(1934)
2
Craig Butler
Baby Take a Bow is obviously remembered today because it provided a little bundle of dynamite named Shirley Temple with her first starring role. To audience of the time, Baby clearly struck a chord, with Temple's cuteness, resourcefulness, and sunny disposition (not to mention talent) offering an antidote to the gloom of the Depression. As anything other than a vehicle for the young star, however, Baby Take a Bow falls quite short. True, James Dunn turns in a fine performance, and Claire Trevor's ability comes through whenever the script gives her a chance, but their contributions are not enough to overcome a helter-skelter script that uncomfortably mixes comedy, melodrama and tragedy, and that seems to have never met a cliché it didn't like. Harry Lachman's direction is adequate at best, although the chase sequence at the end shows some flair (perhaps too much for some of the younger viewers in the audience). But the film rises and falls on Temple's young shoulders, and while many modern audiences may find her overly cute, she does have genuine charisma, an obvious love of performing, a fascinating way with a song and dance and a flair for dialogue. Later entries would show her off to greater advantage, but even this minor effort demonstrates that whatever Temple had, she had it from the start.
Baby, Take a Bow on AllMovie
Baby, Take a Bow (1934)
