THE LITTLEST REBEL

The Littlest Rebel
20th Century-Fox, 1935, B/W, 73 minutes, ***
Released November, 1935

Shirley is the feisty young daughter of Captain Cary (John Boles) of the Confederate Army - and she wields a mean sling shot! When Cary goes off to battle, the Union forces burn their house to the ground. Shirley's mother takes ill from exposure and dies.

When Cary returns home, he is trapped by the Union soldiers. He wants to get his daughter safely into the arms of her aunt in Richmond, and sympathetic Colonel Morrison (Jack Holt) gives the man a break and helps him out. But both men are caught in the act and tried for treason.

So Shirley travels to Washington with Uncle Billy (Bill Robinson) and convinces President Lincoln to pardon the two men. Shirley and Robinson have one dance number together, and Shirley sings "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" and "Polly Wolly Doodle."

In Charge of Production: Darryl F. Zanuck
Associate Producer: B. G. DeSylva
Directed by: David Butler
Assistant Director: Booth McCracken
Screen Play by: Edwin Burke
From the Play by: Edward Peple
Musical Arrangement: Cyril Mockridge
Art Direction: William Darling
Set Decoration: Thomas K. Little
Costumes: Gwen Wakeling
Sound: S. C. Chapman, Roger Heman
Photography: John F. Seitz
Film Editor: Irene Morra

Cast: Shirley Temple [Virgie Cary], John Boles [Captain Herbert Cary], Jack Holt [Colonel Morrison], Karen Morley [Mrs. Cary], Bill Robinson [Uncle Billy], Guinn Williams [Sergeant Dudley], Willie Best [James Henry], Frank McGlynn, Sr. [Abraham Lincoln], Bessie Lyle [Mammy], Hannah Washington [Sally Ann], Additional Cast: James Flavin [Guard]

Musical Program: [0:00] Dixie (played by Orchestra behind titles) / Old Folks at Home (sung by Chorus behind titles and into opening scene); [0:03] Cotton Eyed Joe (?) (danced by Bill Robinson, Willie Best on harmonica [onscreen], joined by Orchestra at end of dance); [0:06] unidentified minuet (danced by Children at Shirley's party); [0:11] Dixie (played by Orchestra as Confederate soldiers march wearily by the Cary home); [0:13] Dixie (excerpt sung by Shirley Temple in defiance to Union Soldiers); [0:18] Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms (played on music box, sung by Shirley Temple); [0:41] Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (sung by Chorus dubbing for procession returning from Mrs. Cary's burial); [0:45] unidentified instrumental (played by Willie Best on his "mouth organ" [onscreen], danced by Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson); [1:00] Polly Wolly Doodle (sung by Shirley Temple accompanied by Bill Robinson on banjo [onscreen] outside prison window); [1:04] Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson dance to raise money for train fare; [1:12] Polly Wolly Doodle (sung by Shirley Temple and Mens Chorus); [1:13] Polly Wolly Doodle (sung by Chorus behind end titles)