Beautiful, moving film.

A Masterpiece!

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

To say that this is a bad film is like saying the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century was a minor inconvenience! Aside from some adorable acting by a very young Shirley Temple, there really isn't much to like about this film. They even manage to make good actors like Warner Baxter look pretty bad since the film is terribly written and the variety acts are a bunch of no talents.The film begins on am embarrassing note. Warner Baxter's character is supposed made 'Secretary of Entertainment' by the President. The problem is that the guy sounded nothing like FDR--nothing! And the idea of a Secretary of Education!! Uggh! This is just a thinly disguised plot in order to fill the movie with one god-awful variety act after another. Among the terrible acts is a 'Hillbilly music' number, John Boles singing a terrible love song that could only have helped to INCREASE the divorce rate and an embarrassingly bad number where they imitate Jimmy Durante (you gotta see this--its awfulness is impossible to adequately describe). There also are some extremely racist numbers with 'Aunt Jemima' (actually Tess Gardella in black-face) and Stepin Fetchit behaving like a sub-human--just to guarantee that any black person watching the film would become disgusted and angry.This film was ostensibly designed to lift folks spirits during the Depression. Is it any surprise then that the Depression would continue for another eight years!!! I think it's no coincidence!! Overall, a godawful mess of a film only of interest to Shirley Temple-philes. Otherwise avoid like the plague! Don't say I didn't tell you!! "Stand Up and Cheer" only manages to earn a 2 because of Temple's charm and talent. But, considering she's barely in the film, there just isn't ANYTHING else to recommend this turkey.

This is a billed as a "Shirley Temple film," but it really isn't because she hardly appears in it. In fact, she doesn't appear until after 20 minutes have gone by, and then after the scene and a subsequent dance routine with James Dunn, disappears again until the very end. When she's here, she's as cute as ever, especially being so young.Warner Baxter had the main role as "Lawrence Cromwell." He was assisted by his secretary played by a very pretty Madge Evans, whom I didn't know until trying to find out on this website because the video box doesn't even have her listed in the billing.The rest of the cast included a couple of people I was familiar with from other roles, such as Nigel Bruce, who played Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. We also have a lady who played Aunt Jemima and Stepin Fetchit, both a couple of embarrassing stereotypes of the period. I was never a fan of Fetchin, not for PC reasons but simply because of his whiny voice and stupid characters he played. He was the same here except when he dove into a fish tank, which made gave me a big laugh.This film had a good share of strange characters but, despite that, overall isn't anything that memorable....perhaps because Shirley had such a small role.

As a whole, "Stand Up and Cheer" is quite a mess. The story that frames the musical numbers is silly and poorly executed, the musical numbers are rather drab and rife with racial stereotyping. But, most people who've sought out this film are watching it for one reason-Shirley Temple.Temple and James Dunn are really the only bright spots in this production. Their on screen rapport is magic, and contrary to what others have stated, they BOTH hold their own during their crowd pleasing number "Baby, Take a Bow," in my opinion.Truly a product of it's day. It's widely reported that this film brought smiles to the faces of many, and try as I may to ignore it's racial stereotypes, and bland dialogue, somehow the whole thing doesn't work.But, as I have already mentioned, Jimmy and Shirley are pure magic.

With the country in the throes of the Great Depression, the President calls upon a celebrated Broadway impresario to become the first Secretary of Amusement, in the hopes that Americans can beat hard times by learning to smile, laugh, and, eventually, STAND UP AND CHEER!It is always vital when examining old films to try to be sensitive to their context within their own time frames. Important movies of 70 years ago may look terribly trite now through absolutely no fault of their own. Judging by today's standards can often lead to pitfalls.That having been stated, however, it is difficult to appreciate this film without seeing it for what it is: undeniably silly. And racist. And even a bit bizarre at times. But it contains one great jewel...Earnest Warner Baxter & lovely Madge Evans certainly give the plot a try, but the script is dead set against them all the way, making him encourage hillbilly singers as the remedy for the nation's economic woes and having her mope about lovelorn & lonely.As Aunt Jemima, blackfaced singer Tess Gardella (very popular at the time on Broadway's Show Boat) and especially Stepin Fetchit are embarrassingly stereotyped. It should be noted, however, that this sort of racial belittlement was not unusual in the Hollywood of the 1930's.The physical, knockdown humor of Frank Mitchell & Jack Durant, playing a couple of zany U. S. Senators, is very odd & no longer funny. Odder still is the penguin that thinks he's Jimmy Durante.Familiar faces show up from time to time - Nigel Bruce, Ralph Morgan, little Our Gang kid Scotty Beckett, warbling John Boles - but they are quickly submerged by the plot.In the midst of all this clutter of mismatched parts, when all might be given up for lost, comes five-year-old Shirley Temple and she is an utter joy.Shirley had already appeared in a series of features & shorts. But it was here, singing & dancing - and completely obliterating poor James Dunn who played her father - that the situation was ripe for her to march straight into the nation's heart. In 1935 Shirley would begin to star in her string of classic family films, and, with the death of Marie Dressler in July of 1934, the mighty moppet was to begin her reign as Hollywood's number one box office attraction.So, with the arrival of Shirley Temple, we do indeed have much for which to STAND UP AND CHEER!