The Littlest Rebel

The Littlest Rebel is a 1935 American musical drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Edwin J. Burke was adapted from a play of the same name by Edward Peple.

Cast

 * Shirley Temple as Virgie Cary
 * John Boles as Herbert Cary
 * Jack Holt as Colonel Morrison
 * Karen Morley as Mrs. Cary
 * Guinn Williams as Sergeant Dudley
 * Frank McGlynn Sr. as President Abraham Lincoln
 * Bill Robinson as Uncle Billy
 * Willie Best as James Henry
 * Bessie Lyle as Mammy Rosabelle
 * Hannah Washington as Sally Ann
 * Karl Hackett as John Hay (uncredited)
 * Jack Mower as Yankee Lt. Hart (uncredited)

Production
The slingshot scene was written into the movie by screenwriter Edwin Burke after he learned of Temple's natural ability to use the slingshot. She was perfectly on target and needed only one take for the scene. Temple made international headlines when in the context of trying to keep noisy doves on the prison set (which the director explained did not belong in war) she asked "Why doesn't someone make Mussolini stop?" Someone overheard her comment and it made it into the newspapers, angering Mussolini.

Upon release
Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a mildly poor review, explaining that he had "expected there [would be] the usual sentimental exploitation of childhood", but that he "had not expected [Temple's] tremendous energy" which he criticized as "a little too enervating".

Modern criticism
Bill Gibron, of the Online Film Critics Society, wrote: "The racism present in The Littlest Rebel, The Little Colonel and Dimples is enough to warrant a clear critical caveat." However, Gibron, echoing most film critics who continue to see value in Temple's work despite the racism that is present in some of it, also wrote: "Thankfully, the talent at the center of these troubling takes is still worthwhile for some, anyway."

Adaptations
The Littlest Rebel was dramatized as an hour-long radio play on the October 14, 1940 broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre, with Shirley Temple and Claude Rains.