Curly hair

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title Curly hair
Original title Curly top
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 74 minutes
Rod
Director Irving Cummings
script Patterson McNutt
Arthur J. Beckhard
production Winfield R. Sheehan
music Ray Henderson
Oscar Bradley
Hugo Friedhofer
Arthur Lange
R. H. Bassett
camera John F. Seitz
cut Jack Murray
occupation

Curly Head is a 1935 American melodrama directed by Irving Cummings and starring Shirley Temple . The story was heavily "inspired" by the novel " Daddy Langbein " (1912) by Jean Webster .

action

“Curly Head” lives up to its name and is the nickname for little Elizabeth Blair, who has lived in the dreary Lakeside orphanage since the death of her parents, which is run by two elderly and very strict maids. Elizabeth's older sister Mary is also staying here and works as the "girl for everything" in the kitchen, laundry and dormitory. Elizabeth is a bright and sweet child, but who has a will of its own and thus often violates the house rules. When it storms and rains outside one evening, Curly-haired realizes that her cute pony Spunky is completely drenched, and so the little girl brings her favorite animal into the dormitory. The next morning it is the rather friendly manager Mrs. Henrietta Denham who discovers the horse at Elizabeth's side and then sends the child to the very strict Mrs. Higgins. The orders that the horse must be sold and Elizabeth's duck "Betsy" with it. Both animals were once part of a stage act that the girls' parents performed in before they were killed in a car accident.

One day there is a scandal in the orphanage when one of the trustees of the orphanage, the grim old James Wyckoff, calls Elizabeth a nuisance and a bad girl, whereupon Mary immediately defends her little sister and Wyckoff again as a mean, old and hateful man designated. After Wyckoff and the other trustees leave, the young attorney Edward Morgan, the richest trustee of the group, praises Mary for the guts she has just shown. He also liked the song that Mary wrote for Elizabeth and that she performed so cheekily, and he says that he also likes to compose songs. When Wyckoff later catches Curly-haired aping him, he threatens to send her to a public home. Edward has enough: he decides to adopt Elizabeth. Because he doesn't want the child to feel indebted to him (as has been Elizabeth's longstanding experience), Edward invents a client, Hiram Jones, who, as he tells Elizabeth, wants to adopt her. As his lawyer, he would represent Jones in all matters relating to the two girls. When Mary explains that she promised her parents that she and Elizabeth would never be separated, Edward arranges that the two of them can move with Spunky and Betsy to his summer beach house in Southampton, Long Island, where his aunt Genevieve will keep an eye on things.

Reynolds, the elegant but friendly butler, immediately familiarizes the two newcomers to the luxurious beach house with the correct etiquette. Edward, so far unlucky when it comes to personal happiness, begins to fall in love with Mary, but doesn't tell her. Mary also realizes that she is not completely indifferent to Edward. She has a second admirer in the young Jimmie Rogers. The stormy and wealthy young man and naval pilot does a lot of exciting and exhilarating things with her, but does not set her heart on fire. And so she rejects his proposal of marriage during a bazaar organized by Mary and Elizabeth for the benefit of the orphanage. Meanwhile, Aunt Genevieve tells Edward that he is in love with Mary, which he vehemently denies. Mary notices this and now accepts Jimmie's marriage proposal. Edward congratulates the two with a stoic expression on his face and is planning a longer cruise to Europe. Only now does Mary realize that her decision was stupid and that she just doesn't love Jimmie. She and Edward admit they love each other, and Edward also admits that there is no Hiram Jones at all. Now the two with their curly haired heads can leave for Europe on their honeymoon.

Production notes

Lockenköpfchen was made between May 25th and July 10th 1935 and was premiered at a record breaking speed on July 26th, 1935. The German premiere took place on March 9, 1936. After “ Shirley's Big Game ” (Baby Takes a Bow, 1934), it was the second Shirley Temple film to be released in Germany and to establish Temple's great popularity in the Reich.

Jack Otterson designed the film structures, René Hubert the costumes. Oscar Bradley was the musical director. Jack Donohue designed the dances.

There is also a colored version of this film.

music

The following songs can be heard:

  • "Animal Crackers in My Soup". Music by Ray Henderson, text by Ted Koehler and Irving Caesar
  • "It's All So New to Me" and "When I Grow Up". Music by Ray Henderson, text by Edward Heyman
  • "Curly Top" and "The Simple Things in Life." Music by Ray Henderson, text by Ted Koehler.

Temples German dubbing voice Carmen Lahrmann sang on the record "Wenn ich erst komm", a song that was used in the German version of "Lockenköpfchen".

Reviews

" Surefire box office entertainment for almost every home ."

- Variety , 1935

The Movie & Video Guide found: " Shirley sings" Animal Crackers in My Soup "when she plays Cupid again, this time for sister Hudson and the handsome Boles ".

Halliwell's Film Guide commented, “ Archetypal temple vehicle. "

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 287
  2. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 238

Web links