Did you watch Shirley Temple movies when you were young?

I did, they were on regularly in the 60s on KTVU here in the SF Bay Area. They were actually hard to avoid in the days when we only had four stations.

My Mom read her autobiography. My Mom (who was very intelligent) said she was constantly having to look up words that were used in the book.

Yes, and I adored her. She, like Mickey Rooney (who at 94 is still with us) delighted me as a kid and an adult with her prodigious talents, which most of today’s TV and movie kid “stars” can scarcely match. All my life I’ve loved knowing Shirley was still in the world, always recognizable as “Little Curley Top” even as she aged (she was another of those tiny links with my youth). I am very sad that she now has sailed away on that good ship Lollipop, I’m thankful that we’ll always have her films to remember her by.

Shirley not…I thought she died years ago.

Oh yes. I was a big fan. I cherished my Shirley Temple doll long after I was old enough to have abandoned such idolatry. Her ambassadorship was obvious at such an early age; it was fitting she became a diplomat in her adult life. Loved her.

Yes, I loved them!

Yes, I remember watching Captain January with Buddy Ebsen.

Thanks for posting, @filmfann. I had not heard.

And you forestalled the inevitable flame war when I heard and posted my “Shall we mourn the passing…” question!

I did watch Shirley Temple movies as a kid. Re-runs, obviously, but I loved “On the Good Ship Lollypop”. I’ve always been a sucker for sweetness and light.

In my personal opinion, however, her star shown for a short while. As she aged, the sincerity of her sweetness and light became more and more in doubt. By the time she was an Ambassador, I disliked her, and the more she tried to downplay the significance of her early film career, the less I liked her. Be real. Without the film career she likely would have ended up a middle aged housewife rather than an Ambassador. We are the product of our pasts.

Still, I have fond memories of the early Shirley and hope her passing was easy.

Absolutely, it was a big deal to my mom that I watched them with her.

I loved her little pout and dancing. RIP.

Absolutely. I remember being about 5 or 6 and one of my little friend’s mothers would invite all of the little girls to their house, maybe once a month, probably on a Saturday or Sunday, specifically to watch Shirley Temple movies. The first one that I ever watched, which is still my favorite, is The Little Princess.

I also love Heidi, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and The Little Colonel, with one of the best dance routines ever with Bojangles. I’m still amazed at the dance routine she did with Jack Haley to “Military Man” in the movie Poor Little Rich Girl.

No one above the age of 30 could possibly exist in the United States, with a television set and be unfamiliar with Shirley Temple. The sheer volume of her work along with their sugary consistency of wholesomeness guaranteed that her movies were staples on local tv stations nationwide for 50 years. Prior to the age of cable, it would be difficult to locate a television market where some station wasn’t screening her films on Sunday mornings. I can remember my 5 year old daughter running through the house chortling “Tra la la la what’s a little bit of trouble?”

Yes we used to watch her all the time. I remember her song, “Animal crackers in my soup…”
She was very talented! I think my favorite movie she was in was called the “Little Princess.” Was that the movie where her Dad was in the war and came back with head trama Injuries?

I can’t imagine someone not knowing, “On the Good Ship Lollipop” and “Animal Crackers in My Soup”!