Film
Dimples
- Drama
- Light-hearted
A 1936 Shirley Temple vehicle set in 19th-century Manhattan, where a plucky street urchin and her pickpocket grandfather navigate poverty and petty crime until a wealthy benefactor offers escape. Temple sings and dances her way through sentimental family drama that feels like a Sunday matinee: earnest, wholesome, occasionally heavy-handed, designed to make you believe in the goodness of rich people.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy old-fashioned sentimental charm built on a scrappy child's street-smart nerve, and don't mind a story that trusts its heart over its plausibility.
Skip it if you find sugary sentiment hard going, or you'd struggle with racial caricature in a supporting role, which the film plays without comment.
What it asks of you: Brisk and brief at seventy-nine minutes, it moves quickly through its scenes, asking you to accept sentiment and a lot of coincidence without much fuss.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm1938
Temple at her most confident, playing a girl who charms a town with her wit and warmth. The musical numbers are sharper and the plot actually has some bite. If you liked Dimples, this shows her range.
But The bucolic farm setting feels weightless compared to the street grit of Dimples, and some may find it saccharine.
The Little Colonel1935
Temple's first major role showcasing her gift for mining sentiment from unlikely places. She plays a girl who reconciles a family through charm and persistence. Historically important and genuinely moving.
But It's very much a product of its time: the racial stereotypes are uncomfortable, and the Lionel Barrymore subplot feels long.
Curly Top1935
Temple plays an orphan who melts the heart of a wealthy guardian. Lighter in tone than Dimples, with better choreography and a real sparkle to the performances. A template for the formula that worked.
But The plot is thinner and the emotional stakes lower. If you want substance, look elsewhere.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Dimples
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Sullivan's Travels1941
A direct philosophical defense of exactly what Dimples is: frivolous entertainment as a form of mercy for people in pain. Sturges watches the same movie and argues it's not sentimental—it's necessary.
Preston Sturges' meditation on whether art should comfort or challenge. A Hollywood director disguises himself as a hobo to understand suffering, and the film becomes a profound argument for escapism and silly musicals as moral goods. Funny, heartbreaking, essential.
But It takes a while to shift tone from screwball comedy to genuine darkness. Some find the tonal whiplash jarring rather than brilliant.
More like this (7)
Pollyanna1960
A later adaptation of the same story DNA: plucky girl inspires a jaded town through relentless optimism. Hayley Mills is wonderful and the Technicolor is gorgeous. Same spirit, different era.
But It's much longer and slower than you'd expect. The saccharine meter runs high.
Annie1982
The spiritual descendant of Temple's work: orphan girl, rich benefactor, songs that make you believe in second chances. John Huston's direction grounds the sentimentality and Carol Burnett steals every scene.
But The musical numbers can drag, and the film's optimism about capitalism feels naïve even for an adaptation of a 1924 play.
The Secret Garden1993
Another orphan-finds-family story, but with real darkness underneath. Kate Maberly brings vulnerability that Temple never needed to; the visual beauty compensates for any slowness.
But It's considerably darker and more psychologically complex than Dimples. Fans of pure sweetness might find it too austere.
Meet Me in St. Louis1944
Judy Garland in a warm, nostalgic family picture with gorgeous songs and genuine affection for its characters. Vincente Minnelli's direction is assured and the whole thing feels lived-in.
But It's not plot-driven; if you need narrative momentum, the slice-of-life approach will frustrate you.
National Velvet1945
Elizabeth Taylor as a determined girl who trains a horse for the Grand National. It has the same earnestness as Dimples but with stakes that feel real. A coming-of-age film that actually earns its sentiment.
But The horse-racing middle section is long and technical. Not everyone cares about equestrian detail.
A Little Princess1995
A lush, imaginative take on a similar premise: orphan girl survives hardship through imagination and kindness. The production design is sumptuous and the emotional beats are well-earned.
But The fantasy elements might feel uneven to those preferring grounded storytelling. The film indulges its fairy-tale logic in ways that don't always work.
Zeros and Ones2021
Both are films about loneliness in cities, but Dimples believes a child's smile can heal it while Ferrara believes the city—now digital—is designed to prevent connection. Same question, opposite answer, across nearly a century.
Abel Ferrara's experimental film about a soldier in Rome during the pandemic, shot in black-and-white digital video. Ethereum, surveillance, loneliness, the digital afterlife. A complete inversion of Dimples' faith in human connection and material warmth.
But It's deliberately fractured, didactic, and bleak. If you want narrative coherence or emotional comfort, you will find this maddening and hollow.
People
Cast
Shirley TempleDimples Appleby
Frank MorganEustace Appleby
Robert KentAllen Drew
Helen WestleyCaroline Drew
Stepin FetchitCicero
Astrid AllwynCleo Marsh
Brook ByronBetty Loring
Berton ChurchillColonel Loring
Paul StantonMr. St. Clair
Julius TannenHawkins
John CarradineRichards
Billy McClainRufus
Directing
- William A. SeiterDirector
Writing
- Arthur SheekmanScreenplay
- Nat PerrinScreenplay
Recommended by
Pigskin Parade, Curly Top, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Captain January, The Littlest Rebel, Poor Little Rich Girl, The Little Colonel, Just Around the Corner, Stowaway, Sing, Baby, Sing