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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent adaptation.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

While I enjoy the old Shirley Temple films, I am occasionally shocked at how depressing and scary many of the plots were. In one, she is separated from her father and is pursued by a creepy guy who keeps offering to take her out and buy her candy, in MANY she's an orphan and in this one she's in the middle of two parents who are divorcing! Family-friendly, perhaps, but definitely films with a dark side.In this film, it begins with the Middleton family being happy as can be. Their daughter, Molly (Temple) is adored and everything seems just peachy. However, over time you notice that Dr. Middleton (Joel McCrea) is often so wrapped up in his work that he neglects his sweet wife, Elsa (Rosemary Ames). It's obvious to everyone but him that his wife is lonely and needs him. Eventually, she sets her eyes on the Doc's best friend, Rolfe Brent (Lyle Talbot) and soon she and Brent are in love...and she's seeking a divorce! Molly naturally is effected by all this and eventually runs away! Will these dopey parents give up their selfish ways and make a family for Molly once again? What do you think?!Like so many of Shirley's films, this one is an obvious object lesson on good parenting and the importance of family. So, despite being a tiny bit traumatic, it does all end well and emphasizes good old fashioned values. It is a bit of a departure, though, as in this one Shirley does NOT sing and the film has a much more compact plot than usual...hence its very short running time compared to her other full-length films. Well worth seeing and sweet.

"Our Little Girl" was what the movie going public of the mid 1930s thought of Shirley Temple, but it didn't have quite the success of her earlier films. She wasn't required to burst into song and dance everyone's troubles away, she was needed to be a Little Miss Fixit but only as a little girl caught up in the affairs of wayward adults (Nova Pilbeam was far more convincing in "Little Friend"). This must be one of her only films that give her both a father and a mother, with nothing dire happening to either one of them along the way.Donald Middleton (Joel McCrea) is a small town doctor who let domesticity get in the way of his dreams but he is more than making up for it with countless important "experiments" taking him away from Elsa (Rosemary Ames) and little Molly. Trouble is brewing early on when Don almost misses "May Saturday", a picnic at idyllic "Heaven's Gate" where Don and Elsa first met and it is there that they meet new neighbour Ralfe Brent (Lyle Talbot). Donald, being as obtuse as he is, keeps throwing Elsa and Ralfe together, even though Ralfe comments "I wouldn't like to leave my wife with me" etc and Nurse Boynton (Erin O'Brien Moore) is only too eager to console Don.Of course Shirley Temple is the star so there are lots of cute scenes of Shirley testing a cake, playing with Sniff, patting little foals and enjoying the park. But strangely enough no singing except for a pretty mournful lullaby to her doll. By the time "September Saturday" comes around the parents are headed for the divorce court and daddy ends up taking Molly to the circus but, as usual, is called away to the hospital and in the confusion Molly decides to take Sniff for their own "Heaven's Gate" picnic. Along the way she meets a philosophical tramp (J. Farrell MacDonald) who ends up giving Don a lecture on what is important in life!!Joel McCrea was between contracts in 1935 hence his appearance in "Our Little Girl" (apparently Shirley developed a big crush on him) but he was seen to better advantage as yet another overworked doctor in "Private Worlds". Rosemary Ames was promoted as Fox's big new star in "I Believed in You" (1934) but it was a disaster and Fox believed no more in Rosemary.

OUR LITTLE GIRL struggles valiantly to understand why her loving parents can no longer love each other.Little Shirley Temple, Hollywood's greatest star at the time, enlivens what might without her have been just another soap opera. With smiles & tears, she beguiles the audience into completely identifying with her joys & tribulations. Even in a minor picture such as this, her abundant charm & talent still bare testimony to her utterly unassailable niche in American film history.As her parents - and it's rare for Shirley to have both throughout an entire film - Rosemary Ames & Joel McCrea both nicely underplay their roles, providing strong assistance to Shirley but without overshadowing her, as is proper. McCrea's medical researches & Miss Ames' horseback riding are mere contrivances used to move the plot along - they are never allowed to eclipse the Tiny Tot.Lyle Talbot & Erin O'Brien-Moore deftly play the significant others in the lives of Shirley's parents; thankfully, each is presented gently, leaving the story without any unnecessary abrasion. Wonderful character actor J. Farrell MacDonald sparks the end of the film with his sympathetic portrayal of a wise, friendly tramp.

Unusual for its time, "Our Little Girl" is about the disintegration of a marriage as seen through the eyes of a little girl. Dad's a busy and preoccupied doctor and medical researcher who is oblivious to his family and his adoring nurse. Mom's bored and lonely at home and Dad won't hear of her coming back to work in the office. Rolfe, a rich horsey neighbor, takes her riding and you know the rest. What's interesting, however, is how the breakup of the marriage impacts the life of the little girl. She is baffled and disoriented and she blames herself for destroying her parents' happiness. She can't warm up to Rolfe who tries unsuccessfully to buy her friendship. Ultimately, she runs away from home. Things are whitewashed by an implausible feel-good happy ending but up to that point the treatment of the catastrophic effects of divorce on a small child is done very well. Shirley, of course, is adorable as always.