The Little Princess ( 1939 film ) - wikipedia The Little Princess ( 1939 film ) The Little Princess theatrical release poster Directed by Walter Lang Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Gene Markey Screenplay by Ethel Hill Walter Ferris Based on A Little Princess 1905 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett Starring Shirley Temple Richard Greene Anita Louise Ian Hunter Arthur Treacher Cesar Romero Music by Charles Maxwell Cyril J. Mockridge Herbert W. Spencer Samuel Pokrass Cinematography Arthur C. Miller William Skall Edited by Louis Loeffler Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release date March 10, 1939 ( 1939 - 03 - 10 ) Running time 93 minutes Country United States Language English Budget over $1 million The Little Princess is a 1939 American drama film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Ethel Hill and Walter Ferris is loosely based on the novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film was the first Shirley Temple movie to be filmed completely in Technicolor. It was also her last major success as a child star. Although it maintained the novel 's Victorian London setting, the film introduced several new characters and storylines and used the Second Boer War and the Siege of Mafeking as a backdrop to the action. Temple and Arthur Treacher had a musical number together, performing the song `` Knocked ' Em in the Old Kent Road ''. Temple also appeared in an extended ballet sequence. The film 's ending was drastically different from the book. In 1968, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links Plot Play media The Little Princess ( full film ) Captain Crewe ( played by Ian Hunter ), called to fight in the Second Boer War, has to leave his daughter Sara ( Shirley Temple ) with her pony at Miss Minchin 's School for Girls. With all the money Captain Crewe can offer, Miss Minchin gives Sara a fancy, private room. Although worried about her father, Sara is distracted by riding lessons. It is during these riding lessons that Sara helps contrive meetings between Miss Rose, her teacher, and Mr. Georffrey, the riding instructor, who is also the grandson of the mean - spirited next door neighbor, Lord Wickham. Sara hears news that Mafeking is free and expects her father will soon come home. Miss Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party. During the party, Captain Crewe 's solicitor ( E.E. Clive ) arrives with the sad news that Captain Crewe has died and his real estate, the basis for his wealth, has been confiscated. Miss Minchin ends Sara 's party abruptly. Without her father 's financial support, Sara becomes a servant, now working at the school she used to attend. Sara gains new solace in a friendship with Ram Dass ( Cesar Romero ) who lives next door. She also receives support from Miss Minchin 's brother, Hubert, who does not agree with her treatment. Miss Rose and Mr. Geoffrey are found out and fired. Geoffrey joins the military. In her new role Sara gets hungrier and more tired from her arduous duties and sneaks off to Veterans Hospitals, convinced her father is not dead. After a string of episodes including a performance of the film 's most well - known song `` Knocked ' em in the Old Kent Road '', Sara is at her wits end. Things start to worse, however, when Sara gets into an argument with Miss Minchin, who can not tolerate her faith in believing her father is still alive and tries forcing her to face reality. She later receives taunting from Lavinia ( Marcia Mae Jones ) the next day, eventually causing her to lose her temper and dump ashes on her. Miss Minchin arrives in the attic to punish Sara for `` hurting '' Lavinia. She discovers blankets that Ram Dass left Sara, assumes they are stolen, and locks her in the attic, calling the police. Sara escapes and runs to the hospital with Minchin in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, the hospital is preparing to transfer a newly arrived patient, who is unable to communicate except to repeatedly say, `` Sara, Sara '' ; it is Captain Crewe, but `` his papers have been lost '' and no one knows who he is. Sara is initially barred from entering the hospital but sneaks in, only to burst in upon a visit by Queen Victoria, who grants her permission to search for her father. During her search, she is reunited with a wounded Mr. Geoffrey and Miss Rose. Sara searches the wards unsuccessfully, but happens upon her father as she hides from Miss Minchin and the police. Miss Minchin, who pursued Sara to the hospital, is appalled that her brother thinks Sara is innocent. A staff member announces Sara has found her father, Miss Minchin exclaims : `` Captain Crewe is alive ? ! '' to which her brother retorts, `` Of course he 's alive ! How could she find him if he was n't alive ? '' The film ends with Sara helping her father stand as the Queen departs. Cast Shirley Temple as Sara Crewe Richard Greene as Geoffrey Hamilton Anita Louise as Rose Ian Hunter as Captain Crewe Cesar Romero as Ram Dass Arthur Treacher as Hubert ' Bertie ' Minchin Mary Nash as Amanda Minchin Sybil Jason as Becky Miles Mander as Lord Wickham Marcia Mae Jones as Lavinia Deidre Gale as Jessie Ira Stevens as Ermengarde E.E. Clive as Mr. Barrows Beryl Mercer as Queen Victoria Eily Malyon as Cook Clyde Cook as Attendant Keith Kenneth as Bobbie Will Stanton as a Groom Harry Allen as a Groom Holmes Herbert as a Doctor Evan Thomas as a Doctor Guy Bellis as a Doctor Kenneth Hunter as General Lionel Braham as Colonel Source : Production Birthday party scene. Shirley Temple and Arthur Treacher After filming was completed, Daryl Zanuck of Fox requested additional scenes shot totalling $300,000 pushing the cost over $1 million. This made the movie the most expensive Shirley Temple film to date. As part of the preparation for the movie, great pains were taken to make sure every aspect of it was true to 1899 and England, the time period and setting of the story. Props such as the doll had to be to the exact specifications of a doll made at that time. Clothing also had to be precise. Production was held up after it was discovered that one of the costumes Temple wore used snap fasteners that were not invented until 1908. During the scene where Temple dumps ashes on Marcia Mae Jones ' character, the original plan was to do it in one take. Temple, however, who was angry about the attention received by Sybil Jason in a previous scene, wanted to repeat it after the first take, likely just to `` let off steam, '' but when she asked Director Lang for a second ash - dump take, he said it was not necessary. For the ballet dance scene, Temple was trained by ballet dance instructor Ernest Belcher. Temple rented her pony Spunky to the studio to simply lie down in the stall. The artificial green coloration of the straw ( which was green so it would show better In Technicolor ) however caused the pony to become restless and resulted in him being removed and Temple losing his appearance fee. As a way of fitting in with the rest of the crew, Temple wanted to have her own punch card for punching in and out of work for the day and was initially rebuffed. The director Lang eventually relented and gave her a card to use. IBM caught word of Temple 's enthusiasm and provided a special custom made punch card recorder embossed with her name along with punch cards with her photo on them. The machine sat unused while Temple continued using the regular machine. Her time cards were likewise ignored by the studio payroll person. Reception According to Variety, `` Transposition of the Frances Hodgson Burnett several - generation favorite, Sara Crewe, is accomplished most successfully. The fairy - tale story is still saccharine to the nth degree, but once the basic premise is established, it rolls along acceptably. And, while the story has been changed for screen purposes, the general line is close enough. '' Benjamin R. Crisler, who reviewed the film when it opened in New York City at Roxy Theatre, said `` With any other child on earth, it is amazing to reflect, The Little Princess would stand out as one of the most glaring exhibits of pure hokum in screen history ; with Mistress Temple, it may very well be, as Mr. Zanuck unflinchingly proclaims, the greatest picture with which Mr. Zanuck has ever been associated. '' Janet Maslin, writing for The New York Times 44 years later, on the occasion of its VHS release by Media Home Entertainment, called it `` antiquated enough to seem charming '' and concludes `` ( t ) he movie 's music, its corny but likable histrionics and its rousing patriotism ( it was made in 1939 ) culminate in a happy ending sure to make even grown - up viewers cry. '' References Notes ^ Jump up to : Up Budgets In Quality Film Drive, The Washington Post ( 1923 - 1954 ) ( Washington, D.C ) 03 Jan 1939 : 14 ^ Jump up to : `` The Little Princess ''. Variety. 1939. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ Landazuri, Margarita. `` The Little Princess ''. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ Pierce, David ( June 2007 ). `` Forgotten Faces : Why Some of Our Cinema Heritage Is Part of the Public Domain ''. Film History : An International Journal. 19 ( 2 ) : 125 -- 43. doi : 10.2979 / FIL. 2007.19. 2.125. ISSN 0892 - 2160. JSTOR 25165419. OCLC 15122313. Jump up ^ Crisler, Benjamin R. ( March 11, 1939 ). `` James Cagney Rides the Plains in Oklahoma Kid at the Strand -- Shirley Temple Film at the Roxy ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 30. Jump up ^ Shirley Temple Black, `` Child Star : An Autobiography '' ( New York : McGraw - Hill Publishing Company, 1988 ), 252 - 253. Jump up ^ Shirley Temple Black, `` Child Star : An Autobiography '' ( New York : McGraw - Hill Publishing Company, 1988 ), 255. Jump up ^ Shirley Temple Black, `` Child Star : An Autobiography '' ( New York : McGraw - Hill Publishing Company, 1988 ), 257 - 258,260. Note -- Black also states that in filming a scene where she was to pick up a small monkey belonging to Cesar Romero 's character, the monkey was startled and bit her, causing her to get a tetanus shot. Black 's recollection is mistaken : the monkey scene was in her earlier film, Heidi. Romero 's character in Little Princess had a colorful pet bird, a macaw, not a monkey. Both films had some of the same actors, likely explaining the mistaken memory. Jump up ^ Shirley Temple Black, `` Child Star : An Autobiography '' ( New York : McGraw - Hill Publishing Company, 1988 ), 254. Jump up ^ Maslin, Janet ( November 13, 1983 ). `` The Little Princess ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012 - 07 - 30. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Little Princess ( 1939 film ). The Little Princess on IMDb The Little Princess is available for free download at the Internet Archive The Little Princess at AllMovie The Little Princess at the TCM Movie Database The Little Princess at the American Film Institute Catalog Frances Hodgson Burnett 's A Little Princess ( 1905 ) Film The Little Princess ( 1917, silent ) The Little Princess ( 1939 ) A Little Princess ( 1995 ) Sarah... Ang Munting Prinsesa ( 1995, in Filipino ) TV series A Little Princess ( 1973 ) Princess Sarah ( 1985, in Japanese ) episodes A Little Princess ( 1986 ) Princess Sarah ( 2007, in Filipino ) Strain : Strategic Armored Infantry ( 2006 ) Shōkōjo Seira 2009, in Japanese ) `` The Penniless Princess '' ( 2012 ) Other A Little Princess ( musical ) Films directed by Walter Lang The Red Kimono ( 1925 ) The Earth Woman ( 1926 ) The Golden Web ( 1926 ) Money to Burn ( 1926 ) The Ladybird ( 1927 ) The Satin Woman ( 1927 ) Sally in Our Alley ( 1927 ) By Whose Hand ? ( 1927 ) The College Hero ( 1927 ) The Night Flyer ( 1928 ) The Desert Bride ( 1928 ) The Spirit of Youth ( 1929 ) Hello Sister ( 1930 ) Cock o ' the Walk ( 1930 ) The Big Fight ( 1930 ) The Costello Case ( 1930 ) Brothers ( 1930 ) Command Performance ( 1931 ) Hell Bound ( 1931 ) Women Go on Forever ( 1931 ) No More Orchids ( 1932 ) The Warrior 's Husband ( 1933 ) Meet the Baron ( 1933 ) Whom the Gods Destroy ( 1934 ) The Party 's Over ( 1934 ) The Mighty Barnum ( 1934 ) Carnival ( 1935 ) Hooray for Love ( 1935 ) Love Before Breakfast ( 1936 ) Top of the Town ( 1937 ) Wife, Doctor and Nurse ( 1937 ) Second Honeymoon ( 1937 ) The Baroness and the Butler ( 1938 ) I 'll Give a Million ( 1938 ) The Little Princess ( 1939 ) Susannah of the Mounties ( 1939 ) The Blue Bird ( 1940 ) Star Dust ( 1940 ) The Great Profile ( 1940 ) Tin Pan Alley ( 1940 ) Moon Over Miami ( 1941 ) Week - End in Havana ( 1941 ) Song of the Islands ( 1942 ) The Magnificent Dope ( 1942 ) Coney Island ( 1943 ) Greenwich Village ( 1944 ) State Fair ( 1945 ) Claudia and David ( 1946 ) Sentimental Journey ( 1946 ) Mother Wore Tights ( 1947 ) Sitting Pretty ( 1948 ) When My Baby Smiles at Me ( 1948 ) You 're My Everything ( 1949 ) Cheaper by the Dozen ( 1950 ) The Jackpot ( 1950 ) On the Riviera ( 1951 ) With a Song in My Heart ( 1952 ) Call Me Madam ( 1953 ) There 's No Business Like Show Business ( 1954 ) The King and I ( 1956 ) Desk Set ( 1957 ) But Not for Me ( 1959 ) Can - Can ( 1960 ) The Marriage - Go - Round ( 1961 ) Snow White and the Three Stooges ( 1961 ) Darryl F. Zanuck Producer Old San Francisco ( 1927 ) The First Auto ( 1927 ) The Jazz Singer ( 1927 ) Tenderloin ( 1928 ) The Show of Shows ( 1929 ) Three Faces East ( 1930 ) The Doorway to Hell ( 1931 ) Little Caesar ( 1931 ) Illicit ( 1931 ) The Public Enemy ( 1931 ) The Man Who Played God ( 1932 ) The Rich Are Always with Us ( 1932 ) Doctor X ( 1932 ) Life Begins ( 1932 ) The Cabin in the Cotton ( 1932 ) Three on a Match ( 1932 ) 20,000 Years in Sing Sing ( 1932 ) Parachute Jumper ( 1933 ) 42nd Street ( 1933 ) The Working Man ' ( 1933 ) Ex-Lady ( 1933 ) The Bowery ( 1933 ) Blood Money ( 1933 ) Moulin Rouge ( 1934 ) Looking for Trouble ( 1934 ) Born to Be Bad ( 1934 ) Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back ( 1934 ) The Mighty Barnum ( 1934 ) Folies Bergère de Paris ( 1935 ) Les Misérables ( 1935 ) Cardinal Richelieu ( 1935 ) Call of the Wild ( 1935 ) Metropolitan ( 1935 ) Thanks a Million ( 1935 ) The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo ( 1935 ) Professional Soldier ( 1935 ) The Prisoner of Shark Island ( 1936 ) It Had to Happen ( 1936 ) A Message to Garcia ( 1936 ) Under Two Flags ( 1936 ) The Road to Glory ( 1936 ) Poor Little Rich Girl ( 1936 ) Sing, Baby, Sing ( 1936 ) Pigskin Parade ( 1936 ) Seventh Heaven ( 1937 ) Slave Ship ( 1937 ) Wee Willie Winkie ( 1937 ) Wake Up and Live ( 1937 ) Thin Ice ( 1937 ) Lancer Spy ( 1937 ) In Old Chicago ( 1938 ) Happy Landing ( 1938 ) International Settlement ( 1938 ) Kentucky Moonshine Always Goodbye ( 1938 ) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ( 1938 ) Just Around the Corner ( 1938 ) Little Miss Broadway ( 1938 ) My Lucky Star ( 1938 ) Submarine Patrol ( 1938 ) Jesse James ( 1939 ) Tail Spin ( 1939 ) Wife, Husband and Friend ( 1939 ) The Story of Alexander Graham Bell ( 1939 ) Rose of Washington Square ( 1939 ) Stanley and Livingstone ( 1939 ) The Rains Came ( 1939 ) Hollywood Cavalcade ( 1939 ) Swanee River ( 1939 ) The Little Princess ( 1939 ) The Grapes of Wrath ( 1940 ) Little Old New York ( 1940 ) The Man I Married ( 1940 ) The Return of Frank James ( 1940 ) Brigham Young ( 1940 ) Down Argentine Way ( 1940 ) The Mark of Zorro ( 1940 ) Hudson 's Bay ( 1941 ) Tobacco Road ( 1941 ) The Great American Broadcast ( 1941 ) Blood and Sand ( 1941 ) A Yank in the R.A.F. ( 1941 ) How Green Was My Valley ( 1942 ) Son of Fury : The Story of Benjamin Blake ( 1942 ) Sex Hygiene ( Short ) ( 1942 ) To the Shores of Tripoli ( 1942 ) This Above All ( 1942 ) Thunder Birds ( 1942 ) The Purple Heart ( 1944 ) Wilson ( 1944 ) Winged Victory ( 1944 ) The Razor 's Edge ( 1946 ) Gentleman 's Agreement ( 1947 ) Fury at Furnace Creek ( 1948 ) The Snake Pit ( 1948 ) Pinky ( 1949 ) Twelve O'Clock High ( 1949 ) No Way Out ( 1950 ) All About Eve ( 1950 ) David and Bathsheba ( 1951 ) People Will Talk ( 1951 ) Viva Zapata ! ( 1952 ) The Snows of Kilimanjaro ( 1952 ) The Egyptian ( 1954 ) The View from Pompey 's Head ( 1955 ) The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit ( 1956 ) Island in the Sun ( 1957 ) The Sun Also Rises ( 1957 ) The Roots of Heaven ( 1958 ) Crack in the Mirror ( 1960 ) Sanctuary ( 1961 ) The Big Gamble ( 1961 ) The Longest Day ( 1962 ) The Chapman Report ( 1962 ) The Visit ( 1964 ) Writer as Mark Canfield The Desired Woman ( 1927 ) ( story ) Maybe It 's Love ( 1930 ) Baby Face ( 1933 ) ( story ) Crack in the Mirror ( 1960 ) as Melville Crossman Tenderloin ( story ) ( 1928 ) State Street Sadie ( story ) ( 1928 ) Thanks a Million ( story ) ( 1935 ) A Yank in the R.A.F. ( story ) ( 1941 ) Thunder Birds ( original story ) ( 1942 ) China Girl ( story ) ( 1942 ) The Purple Heart ( story ) ( 1944 ) as Gregory Rogers Find Your Man ( Rin Tin Tin story ) ( 1924 ) The Lighthouse by the Sea ( Rin Tin Tin story ) ( 1924 ) Three Weeks in Paris ( story, screenplay as Darryl Zanuck ) ( 1925 ) The Midnight Taxi ( story ) ( 1928 ) as self A Broadway Butterfly ( 1925 ) Red Hot Tires ( 1925 ) Hogan 's Alley ( 1925 ) The Caveman ( scenario ) ( 1926 ) The Little Irish Girl ( adaptation ) ( 1926 ) The Social Highwayman ( 1926 ) Footloose Widows ( 1926 ) Across the Pacific ( adaptation ) ( 1926 ) The Better ' Ole ( screenplay ) ( 1926 ) Tracked by the Police ( Rin Tin Tin story ) ( 1927 ) Old San Francisco ( 1927 ) The First Auto ( story ) ( 1927 ) Good Time Charley ( story ) ( 1927 ) Noah 's Ark ( story ) ( 1928 ) My Man ( story ) ( 1928 ) Hardboiled Rose ( story ) ( 1929 ) Madonna of Avenue A ( story ) ( 1929 ) Say It with Songs ( story ) ( 1929 ) The Life of the Party ( 1930 ) Little Caesar ( story -- uncredited ) ( 1931 ) The Dark Horse ( story ) ( 1932 ) Lady Killer ( story -- uncredited ) ( 1933 ) Folies Bergère de Paris ( contributing writer -- uncredited ) ( 1935 ) G Men ( story ) ( 1935 ) This Is My Affair ( story -- uncredited ) ( 1937 ) Alexander 's Ragtime Band ( contributing writer -- uncredited ) ( 1938 ) The Great Profile ( story -- uncredited ) ( 1940 ) Ten Gentlemen from West Point ( 1942 ) People Virginia Fox ( wife ) Richard D. Zanuck ( son ) Dean Zanuck ( grandson ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Little_Princess_(1939_film)&oldid=856931527 '' Categories : 1939 films English - language films 20th Century Fox films Aftermath of war American films Films based on A Little Princess Films directed by Walter Lang Films set in London Films set in the 1900s Films about educators American drama films Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on film Hidden categories : Film articles using image size parameter Articles with Internet Archive links Articles containing video clips Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Українська 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 August 2018, at 13 : 17 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who plays miss minchin in a little princess
Answer: Mary Nash