SnoopyStyle Shirley Blake (Shirley Temple) lost her pilot father in a crash. She likes to hang out at the airport with her godfather Loop Merritt and all of their friends. Her mother Mary is a live-in maid working for the Smythes. Mrs. Smythe disapproves of her flyboy friends and plans to fire her after Christmas. The family hates cranky uncle Ned Smith but Mr. Smythe hopes to get the inheritance. The only person Ned likes is Shirley whom he calls Bright Eyes. Mary is killed by a car and Ned wants to adopt Shirley. This sets up a legal battle for the little girl between the Smythes and Loop.This has the super cute and spunky Shirley Temple who delivers the song On the Good Ship Lollipop. She's a million watts light bulb. The rest of them are perfectly fine although the other girl Joy is awkwardly bratty. In the end, the battle is between two people who both love Shirley and there is limited drama in the lack of danger. That may be why a dangerous situation had to be manufactured.

atlasmb Reasons why this film is worth seeing:1. Bright Eyes stars Shirley Temple. What an appropriate title. Shirley is too cute for words. If you look at her filmography you will see that she had plenty of roles under her belt by the time she made this film, but this is one of the early films that put her on the map.2. Shirley's performance was so popular, it put her on the cover of "Time" and won an Academy Award.3. The canine star of the film is Terry, who later played Toto in The Wizard of Oz.4. Jane Withers nails her performance of the bratty spoiled kid who terrorizes Shirley and everyone else. Only The Bad Seed has a better juvenile villain.5. Shirley sings her signature song: "On the Good Ship Lollipop".

jarrodmcdonald-1 Shirley Temple believes in every line of dialogue they give her. She is supposed to believe in Santa (while arch-nemesis Jane Withers does not); and you can tell that Little Miss Moppet does believe in Santa the way she says her lines. This is 'true' acting. And the scene where she kisses the old man in the wheelchair and says she likes him is brimming with truth, too. You can sense that this child performer does like adults who treat her kindly. And the moment when she puts her head on his lap is predictably sweet but no less effective-- gently reminding adults how to properly treat children.Yet despite all these charming aspects of David Butler's script (he also directed the picture), we know we are being manipulated for some serious drama ahead. Shirley starts out fatherless (except for surrogate daddy figure James Dunn) and by the 37th or 38th minute of the story, she is completely orphaned when her mother is killed on the street one day.Signal the tears. Lots and lots of tears. The scene where James Dunn learns about the mother's death while Shirley waves from inside the plane is tough to watch. Then, there's the sequence where he takes her up in the plane and while floating over some clouds, he tells her about heaven and her mother joining her father in heaven. She breaks down while he flies the aircraft and it is devastating. I can only imagine how audiences responded to this the first time it was seen in the 1930s. How can there be a dry eye left in the house after that tender, truthful display of emotion?And this is where Mr. Butler and Fox pull out all the stops. Shirley has lost both her parents now, on Christmas Day of all days. And miraculously, she still believes in Santa. The old man in the wheelchair plays Santa for her, James Dunn and all his buddies play Santa for her. Even the cook (Jane Darwell) and the butler are up to the task of playing Santa for her and providing her with a home if necessary.We are surrounded by a gift of love in this film. But the real gift-- then and now-- is always Shirley herself.

Cyke 119: Bright Eyes (1934) - released 12/11/1934, viewed 9/22/08.BIRTHS: Judi Dench.DOUG: It appears I had completely misunderstood Shirley Temple's niche in Hollywood before I watched this movie. I thought that her movies were all-out musicals for kids only, but she was more for the family and all-ages market. Bright Eyes is not a kids' movie, nor is it really a musical, other than the famous Good Ship Lollipop number. That number is, I think, more indicative of a trend in the early sound period where nearly every movie made tried to incorporate a scene with music. I thought the movie was going to be predictable, and it mostly is; the Smythe family never really become more than one-dimensional caricatures, ready to toss the lovely Shirley out onto the street while still indulging their own demonic daughter's every whim. Still, it managed to surprise me in a few places. Loop and Uncle Ned, the two most awesome characters and the ones who care about Shirley the most, suddenly become enemies as they each try to claim custody. **SPOILER ALERT** I was almost in tears a couple times: when Shirley's mom dies was pretty rough (though that car hit looked awfully gentle), and Loop flying through the storm is pretty intense. **END SPOILER** If you're trying to get an idea of what Shirley Temple was all about in Depression-era Hollywood, Bright Eyes is a great place to start. Contract Player Alert: Charles Sellon (Uncle Ned) and Jane Withers (Joy) both appeared three films ago in It's a Gift, as Mr. Muckle and the hopscotch girl, respectively. KEVIN: This movie surprised me. I really didn't expect to like it much, but the themes of the film and the complexity of many of the characters kept me interested. Of course little Shirley is great, everyone knows that, but all the adult characters, none of whom I recognized right off, are all very well acted and fully fleshed out. **SPOILER ALERT** I'm not gonna lie, I was indeed moved to tears in the scene where Loop (James Dunn) must tell little Shirley that her Mom has died. **END SPOILER** And I was even more intrigued when Shirley is taken in by the snobbish, blue-blooded Smythe couple with their bratty, Nazi-in-training daughter (Jane Withers). Although the custody battle between Loop and the Smythes is the center of the movie, the film does a really good job setting up the characters and getting all its ducks in a row for maximum emotional punch. I couldn't help but giggle at the schmaltzy happy ending, starting with the judge deciding that the proceedings "won't need lawyers anymore." Everyone gets what they want and/or what they deserve, even the crotchety uncle.Last film: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). Next film: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934).