''Little Miss Broadway'' is a 1938 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay was written by Harry Tugend and

Jack Yellen Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs "Happy Days Are Here Again", which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the theme ...

. The film stars

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in a story about a theatrical boarding house and its occupants, and was originally titled ''Little Lady of Broadway''. In 2009, the film was available on DVD and videocassette.

Plot

Betsy Brown is released from an orphanage into the care of Pop Shea, her parents' friend who runs a boarding house for theatrical performers. Sarah Wendling, the curmudgeon owner and next-door neighbor of the building, detests "show people" and their noise, and demands Pop pay the $2,500 back rent he owes or move out immediately. Her nephew Roger is in love with Pop's daughter Barbara and files suit against Sarah in order to gain control of the building and his inheritance, with which he plans to stage a show starring the hotel's residents. Sarah questions the soundness of Roger's investment in the show, and Betsy convinces the judge to see the production before he decides the case. With the assistance of her friends, the little girl presents a lavish musical revue in the courtroom that so impresses one of the observers, he offers the troupe $2,500 a week to star in his International Follies. Having had a change of heart, Sarah insists the show is worth $5,000 and convinces the impresario to double his offer. Roger and Barbara then announce their intent to wed and adopt Betsy.

Cast

as Betsy Brown, an orphan * Edward Ellis as Pop Shea, Betsy's parents' friend *

Edna May Oliver Edna May Oliver (born Edna May Nutter, November 9, 1883 – November 9, 1942) was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the better-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters. ...

as Sarah Wendling * Donald Meek as Willoughby Wendling, Sarah’s brother *

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to ...

as Roger, Sarah's nephew, Betsy's adoptive father * Phyllis Brooks as Barbara, Pop's daughter, Betsy's adoptive mother *

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

as Jimmy Clayton, a bandleader *

Jane Darwell Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...

as Miss Hutchins *

Patricia Wilder Patricia is a feminine given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning 'noble', it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. Another well-known variant is Patrice. According to the US Social Secu ...

as Flossie, Hotel variety Switchboard Operator * Robert Gleckler as Detective * George Barbier as Fiske * Barbra Bell Cross as Carol, an orphan *

El Brendel Elmer Goodfellow "El" Brendel (March 25, 1890 – April 9, 1964) was an American vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect routine as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical ' ...

as Ole, an animal trainer * George Brasno as George * Olive Brasno as Olive * Claude Gillingwater Sr. as The Judge * Jerry Colonna as Member of Clayton's Band * Hank Mann as Ventriloquist (uncredited) * Charles Coleman as Sarah Wendling's Butler * Heinie Conklin as Member of Clayton's Band

Production

Murphy, who was not satisfied with the dance routine in "We Should Be Together," insisted that movie's closing dance number be reworked. Despite Temple's mother's concerns, Temple was on board with it. The dance number proved so popular with the cast and crew that Murphy and Temple gave an encore performance after the cameras stopped rolling.

Music

Six songs were written by Harold Spina (music) and Walter Bullock (lyrics). All were performed by Temple. * "Little Miss Broadway" * "Be Optimistic" * "How Can I Thank You?" * "We Should Be Together" * "If All the World Were Paper" * "Swing Me an Old Fashioned Song" "Hop, Skip, and Jump", a Temple duet with Jimmy Durante, was cut from the film but is still visible in the original trailer. Other songs appearing in the movie include: * " When You Were Sweet Sixteen" * "Loch Lomond" * "Auld Lang Syne"

Release

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote, "The devastating Mistress Temple is slightly less devastating than usual ..it can't be old age, but it does look like weariness ..although she performs with her customary gaiety and dimpled charm, there is no mistaking the effort every dimple cost her." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' called it "a delightful Shirley Temple vehicle in which she again does what she does best – portray a singing, dancing, pouting orphan girl."

References

{{Darryl F. Zanuck 1930s American films 1930s musical drama films 1938 drama films 1938 films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American musical drama films films about orphans films directed by Irving Cummings films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck