The cast in this movie were all wonderful, but Ashley Rose Orr far outshines them all. She was adorable and she truly captured Shirley in her performance. She may not have been Shirley's twin but she did wonderful playing her as on screen and off screen Shirley. Loved the dance scenes. The girl who played Shirley at age 3 was absolutely adorable. I didn't care much for the older Shirley, played by Emily Hart. She looked nothing like Shirley or even Ashley Rose Orr. Emily would be better in more modern movies. A better older Shirley could have been found, or I think Ashley Rose Orr could have done it fine with some help from makeup and hair, etc. Overall Ashley Rose Orr was very entertaining and I'd love to see her on the screen again, whether big screen or small screen!

The beautifully charming Ashley Rose Orr has exploded on the screens of millions of Americans with a gift of song and dance the world hasn't seen since the real Shirley Temple. The Movie showed a child that took control of her life and was not injured by the business, Bravo Disney !

The songs were so clear and well re-created. The dance numbers were more exciting then in the original B/W movies. Very authentic in costuming and sets. The Supporting cast worked well with the child star herself. My only disappointment is that it wasn't a 4 hour 2 part movie. I hope Disney will run with this "NEW" CHILD STAR ! ! ! !

"Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story" (2001), which premiered on ABC Television's THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF Disney on Mother's Day, May 13th, is one of several made-for-TV bio-pics that have been hitting the airwaves in recent months, with earlier presentations on the lives of the Three Stooges, Judy Garland, etc., just to name a few, but I somehow find "Child Star" to be a pleasant surprise among the others. Based on Shirley Temple Black's autobiography of the same name, it deals with a little girl's incredible rise to fame in motion pictures during dark days of the Great Depression in the 1930s, making box office gold for Fox Films, later 20th Century-Fox. Sadly, like many top box office stars, Temple's winning streak would come to an end with a few flops, especially with "The Blue Bird,", before being dismissed by the studio where she made her home for seven years in 1940. In retrospect, Temple continued to act in some movies during her teenage years, but found true happiness leaving the spotlight and going to regular school amongst other children her age, something she was deprived in doing as a totaler. However, the movie concludes with Shirley, now 14, being called by producer David O. Selznick to interest her in a role in his upcoming project, "Since You Went Away? (1944) starring Claudette Colbert.

Seeing every Shirley Temple movie that was either presented on local television and later available on video cassette, I feel I know whatever there is to know about this talented little girl who became the biggest and most recognizable box office child star of her day, and whose movies have seemed to have stood the test of time today. What makes this particular TV bio worth viewing is that the writers kept the story as accurate as possible, without adding some fiction to give the story some lift. At least I didn't seem to find any inaccuracies in the story that didn't belong there, but felt her meeting with aviatrix Amelia Earhart being one of the few slow-points of the plot. Little added details having Temple on loan from Fox to Paramount to appear in "Little Miss Marker" and the not-so-famous "Now and Forever" (both 1934) are captured, which could have had the writers say these two movies were produced at Fox, hoping its viewers wouldn't have known the difference. Even the one who played "Little Miss Marker" co-star, Dorothy Dell (1915-1934), is almost a hum-dinger to that late actress.

As for the performance of newcomer Ashley Rose Orr as child star Shirley Temple, while there is only ONE Shirley Temple, Orr does her best in portraying her, right down to the curls, giggle and that nose twitch. Obviously she must have studied Temple's mannerisms down to the simplest detail by watching all her movies, and like the person she portrayed, she must have been coached well by her mother. Orr singing Temple songs such as "The Good Ship Lollipop" and "Animal Crackers in My Soup" was not Temple's voice dubbed into hers, but Orr's herself. The recreation of the dancing sequence with both Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and later Buddy Ebsen will possibly bring back that nostalgic feel to those who grew up watching Temple movies on TV for many years.

"Child Star" is possibly a long overdue movie tribute to Shirley Temple, but again, maybe it came at the right time. Had it been made in the 1950s or so, possibly her life story would have been very disjointed with a child actress appearing in movies with fictitious name titles and/ or having her appear in films with actors she never met.

Also featured in the cast are Hinton Battle as Bojangles (who also choreographed the dance steps Bojangles had made famous), Connie Britton as Gertrude Temple, and Colin Friels, with executive producers being Paula Hart and daughter Melissa Joan Hart. Melissa's sister, Emily Anne Hart, is the one who plays the role as the teen-aged Shirley during the final ten minutes or so.

In spite that "Child Star" leaves some questions unanswered, it may not be the best TV-bio ever made, however, it's definitely recommended for those familiar with her film work and ardent fans of Shirley Temple herself. (***)

I love Shirley Temple and tried to sit through this movie. I could not get past the fact that Orr (the actress playing Shirley) was eleven playing a five year old.

To me the reason Shirley was so successful was because she was so young and small and able to act as well as any adult.

To see an eleven year old do something a five year old did was not impressive or entertaining.

I know there is only one Shirley Temple but couldn't casting find a smaller younger looking actress?

Watching Orr costumed in the short, short dresses that were so adorable on Shirley was truly cringe inducing. Orr was almost as tall as some of her costars making the movie laughable at best and an insult to Shirley at worst.

I grew up watching Shirley Temple movies and even now as an adult I enjoy flipping through the TV channels and finding an old Shirley movie. I thought that Child Star was a great movie and I especially thought that Ashley Rose Orr played the part of Shirley Temple GREAT. Her singing and tap dancing was wonderful and she kept up with Hinton Battle like a real PRO. I thought she not only looked like Shirley but she sounded just like her too, especially her mannerism and gesture while singing "Animal crackers in my soup". I thought this child did a FANTASTIC job and I look forward to seeing her in another Disney film soon. I also thought that Connie Britton played the part of Shirley's mom really well and I like the connection between Shirley and her mom. I think "Child Star" was a great movie and brought back allot of childhood memories.

Keep up the good work Disney!

Based on a published autobiography, and with the author as consultant, this production portrays the protagonist as well nigh flawless. And for all the grumbling of the adults around her about warding off the danger of spoiling her, she seems to be pretty well cocooned, with her most fearsome enemy the impending career uncertainty at the end of her childhood. The viewer can see adulthood haunting her constantly in the person of her mother, who (at least as presented here and excellently acted by Connie Britton) looks very much like the grown-up Shirley Temple. It is not a terrifying adulthood to look forward too, except that it holds no magical excitement. More ominous as a hint of the inevitable future is Shirley's attachment to the ill-fated Amelia Earhart, but the script cannot pretend it was a central concern of Shirley's; that would make Shirley look like a maniac. So the movie leads up to the question of how Shirley will confront the end of child stardom. Unfortunately, that is where it ends. There are a few words of reassurance from her mother, but how Shirley Temple is forced to attempt to re-invent herself, where she fails and how, and where she succeeds and how, are a missing denouement.

I didn't think this movie was very good at all. Basically they took a bunch of one-liners from various Shirley Temple movies, threw them together, and had Orr act like Shirley Temple acted on-screen. "Oh my goodness!" was said quite a number of times. If you are familiar with Shirley Temple movies, you will recognize several lines direct from her movies. The trouble is they have Orr saying these in Shirley's everyday life. In the end, what we get is a hodgepodge of re-created Shirley Temple movies, instead of any sort of real look into Shirley Temple's life. Save yourself the trouble and rent Shirley Temple movies, it's a lot better than watching Orr try and recreate Shirley's acting style.

This movie was awful! Ashley Rose Orr, while a talented tap dancer, and singer (actually a little better than Temple was in terms of the latter), is a terrible actress. She plays the character as the Shirley that we saw on screen in her movies whether she's playing her onscreen or offscreen persona. So what we get is an overly cutesy, and wholly unrealistic (not to mention uninteresting) portrait. If one wants to see that side of her, one can just rent one of her movies. The only bright light here is Connie Britton's portrayal of Gertrude Temple. I don't think it was terribly realistic, but at least it was well acted. Save yourself the trouble and rent The Poor Little Rich Girl.

This movie was spectacular and well done. It was done for all audiences and that makes it better so the younger audiences can view it. The movie all out was great but what made it much better is the spectacular casting of Shirly Temple, Ashley Rose Orr! Rose had the glamour and sparkle Shirly once had. Her tap numbers with Bo Jangles were extraordinary! I loved the way the actress made herself cry!!! That was amazing because of how hard that is to do! All and all they couldn't have casted a better Shirly and I HOPE to see more of Ashley Rose Orr in future films!

This movie is one of my favorites! Ashley was awesome like what others say Ashley might not look like Shirley Temple but is her acting that really counts not because if she looks like her or anything like that. It was a movie that the whole family could watch and enjoy the acting and the story that goes behind it. I love Shirley Temple and all her movies but it was so awesome to see the real life behinde this child star!!

The actress chosen for this film needed not only to match Shirley Temple's talent (for recreating the movie scenes), but had to rise above that talent to portray the private Shirley Temple without resorting to parody. This film failed miserably to portray Shirley Temple off screen and it wasn't all Orr's fault. The director seemed to give her only one direction "do your Shirley Temple impression" and the scriptwriter (with help by the real Shirley Temple-Black) just didn't have much to give Orr. The best scenes were the recreations of the classic films and it is here where Orr's impression was appropriate and well done. However, Orr was never convincing as Shirley Temple off the set and reminded me of all those Shirley-wannabes that mothers dressed their children like during Shirley Temple's most successful years. There was even a quirky scene in this film where Shirley's dad is bombarded by these wannabe stage moms and their wannabe Shirleys that brought everything full circle. Orr looked as much like Shirley Temple as any kid with a curly wig, tap shoes, and a short polka-dotted dress. One of the big problems with the film is the fact that Shirley Temple had relatively little drama, little conflict, in her real life. Her parents didn't beat her, she wasn't a drunk, and there were no major deaths in her life. She didn't have to struggle and according to the film, didn't even have to work very hard. Good for her, but where's the story? Orr is an energetic actress, but there was just too much Orr. The scriptwriters struggled to come up with any conflict and chose a silly sub-plot about Amelia Earhart's death (with a walk-on by another parody...Earhart was even wearing a flight jacket!!! What, no goggles?). Worse, they worked the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz into the entire arc of the film as if Shirley Temple's career was nothing in comparison to that role. Every major actor has been up for a role that became a classic for another actor. Classics are created by a perfect match of cast and film. A good rule of thumb is that if the film was a classic, and wouldn't have been with a major cast change. Oz probably would have been just another Shirley Temple film instead of a classic. Judy Garland's adult-like persona actually made the film the classic it became. Is there anyone besides Ms. Temple-Black that doesn't believe that the world was blessed to have Garland play Dorothy? Jeesh, can you believe that Temple so miffed about that one that she would make it a major plot point? Get over it Shirley, you did a good job with Heidi. Oh my goodness! Since Temple's life was actually quite boring and all the drama was in her film roles. Not surprisingly, Shirley the person pales in comparison to her roles and this film pales against the memory of her classic movies. If they ever make a sequel about an adult Shirley Temple downing Tequillas and tranquilizers in her bathroom over the loss of never playing Dorothy Gale I'll watch. Especially if the actress wears a curly wig, tap shoes, and a short polka-dotted dress.

This movie was okay. Ashley Rose Orr did a fine job as Shirley in recreated scenes from S.T. movies but not so well playing her off screen persona. That was probably the fault of the director. In one early scene Gertrude says that Shirley is 5 and the director tells her to say she is 4. 10 year old Ashley appeared to be an average size child. No way could she pass for under age 8. The vinegar rinse scene in the bathtub made no sense. Her hair was dry and curly when Gertrude rinsed it with water and vinegar. That was a popular way to make hair shine but it was done after the hair was washed. . Those two things made the movie less believable to me. I thought Hinton Battle did a great job.

In fairness, I will admit that I gag every time I see the overly cute one-note Shirley Temple on screen. the comment by Daryl Zanuck that they needed to give her something to do rather than grin and wink was right on. He could have added swinging her arms from side to side as if she was running a marathon. I found Shirley Temple to be a very limited child actress with some talent for tap dancing, but her entire acting ability seemed to be saying "Oh my goodness!" and frowning. I realise that she was simply doing as directed and the studio was not going to change her while she was making money, so she was not entirely to blame.

The film suffered from casting an 11-year old girl with none of Shirley Temple's cuteness and cheerful face, but who looked like a young Bette Midler and sported oversized adult teeth. Her mugging and grimacing was painful to watch, and the baby doll dresses barely covering her panties were more Lolita than Shirley. Unfortunately, this was exactly what the studio did by fudging her age and dressing her as a toddler until they could not keep up the pretense any longer. Just watch her in Heidi or The Bluebird as a young teenager tries to act as if she was 7 and you will understand. To her credit, the real Shirley Temple got out of the business and lived a productive life as a housewife, mother, politician and later US Ambassador.

Ashley was old enough at the time of filming to have played Shirley Temple at almost 15. Just restyling her hair, dressing her in a ball gown, wearing high heels and casting a short actor as her date would have been sufficient. Casting a different actress was jarring.

One extremely disturbing scene was the birthday party thrown at the studio by the head of Fox, Darryl Zanuck, where Shirley is presented with a toy car. Having seen the Godfather where a similar scene evolved into a scene indicating that the child star had later been sexual molested, with the complicity of her mother (which was cut out of the theatrical release) I felt there was an implication of sex abuse in addition to the exploitation of child stars.

By far the better parts of the film were the cameos of famous Hollywood moguls, insiders, agents and directors who shamelessly wheeled and dealed to exploit the maximum profit from their commodity, and like ruthless hedge fund managers and corporate acquisition specialists today, did not hesitate to drop her when the public tired of her and they were losing money. I would have preferred to see a lot more of the Zanuck, Schulberg, Schenk, and Mayer child star trading. A very small cameo which stood out for me was the brief John Ford appearance. Overall, the film was redeemed by supporting cast and the brilliant dancing of Mr. Battle as Bojangles Robinson.

Watching this was like watching a Shirley Temple Lifetime movie, or a less bratty version of 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'. It follows the childhood of young actress Shirley Temple as she makes her way to the top of the line by tap dancing at the age of five. Emily Hart was amazing, I doubt anyone could've portrayed Temple any better, but the movie seemed to stretch on despite solid acting performances. The soundtrack was next to null and the plot froze at some parts, making them longer than they needed to be. Still, this movie shows the underlying corruption in the world of child actors (Drew Barrymore and the Olsen Twins went through it and came out as twisted, spoiled brats). There were many powerful scenes in this movie, it's not the best but it passes the time if you're looking for something interesting to watch while cleaning or studying or something.

Totally dreadful movie. The worst part is Connie Britton's portrayal of Gertrude Temple. She sleepwalks through this movie as if she is in a trance. Her "soothing calmness" becomes terribly grating after awhile to the point where I quit half way through the film. Ashley Rose does a tepid portrayal of Shirley Temple. The only interesting "drama" in this picture was how Fox studios was struggling to pay the bank, otherwise, Shirley's success is portrayed as being effortless . This just makes it all very boring, even nauseating.Combine that nausea with the trance like monotone of Britton's and you get something that becomes unbearable.

Really quite a peculiar bio pic. In fairness, I didn't catch the first 15 minutes of this when it was shown on TV, but I can't imagine it being substantially different from the rest of the movie. Some observations:

• it's difficult to believe that a screenplay like this got through development. - The movie seems to have a somewhat sanitized view of shirly's relationship with her parents, the scenes where she interacts with them are strangely muted - Nothing (that I could see) is mentioned about race and shirly's relationship with Bill Bojangles (uncle billy) - surely this would have been interesting to learn about - we see how the studio boos sees shirly, and makes some offhand comments privately, but in terms of the screenplay, it leads nowhere - the young lady who plays Temple is fine, but doesn't resemble her in any way physically or in the way she speaks or mannerisms. - the movie seems to end mid-scene

(May contain very mild spoilers.) This film is short and sweet, and does give a fairly decent overview of the young stars career in movies for those not previously acquainted with Miss Temple's amazing life story. However, there are occasions where the truth behind the events of her life are played down and personalities altered to suit the filmmakers' vision.

For one, Gertrude Temple was a remarkable, articulate, savvy and driven woman. She always kept a tight reign on Shirley and made sure that she had as normal an upbringing as possible under extraordinary circumstances. However, in the film, she is portrayed as an average housewife who just happens to have a famous daughter. The noble strength of this woman is certainly worthy of praise and truthful representation. Connie Britton does a lot with the little bit she's given to work with, and is as charming as ever. She is a fantastic actress who could certainly have handled playing a more accurate depiction of Gertrude Temple.

The rest of the cast does well, too. Some of the film recreations are quite well done, but I was surprised that Shirley's famous dance with James Dunn in "Stand Up and Cheer" was overlooked. Also, the recreation of Shirley's credit appearance in Baby Take a Bow looked nothing like the one in the original film.

It was nice to see Dorothy Dell portrayed, as the young actresses' tragic death prevented her from becoming the star she certainly could have been. It's nice to see her remembered and her look so accurately recreated. I would have liked to see James Dunn portrayed as well, as he co-starred with Shirley in more films than most people and was good friends with little Shirley.

Young Miss Orr does very well as Shirley, portraying her over a rather long range of years. Her rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" brought a tear to my eye. This young girl has quite a future ahead of her! The closing scenes of Shirley's career fading with advancing years is too brief, and the sudden change from young blonde to teenage brunette was rather jarring. The teenage years were one of the most eventful periods of Temple's life, and it would have been nice to see more of that. But, you can only do so much in 90 minutes.

All-in-all, not bad, but could have been so much more! A little too Disney-esquire, with the darker moments of Shirley's life swept under the rug, and an occasionally tenuous relationship with the reality of the world on the 1930s.

5 out of 10.

Child Star was professionally done. The movie had so many memorable song and dance routines amazingly done by Ashley Rose Orr and Hinton Battle. The connection between Shirley and her mother (played by Connie Britton of Spin City) and Shirley and Bojangles felt real and loving. It is a family movie that can be enjoyed by young and old. My family loved the movie. Ashley is very talented. I look forward to seeing her in more movies. She makes the movie fun and she really Sparkles!

Ashley Rose Orr's portrayal of Shirley Temple in the Wonderful World of Disney's movie "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story" was marvelous. Her vocal inflection, mannerisms and endearing smile brought a glowing charm to the screen and the character. Her dance sequences with Broadway veteran Hinton Battle were beautifully staged and accurately executed; dazzling to watch. What an achievement for such a talented young actress!!! We can only hope to see her in another production soon! To Disney's new rising star... Brava!!! Encore!!!

I am fourteen and I wasn't born in the US. I knew that Shirley Temple was THE actress in the thirties, but not much more. Then I saw the ad for this film and decided to watch it. It was good. Except for one thing: Ashley Rose Orr doesn't have Shirley's talent, charm, or sweetness. She acted like a kid trying to be Shirley. But I had never seen a true Shirley Temple movie. I rented Poor Little Rich Girl. Forget Child Star! I'm watching the real thing. I am also proud to say that I now own six Shirley Temple (The Little Colonel, A Little Princess, and four of the short movies she did at the age of three, including Dora's Dunkin Doughnuts) movies myself and know about her life as a child actress. To me, she is THE child actress. She deserved a lot more than an honorary Oscar. But she was a kid. And grown actors don't like pint sized talent! My Grade : Shirley's real movies: A++

Child Star The Shirley Temple Story: D-

Unfortunately I didn't see the whole movie, having tuned in approximately 20 minutes after it started. Didn't know it was based on Shirley's "Bio"(which I had read). While the star is very talented, she didn't remind me much of Shirley (who is three years older than I). Like many children of that time, I was an avid fan of Shirley's, and was probably expecting too much!! Recently watched a marathon of S's pictures on AMC and was totaling astonished how good an actress and talent she really was. As a dancer, myself, I was very impressed with her dancing talent. It was regrettable that the studio tried to keep her a 'child star" for so long. She showed that she was a good actress in "Fort Apache"

I am a huge Shirley Temple fan. When I saw this movie, it made me appreciate what a talented child Shirley actually was. Ashley Rose Orr made possibly the worst on-screen Shirley. Imagine an 11 year old playing Shirley Temple from the age of 5. That in itself is wrong. But getting her to 'mimick' Shirley's voice? And her singing is woeful. The dancing was good, I'll say that. As previous users have said, there was little dramatic scenes, nothing to make the story interesting. Not even Amelia Earhart... I would have liked to have seen more of the world wide phenomenon that Shirley Temple created. There was too much focus on the Wizard of Oz, when in reality, Shirley was just considered for Dorothy. The film portrays it as though it is the end of the world when she does not get the role. Shirley herself said that she is glad Judy Garland got to play her. For me the star of the show was the lady who played Gertrude Temple. Otherwise, stay away! For great Shirley Temple films, watch Heidi, Poor Little Rich Girl and Little Miss Broadway.

This movie could have been a lot better than it was, if hadn't been a Disney Film. I thought that the young girl playing Shirley was all right, you could tell that she was really trying to do the job right. The teenage Shirley Temple wasn't right at all. I think that they should have spent last time on her childhood, the first hour should have been about the young Shirley, then the last hour should have been about the older Shirley. This was a boring movie, and not a good Shirley Temple story.

Shirley Temple has continually reassured her fans that her unique Hollywood childhood was as normal and trauma-free as any other 1930's kid. People simply assume that an actress as young as she must have suffered some sort of psychological scarring along the way, Mrs. Black's denials notwithstanding. I, however, have always chosen to believe her, the conventional, scandal-free adulthood she's led since her retirement being proof enough for me, and I also believe this movie is an accurate portrait of Shirley's childhood memories. The film itself is a little too glossy and it certainly could have used more authentic 1930's atmosphere, but I'm not here to nitpick. Like all of Shirley's films, the less you analyze, the more you enjoy.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to see this same subject redone, unauthorized. I never entirely trust autobiographies; the human ego is simply too fragile to reveal all of it's secrets and shames. Not that I expect to hear many tantrum tales, (if stories like those did exist, I'm sure we would have heard them by now,) but it would make Shirley Temple's life story more believable if her life weren't so darn perfect. There must be someone out there who can tell us about the line she refused to say or the song she refused to sing, or the time she slapped Jane Withers in the mush (I'm just assuming, here), but either the people who know of this darker side of the Shirley Temple story are keeping quiet or else the dark side doesn't exist. Sadly, for a lover of Hollywood dirt like me, it's probably the latter.

As others have stated, I too grew up watching and loving Shirley Temple movies. I even bought the whole collection for my daughter; generation after generation, the sparkle and talent of Shirley Temple can not be denied. Prediction: 50 years from now, the same will be said about Ms. Orr...if only people will get beyond the fact that she isn't Shirley Temple's physical clone! Why cast some one not Shirley's mirror image? Because talent like Ms. Orr's, just like Ms. Temple's, is hard to come by. A triple threat barely breaking the single digit age bracket, Ms. Orr had what it took to allow me to enjoy "Child Star" and the child portraying (not imitating) Shirley Temple. The fact that Ms. Orr's talent shone through the mantle of another's personae makes me wonder what we'd see if she were turned loose. Time to look forward to a new child star. Thank you Disney and Mr. Eisner for introducing us!