Heidi (1937)

Shirley Temple wasn't even ten years old when she starred in this rather enjoyable adaptation of the timeless Johanna Spyri tale. She is the eponymous young girl sent to live on the mountain with her solitary grandfather (Jean Hersholt). Original unimpressed by this arrangement, she gradually manages to wear down the old man and soon has him eating out of her hands. Suddenly, though, she is whisked away to the wealthy "Sesemann" household where she is to be a companion for the invalid "Klara" (Marcia Mae Jones). Despite the best efforts of the rather austere governess "Frauline Rottenmeier" (Mary Nash), the girls bond and all looks set fair when the young girl's father returns to a very pleasant surprise. In the dead of Christmas night, the woman who brought her in the first place sneaks her from safety to sell her to the gypsies, but luckily her grandfather had come looking and... This is a charming story that deals gently with issues of love, affection, solitude and loneliness and this adaptation from Allan Dawn is solid enough. I didn't feel however, that Temple was a natural in the part. Much of her characterisation seemed to be as if it were out of a bottle. Perhaps because unlike so many of her other films, this has a far more established story to follow - but she has much less opportunity to be spontaneous and unlike the more authentic Marcia Mae Jones, I found she was trying just a bit too hard here. It's still good fun to watch though; plenty of snowy weather and the epitome of happy endings.