Bright Eyes

UPC: 024543368595

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Child Classic]

Summary: Despite stiff competition like Poor Little Rich Girl and Heidi, Bright Eyes is arguably the best of Shirley Temple's 1930s vehicles. The little curly-top is cast as Shirley Blake, daughter of Mary Blake (Lois Wilson), the widowed housemaid of snooty J. Wellington and Anita Smythe (Theodore Von Eltz and Dorothy Christy). Though continually terrorized by the Smythe's obnoxious, doll-destroying daughter Joy (Jane Withers), Shirley finds comfort in the fact that she is the darling of the airplane-pilot buddies of her late father. Especially fond of our heroine is flyboy Loop Merritt, who arranges a birthday party for the girl. Alas, even as Shirley sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop" to a gathering of beaming airmen, her mother Mary is run over by a car while shopping for her daughter's birthday cake. It thus becomes Loop's painful duty to tell Shirley that her mother "cracked up," just like her father did (if this scene doesn't move the viewer to tears, the viewer is made of granite). Fortunately, the Smythe's irascible Uncle Ned takes a liking to Shirley, securing her financial future at the expense of his repulsive relatives. But before this happy ending can come about, Shirley must be rescued from an imperiled passenger plane by the resourceful Loop. Though Shirley Temple is inarguably the main drawing card in Bright Eyes, 9-year-old Jane Withers is equally terrific as the pint-sized "villainess"; indeed, some critics felt that Withers stole the show, and it was this as much as anything else that earned Withers her own starring series at 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Bright Eyes

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/22/2005

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 84 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Bright Eyes
1. Main Titles [:57]
2. At the Airport [3:30]
3. Daddy's Picture [2:49]
4. Shirley's Mother [:13]
5. Joy [2:48]
6. Two Little Girls [4:14]
7. Christmas Plans [1:15]
8. Bedtime Prayers [3:26]
9. Christmas Day [1:45]
10. Shirley's Christmas Party [2:38]
11. "On the Good Ship Lollipop" [2:29]
12. The Accident [1:58]
13. Flying to Heaven [1:28]
14. Adopton Discussion [3:52]
15. Charity? [1:39]
16. No Dogs Allowd [1:38]
17. The Runaway [3:17]
18. A Flight in Bad Weahter [:54]
19. The Court Battle [3:50]
20. End Titles [2:12]
1. Main Titles [:57]
2. At the Airport [3:30]
3. Daddy's Picture [2:49]
4. Shirley's Mother [:13]
5. Joy [2:48]
6. Two Little Girls [4:14]
7. Christmas Plans [1:15]
8. Bedtime Prayers [3:26]
9. Christmas Day [1:45]
10. Shirley's Christmas Party [2:38]
11. "On the Good Ship Lollipop" [2:29]
12. The Accident [1:58]
13. Flying to Heaven [1:28]
14. Adopton Discussion [3:52]
15. Charity? [1:39]
16. No Dogs Allowd [1:38]
17. The Runaway [3:17]
18. A Flight in Bad Weahter [:54]
19. The Court Battle [3:50]
20. End Titles [2:12]

Hans J. Wollstein

Shirley Temple should definitely be seen as well as heard. Vocally, little Miss Temple is something akin to a nail on a blackboard, even when performing her signature song, "On the Good Ship Lollipop." But watch her deliver the very same number to an American Airlines crew in Bright Eyes -- and presto! Instant magic. No other child performer but Temple could have convincingly played Bright Eyes' cheerful little orphan; certainly not Jane Withers, who is thrown into the mix almost as an antidote. That Miss Withers runs away with every scene she is in is more to the credit of the writers, who merrily piled on the abuse. Withers added her God-given talent for mugging, and together they created one of filmdom's most memorable villainesses. The adults -- even such veteran scene stealers as James Dunn, Dorothy Christy, and Charles Sellon -- can do little more than stand back and watch in awe as the pint-sized duo goes to town. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Frank Moran  Actor 
Dave "Tex" O'Brien  Actor 
Paul McVey  Actor 
Earl Foxe  Actor 
Edwin H. Burke  Screenwriter 
David Butler  Director 
David Butler  Screenwriter 
William Conselman  Screenwriter 
Sol Wurtzel  Producer 
Shirley Temple  Actor 
James Dunn  Actor 
Jane Darwell  Actor 
Judith Allen  Actor 
Lois Wilson  Actor 
Charles Sellon  Actor 
Walter Johnson  Actor 
Jane Withers  Actor 
Theodore Von Eltz  Actor 
Dorothy Christy  Actor 
Brandon Hurst  Actor 
George Irving  Actor 

Country: USA