Shirley Temple & Friends

Shirley it could be better
Each of the four single-side recorded discs that comprise MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT's SHIRLEY TEMPLE & FRIENDS comes stored in a black paper envelope that has a back closing flap and large glassine window in front (for convenient viewing). There's no literature included in the sturdy snapcase plastic box. Program contents are listed on its back cover.

Here, a potentially interesting collection is badly hampered by a great deal of flawed source material.

DISC ONE--
Audio on THE LITTLE PRINCESS is top shelf, but colors are washed out. A small border appears around the image, thus the entire picture is visible
LAW OF VENGEANCE starts at low volume, but that improves within a minute. Film stock used is quite degraded with many break splices. Evidence here of a dub from VHS
In RED-HAIRED ALIBI, Shirley is last-billed. Lots of film breaks here, but sound is clearer

DISC TWO--
Seven of these eleven shorts run under 10 minutes
#1 DORA'S...

Half Temple and Half "Friends"
This set of 4 DVDs is a fair enough buy if you can get it on sale for 4 or 5 dollars; it is NOT a good value at $14.99. It is a pleasant enough collection -- and no worse in quality than what would have been shown on TV 40 years ago. It is not, however, all Shirley Temple nor is the Shirley Temple presented the best of Shirley Temple. It seems to be whatever could be scrabbled up in the public domain. And, not all of the information given on the list of films is accurate. It does have the advantage of being region free, which is a benefit for those of us who, contrary to the notions of companies releasing DVDs, live in a world larger than one region.

Disc 1 has 3 features: "The Little Princess" (1939), one of Temple's gems; "Law of Vengeance"(1933), aka "To the Last Man", with Temple in a tiny part along with leads Randolph Scott, Esther Ralston, and Buster Crabbe; and "The Red-Haired Alibi" (1932), with Temple in a small but interesting role.

Disc 2 has 11...



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