The genius of Shirley Temple is often overlooked. She gets lost in the fact that she's a child in all of her most famous films. The fact that as a dancer she worked with the best dancers of her era because, as young as three-years-old, she was their equal, gets lost in the legend. If you study any book on American Jazz Dance you'll find reference to, in most, chapters devoted to, the work of Shirley Temple. She was not only an inspiration, she was a unique and powerful talent. These films represent her earliest work; the becoming of the original child super star. While they may not be of high quality; while their subject matter may seem perculiar by modern standards, taken in the perspective of their own time and as small vehicles that hearalded a brilliant career, they are essential to the collections of serious students of pop culture, dance history, and 20th Century entertainment. If you're looking to be entertained with a story about Heidi, or Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, or Captain January, you'd do best to get those films. But if you're a student of the development of American icons, missing these little old movies would be losing a lot of pixels from the "Big Picture."
