War Babies (film)

War Babies is a 1932 American comedy short film directed by Charles Lamont and is the second in a series of eight one-reelers that satirized adult films and themes called Baby Burlesks. The casts in the series are pre-schoolers dressed in adult costumes on top and diapers fastened with large safety pins on the bottom. In her autobiography, Shirley Temple Black describes the Baby Burlesks series as "a cynical exploitation of our childish innocence," and notes the short films were sometimes racist or sexist.

War Babies is a spoof of the World War I film What Price Glory? and was originally titled What Price Gloria?. The film is set in Buttermilk Pete's Cafe where the child performers dance, play music, and drink milk. The film stars Shirley Temple spoofing Dolores Del Rio as Charmaine and Georgie Smith and Eugene Butler as soldiers vying for her affection. Shirley has her first onscreen kiss with Eugene Butler. Others in the cast are Georgie Billings, Philip Hurlic and Ashley Shepherd. In 2009, the film was available on DVD.

See also

• Shirley Temple filmography

References

• Black, Shirley Temple (1989) [1988], Child Star: an Autobiography, New York: Warner Books, Inc., p. 16,18, ISBN 0-446-35792-8 
• Windeler, Robert (1992) [1978], The Films of Shirley Temple, New York: Carol Publishing Group, p. 111, ISBN 0-8065-0725-X 

External links

• War Babies at the Internet Movie Database
• The short film War Babies is available for free download at the Internet Archive