Our Little Girl: A Shirley Temple Movie That Hits Harder Than Expected

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for the golden age of Hollywood or just want to see Shirley Temple do her thing, you’ll probably find something to love here. If you’re allergic to heavy-handed melodrama or children being used as emotional weapons in a script, you might want to skip this one entirely.

The whole premise is honestly a bit stressful to watch today. A kid thinks she can fix a crumbling marriage by simply disappearing, which is a wild leap in logic even for a 1935 movie. You can feel the studio really pushing the audience to cry, and sometimes it gets a little too persistent with the sad violins.

The Temple Factor

Look, the movie lives and dies with Shirley Temple. She carries the weight of the entire plot on her shoulders, and she’s remarkably good at it. There’s a specific scene where she’s wandering around the woods looking lost, and you kind of forget it’s a set.

But the parents? They feel like they’re in a different movie half the time. It’s like they couldn't figure out if they wanted to be a real, gritty drama or just a light family flick. It’s a bit disjointed.

Sometimes the film feels like it’s trying to convince you that this is a life-or-death situation, but it’s just a domestic spat that’s gone on for way too long.

Odd Observations

• The pacing in the middle is weirdly slow. It feels like they needed to fill time, so they just let characters stare at each other for an eternity.
• I kept thinking about Zoo in Budapest for no reason. Maybe because both movies have this weird way of trapping their characters in a bubble.
• There’s a background actor in one of the parlor scenes who clearly has no idea what to do with his hands. It’s distracting once you see it.
• The lighting in the final act is surprisingly moody. It’s almost too dark for a movie about a family reunion.

It’s not perfect. It’s not even close. But it’s got this strange, earnest energy that you just don't see anymore. You can tell they really, really wanted this to be a classic, and while it doesn't quite get there, it leaves an impression. 🎞️

Don't expect a masterpiece. Just take it for what it is—a weird, slightly uncomfortable look at 1930s parenting and a kid who just wants to go home.