REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM (20th Century-Fox 1938) Fox Home Video

It has often been said in the picture-making biz that, put a child and animals into any scene – much less, an entire movie, and, you are half-way home to a sure-fire hit. And indeed, director, Allan Dwan has another Shirley Temple crowd-pleaser on his hands with Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), an adroitly scripted comedy of errors with the angelic Temple cast as Rebecca Winstead. The previous year, Temple had marked her most profitable outing on celluloid yet, and for Dwan, in Heidi (1937). So, the formula of an orphaned girl, an uncle and some cute baby goats had already proven its merit as pure box office gold. It therefore stood to reason, why not surround Fox’s biggest star with a whole barnyard menagerie and let the chips fall where they may. And indeed, the resulted ringing of registers around the world was proof positive Temple could still do no wrong. Placed in the care of her uncle, Harry Kipper (William Demarest), Rebecca is entered in a radio contest to be the next spokes-person for a popular entertainment program. Rather predictably, Rebecca is a hit. Unfortunately, a clerical mix-up by Orville Smithers (Jack Haley) has the girl being rejected by the radio sponsors – a move that forces the penniless Kipper to send Rebecca to live with her stern, but kindly, Aunt Miranda (Helen Westley) and her cousin, Gwen Warren (Gloria Stewart) in the country.

Never at a loss for good wholesome fun, Rebecca dances up a storm with farm hand, Aloysius (Bill Robinson), puts some color back in her cheeks with good-honest-hard work, and ends up chasing a piglet across the property to an adjacent farm. Meanwhile, discovering the station’s error much too late to do any good, radio promoter, Tony Kent (Randolph Scott) embarks on a vacation to the country to clear his head of work-related stress. His hiatus on the property adjacent Miranda’s farm leads to a fortuitous meeting with Rebecca and, a burgeoning romance with Gwen. There is really not much more to this paper-thin plot, cobbled together by Don Ettlinger, Karl Tunberg, Ben Markson, and, William M. Conselman, very loosely based on Kate Douglas Wiggin’s 1903 novel. But Dwan keeps the feather-weight elements in play long enough to make his audience forget they are being manipulated, and, instead, settle into a pleasant enough good time. Temple is quite simply ideal. She exudes the sort of unspoiled natural tenderness too many of today’s child stars lack.

At the time of its release, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm generated a minor stir as Temple’s mother elected to lop off her trademarked 56 ringlets, instead, adopting a more loose and flowing series of feathered curls styled on Mary Pickford’s coiffure. It was on the set of this movie Temple encountered racism for the first time, directed at Bill Robinson with whom she had previously danced in 1935’s The Little Colonel and The Littlest Rebel.  Ostensibly, Temple and Robinson were Hollywood’s first interracial partners in dance; Robinson, then 50, and Temple, barely 6. During the making of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Temple became acutely aware of their racial disparity – even in Hollywood – as she lived in a private cottage in Palm Springs while Robinson was forced to take a room above a local drugstore.  Years later, Temple would regard Robinson as her equal, who treated her as an adult. “I like people like that,” Temple mused, “…and Bill Robinson was the best of all."

Fox’s DVD contains both a remastered B&W transfer and their patented colorized version that is shamelessly awful and bears no further investigation in this review. The gray scale on the original B&W is very clean and smooth with good solid contrast and a considerable amount of fine detail evident throughout. Contrast can slightly shift, and there are some brief instances of edge enhancement. But otherwise, this transfer should not disappoint. There are also several scenes that appear to have been sourced from dupes, or less than perfect second, or even third-generation elements. But on the whole, the quality here is quite acceptable for a movie now pushing well over 80+ years. The 1.0 Dolby Digital audio has also been re-channeled to 2.0 stereo with negligible improvements. There are NO extras. Bottom line: like all of Shirley Temple’s classic outings, one sincerely wishes someone at Fox would take a more concerted interest in the little girl who, for nearly an entire decade, reigned supreme, not only as the studio’s first blonde, but an absolutely profit center for the studio, driving both their prestige and profits through the roof. Blu-ray, please. Anyone?

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

0