"Curly Top" is an enjoyable film--as are most of Shirley Temple's films. And, while I do recommend it, the film cannot be counted among her very best even if it did feature one of her most famous songs, "Animal Crackers".
The film begins with Shirley living in a stuffy orphanage. Her precocious ways are NOT appreciated by the head mistress, but the chairman of the board of directors, Edward Morgan (John Boles,) is instantly captivated with her charms (as was most of America at the time!). His wanting to adopt her was not at all surprising--but his insistence that he was acting as an agent for a rich benefactor never really made sense*. As for Shirley, she wants to be adopted but declines, as she doesn't want to be separated from her sister (Rochelle Hudson) who works doing menial work at the orphanage. When Morgan hears of this, he agrees to take both (though the sister is about 19--which makes it all a bit odd!) and takes them to his home--but still not divulging that HE was their new benefactor. Later, when Morgan falls in love with the older sister, things get complicated!
Throughout most of the film, Shirley is simply adorable--perhaps too adorable. I have a VERY high tolerance for her sweetness, but here she seemed a bit less of a person and more of a performing machine. This is because she sings a few too many songs (one of which is HEAVILY scripted and choreographed) and too often she seemed to mug for the camera--definitely NOT typical of most of her vehicles. Simply put her saying "Oh my goodness" all the time eventually wore thin--though she was still, without question, quite adorable.
Overall, I did like the film--even with the way they used Shirley's character. But, the film (even apart from Shirley), had too much singing (Hudson's number was very weak and Boles' voice was too thin by today's standards), the plot was thin and made little sense as well as the idea of a man taking that much interest in Shirley did, by today's standards, seem a bit creepy. But, as I said, it was good overall due to Shirley's charm.
*This film is a re-working of the old novel "Daddy Long Legs" (which was also a play and Mary Pickford vehicle). While the plot worked fine around the turn of the century, by 1935 it was quite dated.
