Young People (1940)

This is Shirley Temple's last film under her very successful Twentieth Century-Fox contract. And, sadly, it's NOT among her better films. Part of it is that Shirley now was 12--and no longer the adorable 7 year-old. Most of it, however, was the script--which was rather weak.

The film begins with two show people (Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood) being given a baby. It seems their friend has died and he wanted them to raise the kid. Years pass and the child grows into an adorable show-stopping kid herself (Shirley Temple). During this montage sequence, you see several cute clips of a younger Shirley in previous films. After years of working hard on the road, the family has decided to call it quits and settle down on a farm left to Shirley by her biological parents. However, Oakie and Greenwood REALLY come on very, very strong in this VERY conservative neighborhood. Now these townsfolk are obnoxious old drips---but I also thought that if this family came storming into town like this family did, I might hate them, too. This is a seriously weak part of the film as you were supposed to love Shirley's family and dislike the townsfolk--but I really didn't like any of them. Eventually, however, the family is able to convince everyone how wonderful they are and the film ends--a contrived and weak ending if I've ever seen one. Overall, this film is a time-passer at best. It's not bad but neither is it very good.