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Cinema

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Venice Classics
Director:
Allan Dwan
Production:
20th Century Fox
Running Time:
81’
Language:
English
Country:
USA
Year:
1938
Main Cast:
Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, Jack Haley, Gloria Stuart, Phyllis Brooks, Helen Westley, Slim Summerville, Bill Robinson William, Demarest
Screenplay:
Karl Tunberg Don Ettlinger
Cinematographer:
Arthur C. Miller
Editor:
Allen McNeil
Production Designer:
Bernard Herzbrun, Hans Peters
Costume Designer:
Gwen Wakeling
Music:
Mack Gordon, Arthur Lange, Sidney D. Mitchell, Samuel Pokrass, Lew Pollack, Harry Revel, Raymond Scott, Jack Yellen
Sound:
Roger Heman Sr., George Leverett
Restoration:
Walt Disney Studios, The Film Foundation
From the novel:Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Laboratory:Cineric Inc. (image), Audio Mechanics (audio)

Synopsis

When orphan Rebecca auditions for a radio show and doesn’t get the job, her stepfather takes her to live with her Aunt Miranda, owner of Sunnybrook Farm. But the show’s talent agent was all set to hire Rebecca and begins to search frantically for the missing youngster - unaware the pint-sized radio star lives right next door!

Critic's Note

Shirley Temple’s child career provides an ideal opportunity to study child stardom because Twentieth-Century Fox made three films in five years in which she not only plays the role of a child star, but also a slightly veiled version of herself: Poor Little Rich Girl (1936), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and Young People (1940).
These self-reflexive films work to manage discourse about Temple in order to maintain her youthfulness and, hence, prolong her stardom, which was inevitably short-lived. These films mediate how audiences perceive Temple’s image and career, and they follow a biographical trajectory: from a young child who just thinks she is playing when performing (Poor Little Rich Girl), to a seasoned performer at her peak (Sunnybrook), to a retiring star trying to assimilate into the everyday life of a normal child (Young People) [...] Sunnybrook and Young People demonstrate how unbending a star persona can be, even though both films attempt to respond and adjust to her physical and professional development. These two movies take one step forward and one step back; meanwhile, Temple not only grows up, but outgrows her fixed persona.
Chad R. Newsom, Film Criticism, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Spring, 2015), pp. 6-25.

Production/Distribution

PRODUCTION: Angela Barto, Kevin Schaeffer, Nikki Jee, Natalie Altounian – Walt Disney Studios
500, S. Buena Vista Street
91521 – Burbank, United States of America
Tel. +1 8185607664
kevin.m.schaeffer@disney.com

RESTORATION CURATED BY: Angela Barto, Kevin Schaeffer, Nikki Jee, Natalie Altounian – Walt Disney Studios
500, S. Buena Vista Street
91521 – Burbank, United States of America
Tel. +1 8185607664
kevin.m.schaeffer@disney.com

Margaret Bodde, Jennifer Ahn, Kristen Merola – The Film Foundation
7920, Sunset Blvd. 2nd Floor
90046 – Los Angeles, United States of America
Tel. +1 3234365060
kmerola@film-foundation.org
http://www.film-foundation.org

LABORATORY: Image - Cineric Inc. Audio - Audio Mechanics

WORLD SALES: Forman Jeffrey – Walt Disney Studios 500, S. Buena Vista Street
91521 – Burbank, United States of America
Tel. +1 8185606983
jeffrey.forman@disney.com

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Forman Jeffrey – Walt Disney Studios
500, S. Buena Vista Street
91521 – Burbank, United States of America
Tel. +1 8185606983
jeffrey.forman@disney.com

PRESS OFFICE: Sara Chadwell – Walt Disney Studios
500, S. Buena Vista Street
91521 – Burbank, United States of America
sara.chadwell@disney.com


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Biennale Cinema
Biennale Cinema