Young People (1940 film)

Young People
Directed by Allan Dwan
Starring Shirley Temple
Music by Harry Warren, Mack Gordon
Production
company
Release dates
  • August 23, 1940 (1940-08-23)

(New York City)[1]

Running time
 70 mins.
Country United States
Language English

Young People is a 1940 musical drama film directed by Allan Dwan. It stars Shirley Temple and Jack Oakie.[2]

At the time of release, it was thought that this might be the last film Temple would ever appear in, as she was no longer a top box-office star and her contract with 20th Century Fox had already been canceled.[3][4]

Plot

Believing that it's good for their adopted daughter Wendy (Shirley Temple), Joe Ballantine (Jack Oakie) and his wife Kit (Charlotte Greenwood) decide to retire their vaudeville act and move the family to a small New England town. But despite Wendy's many attempts to charm the locals, the "show folk" are given the cold shoulder. That is, until a hurricane hits the town, and because of the generosity, strength and conviction in the face of disaster, it appears that the troupers just might win over the residents in their new hometown after all.

Cast

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote, "For patrons who can take so much precocity, it should be one of the more charming of the miracle child's films. Mr. Oakie and Miss Greenwood make a couple of amusing hoofers, and there are several nice songs to catch the ear. If this is really the end, it is not a bad exit at all for little Shirley, the superannuated sunbeam. But we rather suspect she'll be back."[4] Variety wrote that the film "makes up in tunefulness and spontaneity what it lacks on the story side ... Miss Temple, relieved of the responsibility of carrying the entire picture on her shoulders, drops neatly into the groove assigned her."[5] Film Daily wrote, "Shirley Temple's latest and last offering for 20th-Century Fox is loaded with entertainment and finds the youngster as appealing and attractive as ever."[6] Harrison's Reports wrote, "Good! Although the story is lightweight, it has plentiful human interest, a few good musical numbers, comedy, and engaging performances."[7] "Miss Temple has obviously retired in the full tide of her powers," John Mosher wrote in The New Yorker. "In 'Young People,' her swan song, so to speak, she shows no weariness, no slacking up, no arthritic pangs."[8]

As with Temple's previous film, The Blue Bird, Young People was a box office disappointment.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "The Broadway Parade". Film Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc.: 2 August 19, 1940.
  2. ↑ http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/young-people-v118113
  3. ↑ "Shirley Temple, Too Old, Quits". The Stanford Daily: 1. May 13, 1940.
  4. 1 2 Crowther, Bosley (August 24, 1940). "Movie Review - Young People". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Young People". Variety. New York: Variety, Inc. July 17, 1940. p. 16.
  6. ↑ "Reviews of New Films". Film Daily. New York: Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc.: 7 July 15, 1940.
  7. ↑ "'Young People' with Shirley Temple, Jack Oakie and Charlotte Greenwood". Harrison's Reports: 126. August 10, 1940.
  8. ↑ Mosher, John (August 31, 1940). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. New York: F-R Publishing Corp. p. 51.
  9. ↑ Natale, Richard (February 11, 2014). "Shirley Temple, Legendary Child Star, Dead at 85". Variety. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
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