Heidi

Rating:
Summary: Heidi-low ... Charge Fox with Child Neglect
Review: "Heidi" is a charming film, and one of Shirley Temple's best star vehicles. It was originally released in 1937, near the end of Temple's long reign as the Number One box office attraction in America. In addition to a captivating performance by Miss Temple in the title role, it features excellent supporting turns from Jean Hersholt as the Grandfather, and the wonderful character actress Mary Nash as Temple's vitriolic adult nemesis (she also did a masterful job of menacing poor Shirley in the 1939 version of "The Little Princess"). Give the movie ****1/2 for its endearing sentimentality and lush production.

But rate the DVD an utter BOMB, and a dud at that. Fox Home Video offers two versions of the film on this disc, neither one of which is an acceptable transfer of this fondly-remembered and eagerly-anticipated release. One is the wretched "colorized" version that was released during that dreadful time in film history when modern businessmen dared to tamper with the classic artistry of bona fide filmmakers from the Golden Era (an experiment which critics and consumers alike rejected ... how many black and white classics are being colorized today?). The other version offered on the DVD is a substandard transfer of a very poor black and white print that is an insult to consumers. It doesn't do the original film justice, and more importantly, it's NOT the best print currently available. I predict that in a couple of years, Fox will offer a "newly restored" edition, and make the public buy this title once again to get an improved copy that should be available NOW. (Can you say, "Disney's 'Little Mermaid'"?)

I recommend you wait, and hold on to your money. Do not encourage studios by purchasing whatever inferior product they toss into the marketplace. This DVD is an insult to both Miss Temple whose box office popularity saved 20th Century-Fox from ruin during the depths of the Depression, and to the public who wishes to enjoy her unique talents on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Heidi-low ... Charge Fox with Child Neglect
Review: "Heidi" is a charming film, and one of Shirley Temple's best star vehicles. It was originally released in 1937, near the end of Temple's long reign as the Number One box office attraction in America. In addition to a captivating performance by Miss Temple in the title role, it features excellent supporting turns from Jean Hersholt as the Grandfather, and the wonderful character actress Mary Nash as Temple's vitriolic adult nemesis (she also did a masterful job of menacing poor Shirley in the 1939 version of "The Little Princess"). Give the movie ****1/2 for its endearing sentimentality and lush production.

But rate the DVD an utter BOMB, and a dud at that. Fox Home Video offers two versions of the film on this disc, neither one of which is an acceptable transfer of this fondly-remembered and eagerly-anticipated release. One is the wretched "colorized" version that was released during that dreadful time in film history when modern businessmen dared to tamper with the classic artistry of bona fide filmmakers from the Golden Era (an experiment which critics and consumers alike rejected ... how many black and white classics are being colorized today?). The other version offered on the DVD is a substandard transfer of a very poor black and white print that is an insult to consumers. It doesn't do the original film justice, and more importantly, it's NOT the best print currently available. I predict that in a couple of years, Fox will offer a "newly restored" edition, and make the public buy this title once again to get an improved copy that should be available NOW. (Can you say, "Disney's 'Little Mermaid'"?)

I recommend you wait, and hold on to your money. Do not encourage studios by purchasing whatever inferior product they toss into the marketplace. This DVD is an insult to both Miss Temple whose box office popularity saved 20th Century-Fox from ruin during the depths of the Depression, and to the public who wishes to enjoy her unique talents on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, bad DVD.
Review: "Heidi" is one of my favourite Shirley Temple movies, so I was thrilled when it was released on DVD. But after playing it, I'm not happy.

I can't stand the colourized versions, so I was excited to find that the DVD included the black and white version as well. However, the quality of the black and white version is so poor, I suspect they may have just "un-colourized" the colour version and tried to pass it off as the original black and white.

In this day and age, there is no excuse for the picture quality of a DVD to be this bad. You would also think that there would be a better process for colourizing by now. There is a black and white VHS edition of this movie that I am considering buying for my collection... I really would have preferred a DVD, but this release is just not good enough.

Rating:
Summary: Miserable mis-rendering!
Review: As one who finds Johanna Spyri's "Heidi" to be one of the best children's books, I find this transition to melodrama dreadful, and totally untrue to the book's text. The independent Heidi, whose warmth and faith are such that she is fearless and completely kind, is reduced to a picture book moppet. Worse yet, characters such as Dete and Fraulein Rottenmeir, who, in the book, are respectively rather self-centred and puzzled at the lower class child, are depicted as totally wicked - ready to sell Heidi to the gypsies! Clara, who in the original is disabled more because of her elders' fear and over-protectiveness than because of her unnamed illness, now is the target of a wicked governess who has a financial interest in keeping her ill and weak.

This dreadful film is suited only to those who are die hard fans of Shirley Temple.

Rating:
Summary: Heidi: Shirley Shows Us that Childhood is in All of Us
Review: For the brief space of perhaps a half dozen years, Shirley Temple,with her songs, curls, dance steps, and tears, alone of dozens of child stars, managed to bring adult America back to their respective childhoods. Shirley had the unique talent to make us remember both the joys and terrors of childhood. In HEIDI, director Allan Dwan totally involves the audience in the most primal of all childhood fears--the loss of a loving parent. Shirley is Heidi, an orphan who is placed in the care of Adolf, the village curmudgeon who has the well-deserved reputation of insisting on his solitude. She is dumped on his doorstep, and stares up at this huge,white bearded giant who is her grandfather. She sees what the villagers do not: a man torn apart by incessant loneliness and hides behind his fears using surliness as a shield. She knows that her childish goodness will eventually pierce his self-imposed armor. They grow close, and you can see his layers of solitude slowly peel away. The joy that Heidi feels, her grandfather feels, and so do you. There is nothing corny nor saccharine about the tears of happiness that well in the eye. By the middle of the film, joy reverts to loss, then to the terror that always results when a comfortable childhood is ripped away by a snarling witch who, in turn, delivers her to an even more frightening harpy. The witch is Heidi's Aunt Dete (Mady Christians), who seeks only to turn a fast buck by selling her to a wealthy family who needs a healthy little girl to be the playmate of a crippled, but decent child Klara (Marcia Mae Jones). When Heidi is brought to Klara's house, she thinks it is only for a visit, but the audience knows better, and this dramatic irony sets up a confrontation between Heidi and a harpy who ought to rank somewhere in the top two as the nastiest reincarnation of every child's nightmare of the inverse of the more traditional maternal earth mother. This defeminized horror is Fraulein Rottenmeir (Mary Nash), who seems to exist only to torment innocent girls. As this Fraulein goes about her errands of misery, the effect on the viewer is to remind him of a series of fears about a pervasiveness of evil that he might have thought he had long since forgotten. In fact, it is this ability of this movie to resurrect the entire spectrum of childhood angst mixed with an equal dose of childhood wonder that imbues it with a timeless wonder that even now can change a scoffing adult to a whimpering child. By the movie's end, the viewer has run the same gamut of emotions as had Heidi. Her interactions with the grandfather, Fraulein Rottenmeir, Klara, and Aunt Dete were the viewer's reactions as well. At the end, the tears of joy have been tempered with the sad knowledge that joy and sorrow occupy the opposite ends of the human emotional chasm.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Shirley Temple Movies
Review: Good story. Shirley was mature and great in acting. Once could actually cry seeing this movie.

Rating:
Summary: "The Story of a Grandfather and Grandaughter"
Review: Heidi is an excellent film, of course starring Shirley Temple as the witty Heidi, about a young orphaned girl who is sent away by her mean aunt to live with her strict and stern, but loveable, grandfather in the Alps. The film consists of many hilarious moments, like when Heidi is learning to milk a goat and when she tries to yodel in the village. My favorite scene is when Heidi asks her Grandfather to tell her a story. He reads her a story about a little Dutch girl with a pair of wooden shoes. The story comes alive and Shirley plays the little Dutch girl. The movie is excellent for young children and for people who loved the novel, to me, the picture is much better. The scenery is spectacular for being a 1937 film and the costume designs bring you into the time of Heidi. No Shirley Temple collection is complete without Heidi!

Rating:
Summary: It's Okay....
Review: I didn't see anything totally special or touching about this movie. The Alps don't even look that pretty. If you want to see the best Heidi I suggest watching the 1993 version of it.

Rating:
Summary: Shirley ***Sparkles***
Review: I have numberous complaints from various fans and friends about the quality of the DVD and I am in an uproar with FOX who really owe Shirley's fans better since, Shirley Temple is still a money maker and her movies are enjoyed worldwide-- I see it's no longer avaible so I'm only hoping that they plan to re-release it not poor quality this time. But, if you still want to see Shirley in Heidi which you should I recommend the VHS version I own it and find no problem with the quality of the tape and the picture is perfect.

Shirley sparkles in this movie taken as her age and value depreciated. The story will always remain a classic and in this version of Heidi it does not stick entirely to the story but, enough still to make it interesting. Jean Hearsholt does a wonderful job as the Grandfather who becomes charmed and beloved by Heidi. Shirley also does wonderful as the spunky cheerful natured girl who melts Hearsholt's heart. Stunning scenry and decent dialogue make this movie worth owning! My cousins love it and we watch it over and over again we get a little frightened when Shirley is almost sold to the gypsies... but, we love the scene in which Heidi begs the police not to take her away from her grandfather you see all that talent and acting shine through! And I hate to admit it but, I almost cry each time!

This is the movie I watch again and again... one of Shirley's better movies despite the fact it only has one song really "In Our Little Wooden Shoes." This has all the charm and wonderful beauty of a Shirley film, it also manages to be a good holiday film as well. A classic for all fans of the book and a keeper for all old movie and Shirley fans!

Rating:
Summary: Color Version was first rate all the way!
Review: I just purchased the DVD tonight after looking for it for some time. It was well worth the money. While I can't say anything at all for the black and white version I can say that the colorized one was very good - next to excellent.
I did however review the black and white promo for the film and it was very bad - sad. I wonder if the black and white film was as bad as someone had mentioned? He should get a better DVD player or just watch it in color and stop crying like a baby... get REAL!
The color in a few situations (times) did seem to flutter some
but when you consider the age of the film and all who can truly complain? Its sad that films with this heart and true feeling aren't made anymore. The demand is still there but Hollywood has forgotten what it means to take the time to make a lasting film that will stand the tests of time as this one has....
All actors were surperb in their unique roles. I espcially enjoyed the antics of the Grandfather and his gruff ways and the befuddled expressions on the butler Arthur Treacher... the old woman that overlooked the care of the young girl was a true classic too.
Does she need a girls night out or what? Talk about your biddies!
I can't help but wonder.... was this Arthur Treacher guy anyway associated with a fast food (seafood) place of the same name?
I guess maybe its just my wild imagination running loose again....