Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story (2001)

How sad is this?

A Disappointing Continuation

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This movie was okay. Ashley Rose Orr did a fine job as Shirley in recreated scenes from S.T. movies but not so well playing her off screen persona. That was probably the fault of the director. In one early scene Gertrude says that Shirley is 5 and the director tells her to say she is 4. 10 year old Ashley appeared to be an average size child. No way could she pass for under age 8. The vinegar rinse scene in the bathtub made no sense. Her hair was dry and curly when Gertrude rinsed it with water and vinegar. That was a popular way to make hair shine but it was done after the hair was washed. . Those two things made the movie less believable to me. I thought Hinton Battle did a great job.

This was an appallingly bad film! Ashley Rose Orr was horrible, she had none of Shirley Temple's charm AT ALL! Those ghastly smiles she would do when she scrunched up her piggy little eyes in a way that I think was 'supposed' to be cute and make the audience go - "aahhhh bless!" It just made me want to slap her. She must have simpered "oh my goodneth!" about a hundred times throughout the film. Also she could barely utter a sentence without accompanying it with a fake giggle. Horrible HORRIBLE film .. If I could rate it minus 10, I would. Don't waste your money on this piece of rubbish, go out and buy a genuine Shirley Temple film!

I didn't think this movie was very good at all. Basically they took a bunch of one-liners from various Shirley Temple movies, threw them together, and had Orr act like Shirley Temple acted on-screen. "Oh my goodness!" was said quite a number of times. If you are familiar with Shirley Temple movies, you will recognize several lines direct from her movies. The trouble is they have Orr saying these in Shirley's everyday life. In the end, what we get is a hodgepodge of re-created Shirley Temple movies, instead of any sort of real look into Shirley Temple's life. Save yourself the trouble and rent Shirley Temple movies, it's a lot better than watching Orr try and recreate Shirley's acting style.

As others have stated, I too grew up watching and loving Shirley Temple movies. I even bought the whole collection for my daughter; generation after generation, the sparkle and talent of Shirley Temple can not be denied. Prediction: 50 years from now, the same will be said about Ms. Orr...if only people will get beyond the fact that she isn't Shirley Temple's physical clone! Why cast some one not Shirley's mirror image? Because talent like Ms. Orr's, just like Ms. Temple's, is hard to come by. A triple threat barely breaking the single digit age bracket, Ms. Orr had what it took to allow me to enjoy "Child Star" and the child portraying (not imitating) Shirley Temple. The fact that Ms. Orr's talent shone through the mantle of another's personae makes me wonder what we'd see if she were turned loose. Time to look forward to a new child star. Thank you Disney and Mr. Eisner for introducing us!