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To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

For a wide variety of reasons, "Dimples" is among the poorest of Shirley Temple's full-length films. The characters are often quite unlikeable and there are MANY segments that simply made me cringe due to the film's racial insensitivity.Dimples (Temple) lives with her no-good grandfather (Frank Morgan). Grandpa makes his living cheating people and picking pockets--yet somehow we are expected to somehow care about him. An old lady (Helen Westley) thinks Dimples is simply adorable (as did all of America in 1936) and wants to buy her from Grandpa! Now Grandpa tries to change his evil ways and care for her but he soon loses Allen Drew's money he entrusted to him and ends up considering the old lady's offer! In the meantime, there is a show to put on--and seeing all the black-faced folks putting on a minstrel show is quite a treat! And, it's sure to cause some viewers to have heart attacks.While the minstrels and the addition of Stepin Fetchit are NOT unique to this Temple film (in "The Littlest Rebel" Shirley herself is in black-face and Willie Best does his best Fetchit imitation), it's made worse by a cast of characters you simply cannot like. All in all, a clear misfire by the studio and a far from satisfying family film.

While most of Shirley Temple's movies are quite cute and quaint, there were too many cringe-inducing factors in this one to recommend it. From the outset, it is hard to feel anything but disdain for Frank Morgan's character. The Professor, as he's known in the film, is the grandfather of "Dimples", and her sole guardian. He's a thief and a swindler, and, even though he knows his actions hurt his little granddaughter, he refuses to mend his ways. One hopes for the entire movie that she will eventually leave him behind. Sadly, it never happens, and one can only imagine what type of life she will lead as she grows older.Another cringe-inducting factor about the film is large number of scenes which involve black-face. Now let me first state that I am NOT one who promotes political correctness when it comes to old movies, or one who gets upset at the slightest thing which could be taken as "racist". I enjoy the actors Stepin Fetchit (who also happens to be in this movie) and Willie Best, have seen most of the Charlie Chan movies, and get royally ticked off when one of the DVD studios (usually Warner Brothers) warns me that what I'm about to watch is "wrong now, and was wrong then". I recognize old movies are a sign of their time. I don't need to be lectured like an elementary school student.However, I have to believe that even in 1936, I would have felt a little uneasy with all of the black-face scenes in this film. The one with "Topsy" made me especially uncomfortable.That said, there were still some good moments in the film. Shirley's dancing numbers were, as usual, quite enjoyable, and Stepin Fetchit was as funny as always. However, if I were rating Shirley Temple films, this would be at the bottom of the long list of her movies I have seen to date.As for the DVD, I viewed the Fox release from 2006. I understand from other reviews on-line that the picture is superior to the previous Fox release in 2002. However, that must mean that the 2002 release was mighty poor, as the newer one still has moments when the picture is extremely soft, or extremely dark. Still, overall, it is a has a very watchable picture.The extras include only two trailers for other Temple movies, a very short Movietone news clip, and a colorized abomination of the film in question. And, of course, Fox must insult the person who buys this film with a loud accusational anti-theft PSA before they even get to the menu.

Parents should not allow their small children to watch Dimples any more than they should allow them to watch excessively violent, sexually explicit or profane movies, as they would be exposed to egregious stereotypes of Black people. The movie should be viewed by students of film, sociology and American history so they might have a better understanding of the negative, demeaning attitudes toward Blacks so prevalent in the U.S. until relatively recently, traces of which still exist. The picture has Stepin Fetchit playing a servant to Frank Morgan as if he has an IQ of 10. It has a "play-within-a play" performance of scenes from Uncle Tom's Cabin featuring Whites in ludicrous black-face complete with white sugar donut lips. It's ironic that the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was intended as an abolitionist work, and indeed did arouse sympathy for Blacks, (so much so that President Lincoln called its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, "The little lady who started the Civil War") while this movie, in which Uncle Tom's Cabin plays a prominent part, is, by enlightened standards, crudely racist.If you can overlook the above racism, and I I'd like to know who can, Shirley Temple is adorable as usual, dancing wonderfully, though her singing voice, albeit cute, leaves something to be desired, as always. Frank Morgan gives an admirable performance as a charming con man thief.But, all in all, Dimples is a children's movie that is no longer, if it ever was, suitable for children. If you doubt this, Just picture the Obamas screening it for their daughters.

Boy, I really liked this Shirley Temple film the first two times I saw it when I owned it on tape. Then, after a fairly long hiatus, I bought the DVD and didn't find it nearly as entertaining as I had before. Having a poor transfer on DVD didn't help. Subsequently, Fox has re-issued these with much better quality (on those 3-pack Temple collections) but I doubt if I'd re-purchase this again.Anyway, I still liked all the songs and dances, especially the ones earlier in the film. There are a few more numbers here on than on most of her movies, which is fine with me. Temple is still cute and winsome as ever and there are no evil- nasty villains in here, for a change. Yet, Frank Mogan can be a bit annoying and Stepin Fetchit is just plain aggravating. Fortunately, he has a minor role without much dialog.In summary, a decent Shirley Temple movie but she made at least a handful of others during this time period that were much better It's still a sad comment there are only six reviews of this. Don't people appreciate this girl's talent? She is a legend.