Tonight's Movie: The Little Princess (1939) - A Film Masters Blu-ray Review

The Frances Hodgson Burnett novel A LITTLE PRINCESS was one of my very favorite books growing up, and I reread it many times.

In fact, I still vividly remember picking out the paperback copy while shopping with my parents at Pickwick Books at South Coast Plaza when I was maybe seven years old, and I own it to this day.

I have to admit to avoiding the Shirley Temple film version for most of my life simply because I knew that the screenplay, by Ethel Hill and Walter Ferris, used the book as a springboard for the movie and made many changes. That was difficult for me to accept, given how much I loved the novel.

That said, this was a film I really needed to finally see, especially with favorites such as Marcia Mae Jones, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, and Cesar Romero in the cast.

The movie, which is in the public domain, is now out in a new Blu-ray edition from the Film Masters Archive Collection. Film Masters has done a wonderful job on other public domain prints, some of which I've reviewed here, so this review was the perfect opportunity to finally watch the movie, and I'm glad I did.

THE LITTLE PRINCESS -- note the slight title change from the book -- stars Shirley Temple as Sara Crewe.

It's 1899, and Sara's wealthy widowed father, Captain Crewe (Hunter), leaves his little girl at an exclusive London boarding school while he goes off to fight in the Boer War.

Miss Minchin (Mary Nash), the school's owner, covers up her nasty temperament and shows deference to Sara due to her father's money. Sara has the best of everything at the school, hence her nickname as "the little princess."

Alas, word comes that Captain Crewe has been killed in action and simultaneously it's said that his fortune has failed. Sara is stripped of her possessions, banished to a fireless room in the cold attic, and forced to act as a kitchen maid since she no longer has money.

Sara suffers greatly at the hands of Miss Minchin and unkind pupils such as Lavinia (Jones), but she refuses to believe her father is dead and regularly visits the local military hospital hoping to find him.

Meanwhile, Sara has friends looking out for her, including Ram Dass (Romero), a servant who lives in the neighboring mansion and observes her plight. One night, he makes magic happen for Sara and the other little servant Becky (Sybil Jason), and they wake up to a warm fire, bathrobes, and food. It's glorious...until Miss Minchin finds out.

This 93-minute film is actually quite good, though as mentioned it takes huge liberties with the book. It uses the bones of the original story but adds in a romance between a pair of kind teachers (Anita Louise and Richard Greene), and most significantly it changes the outcome of the entire plot regarding Sara's father.

In the book, Captain Crewe's close friend searches vainly for Sara for a very long time; the friend turns out to be the employer of Ram Dass, living right next door, and it also so happens that Sara is still very wealthy. Sara has a happy ending, once again loved and cared for, but not with her father.

The movie has a different but also satisfying ending, which involves...Queen Victoria (Beryl Mercer)?!

Temple is quite good, in her Shirley Temple way, taking Sara through her journey. She's a kind, brave, and likeable girl, and Temple also has a chance to dance.

It's of note that a dream ballet was staged by Ernest Belcher, the father of Marge Champion (born Marjorie Belcher). Other dances, with Temple and Arthur Treacher, were staged by Nick Castle and Geneva Sawyer.

The film is buoyed by solid production values -- Sarah's birthday sequence is a particularly colorful visual delight, with a gorgeous cake -- and a good cast, which also includes Miles Mander and E.E. Clive. An interesting bit of trivia is that Kenneth Hunter, who plays a general, was the older brother of one of the movie's stars, Ian Hunter.

Mary Nash, incidentally, was also mean Fraulein Rottenmeier in Temple's HEIDI (1937), with Marcia Mae Jones costarring as Klara.

The warmth of the performances by actors such as Louise, Treacher, and Romero helps make Sara's suffering tolerable, as we know it can't last for long with these people in her corner.

I'll add the comment that, as with many films of this era, despite the British setting the accents are all over the place!

THE LITTLE PRINCESS was directed by Walter Lang and the uncredited William A. Seiter. Lang directed a great many good films at 20th Century-Fox, including favorites such as MOON OVER MIAMI (1941) and STATE FAIR (1945).

The movie was filmed in Technicolor by Arthur Miller and William Skall.

As I referenced at the beginning, Film Masters has done an excellent job with their releases, including titles I've reviewed such as THE STRANGE WOMAN (1946) and THE SECOND WOMAN (1950). I felt this print was very good quality for a public domain film.

The color is a bit soft, with almost a Trucolor look in some scenes, but it looks good, and there are no distracting skips or scratches. The soundtrack is excellent, with the dialogue easy to understand.

There are no extras, but optional English-language captions are provided.

I was happy with both the film and this Blu-ray and will be enjoying it again in the future.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Film Masters for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased via Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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