A few words about…™ Little Miss Marker (1934) – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

By the time Little Miss Marker was shot in February and March of 1934, the youngster who played the marker had already appeared 21 features and shorts. She was four and a half years old. Between that time and 1942, Shirley Temple appeared in 25 films.

She began her teen career in 1944 with Since You Went Away, and continued into 1949 with A Kiss for Corliss.

Little Miss Marker is one of the early quintessential Temple films, and I wish I could relate that it has survived in pristine condition, but if the new Blu-ray from Kino is the best source...

There is a nitrate 35 at UCLA, which should provide a better source, but who knows.

The surviving pre-print is problematic. While I've not viewed the entire film, the imagery is extremely grainy, with an overall digital appearance. It also looks as though either the fine grain produced from the OCN, or the resultant dupe neg had problems as the first reel is out of focus on the left side.

All of this points to the delicacy of the cinema art and the danger that we face in attempting to preserve the films of the past.

This is a sweet and wonderful film that deserves your attention, but I hope it will survive in better form.

Image –2. 5

Audio – 3.5 (Monaural)

Pass / Fail – Fail

Works up-rezzed to 4k - No

Upgrade from DVD - No

Recommended

RAH


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[Dick]

Too bad...I was looking forward to it. A rare Kino misfire, and one I will pass on. Would they be apt to try reissuing this from a better source if sales aren't good, or scrap that idea for exactly the same reason?

 

[Robert Harris]

Too bad...I was looking forward to it. A rare Kino misfire, and one I will pass on. Would they be apt to try reissuing this from a better source if sales aren't good, or scrap that idea for exactly the same reason?

I’d not reject this as the current element is all that’s in the system. Kino can only release what the studio has. And presumably inherited by Universal via EMKA.

 

[moviepas]

Shirley Temple's first teenage film was, in fact, Edward Small's Miss Annie Rooney in 1942. A colorized VHS had even been issued. A 20s film for Mary Pickford, Fox later had bought this comic strip story for Jane Withers that morphed into Ginger(1935). The Marker song, Son of a Gun, is sung by Shirley with young actress Dorothy Dell (19?) who had dated a pretender to Bing Crosby's throne, Russ Columbo. Dorothy was killed in car crash around that time and Columbo also died by a gunshot would soon after but no connection. Dorothy might be related to me somehow as she is from the same Scottish clan as I am but I have not gone into it.

 

[timk1041]

I’d not reject this as the current element is all that’s in the system. Kino can only release what the studio has. And presumably inherited by Universal via EMKA.

Since I never got the DVD of this, I will still pick it up when it's on the next Kino sale. I already have the blu of "Now and Forever".

 

[filmnoirguy]

Shirley Temple's first teenage film was, in fact, Edward Small's Miss Annie Rooney in 1942. A colorized VHS had even been issued. A 20s film for Mary Pickford, Fox later had bought this comic strip story for Jane Withers that morphed into Ginger(1935). The Marker song, Son of a Gun, is sung by Shirley with young actress Dorothy Dell (19?) who had dated a pretender to Bing Crosby's throne, Russ Columbo. Dorothy was killed in car crash around that time and Columbo also died by a gunshot would soon after but no connection. Dorothy might be related to me somehow as she is from the same Scottish clan as I am but I have not gone into it.

I recently saw a 21 year old Shirley Temple starring with Clifton Webb in 1949's Mr. Belvedere Goes to College. Shirley matches wits with freshman Webb as a journalism co-ed who threatens to expose him for who he is by writing a magazine article about him. Good fun all the way.

 

[RobertMG]

Shirley Temple's first teenage film was, in fact, Edward Small's Miss Annie Rooney in 1942. A colorized VHS had even been issued. A 20s film for Mary Pickford, Fox later had bought this comic strip story for Jane Withers that morphed into Ginger(1935). The Marker song, Son of a Gun, is sung by Shirley with young actress Dorothy Dell (19?) who had dated a pretender to Bing Crosby's throne, Russ Columbo. Dorothy was killed in car crash around that time and Columbo also died by a gunshot would soon after but no connection. Dorothy might be related to me somehow as she is from the same Scottish clan as I am but I have not gone into it.

Shirley had gotten close to Ms Dell and took her loss very badly I have never seen Charles Bickford in a bad role

 

[Capt D McMars]

The two Shirley Temple titles missing for me are The Little Princess (1939) and The Bluebird of Happiness (1940), both shot in amazing Technicolor.