Baby Burlesks In Color
Teresa Anson | Michigan, USA | 12/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Shirley Temple: The Early Years contains the famous "Baby Burlesk" shorts that launched the young star's career and endeared Shirley to fans worldwide for decades to come. Temple herself hosts this exciting jaunt down memory lane, which is itself a wonderful example of Depression-era film's favorite memes: adorable children behaving as adults (ala the Little Rascals). Most of us, however, would simply be contented to relive the same moments of Shirley that we remember from childhood.
Working closely with Shirley Temple herself, Legend Films has taken these wonderful moments and added their trademarked splash of color to the otherwise black and white images, to great effect. When you compare these newly colorized shorts to some of Shirley's original color material, you'll be awestruck at the substantial difference in quality. Some colorized classic films have that "look" about them, where you can tell that the color was artificially stenciled in on top of the original image: this is not that sort of job. No, the color in all of these shorts looks as though it had been there all along.
For the avid collector or the parent wanting to introduce their children to one of cinema's greatest treasures, you'll be hard-pressed to beat the value of Shirley Temple's Early Years."