth and charm from the time I saw it as a teenager. I feel in love with Charlotte Greenwood and have been a fan of hers ever since. Her delivery was only matched by Eve Arden and what a pity we never had the two of them together. What a delight to see elegant Miss Greenwood cut loose and let her dancing legs fly. There has been none like her. For fans of Shirley Temple this was an opportunity to see her as she was about to enter the teen years. Too bad her last film at Fox was not a big success. "Young People" had some great old clips of Shirley in her earlier film roles and made for a proper tribute to her talent and poise as a young lady. Miss Greenwood and Jack Oakie play off of Shirley with perfection and make for the perfect vaudeville family trying to find a new life and real home.