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The Little Colonel (1935 film)

The Little Colonel
LittlecolonelVHS.jpg
VHS cover
Directed by David Butler
Produced by Buddy G. DeSylva
Written by Screenplay:
William M. Conselman
Novel:
Annie Fellows Johnston
Starring Shirley Temple
Lionel Barrymore
Evelyn Venable
John Lodge
Bill Robinson
Hattie McDaniel
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Distributed by Fox Film
Release date
  • February 22, 1935 (1935-02-22)
Running time
80 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1.2 million

The Little Colonel is a 1935 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by William M. Conselman was adapted from the children's novel of the same name by Annie Fellows Johnston, originally published in 1895. It focuses on the reconciliation of an estranged father and daughter in the years following the American Civil War. The film stars Shirley Temple, Lionel Barrymore, Evelyn Venable, John Lodge, Bill Robinson, and Hattie McDaniel.

The Little Colonel was the first of four cinematic pairings between Temple and Robinson, and features the duo's famous staircase dance. The film was well received, and, in 2009, was available on videocassette and DVD in both black-and-white and computer-colorized versions.

Shortly after the American Civil War, southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd (Evelyn Venable) marries a northerner, Jack Sherman (John Lodge). Her father Colonel Lloyd (Lionel Barrymore) disowns her in anger and retaliation. Elizabeth and Jack move west where they become parents of a girl they name Lloyd Sherman (Shirley Temple).

Six years later, Lloyd Sherman is made an honorary colonel in the Army. Elizabeth returns to the south with little Lloyd and settles in a cottage near Colonel Lloyd’s mansion while her husband Jack remains in the west prospecting for gold. When Colonel Lloyd discovers his daughter living in the neighborhood, he treats her with disdain. Little Lloyd learns of her parents’ past from housekeeper Mom Beck (Hattie McDaniel), and, when she meets her grandfather for the first time, throws mud at him. The two eventually become contentious friends.

Elizabeth’s husband returns from the west with a fever. He has lost everything in his prospecting venture, but the family is saved from complete ruin when the Union Pacific Railroad requests right of way across Jack’s western property. Jack's former prospecting partners have heard of the Railroad’s offer and try to swindle Jack. They resort to holding the Sherman couple hostage until the deed to their valuable property is located.


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