Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)

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A remake of the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name, Poor Little Rich Girl stars Shirley Temple in the title role. Neglected by her widowed soap-tycoon father (Michael Whalen), lonely Barbara Barry (Temple) spends most of her time in the company of her nursemaid Collins (Sara Haden). While… More A remake of the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name, Poor Little Rich Girl stars Shirley Temple in the title role. Neglected by her widowed soap-tycoon father (Michael Whalen), lonely Barbara Barry (Temple) spends most of her time in the company of her nursemaid Collins (Sara Haden). While on a shopping excursion in the City, Collins is killed in a traffic accident, and Barbara gets lost in the crowd. She finds shelter in the warm and loving tenement home of barber Tony (Henry Armetta), where she makes the acquaintance of vaudeville entertainers Jerry and Jimmy Dolan (Alice Faye and Jack Haley). Assuming that the girl is an orphan, the Dolans invite her to join their act when they discover that she possesses considerable singing and dancing talents. As fate would have it, Jerry, Jimmy and Barbara audition for a radio program which happens to be sponsored by Barbara's dad! For all its music, charm and vivacity, Poor Little Rich Girl has an unsettling inner lining of cruelty: Not only is the plot motivated by the death of Shirley's governess, but our poor heroine spends a good portion of the film avoiding a seedy would-be child molester (John Wray)! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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