Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

mark.waltz A pointless attempt at a feel good musical has the silly premise of a secretary of amusement to cheer the struggling people of the depression. It sort of feels like giving a death row inmate ribeye steak just before pulling the switch. The highlights are the production numbers which includes Shirley Temple and James Dunn performing "Baby Take a Bow", the name of their next movie. "Broadway's Gone Hillbillv", which emulates "Oklahoma!" more than "Li'l Abner" in spite of some snazzy choreography. Warner Baxter basically repeats the same role he played in "42nd Street". Those hoping for a Shirley Temple movie will be sorely disappointed. She has the one musical number, a brief scene and a close-up in the special effects filled finale. A truly tacky scene has Stepin Fetchit confused by a talking penguin who sounds like Jimmy Durante. Aunt Jemima also makes a cameo appearance in the opening musical number. If it wasn't for the camp element, this would rank as a pointless, sometimes tacky bore.

ccthemovieman-1 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.

rosewater4america The portrayals of African American characters in this movie are, as has been pointed out, stereotypical, but I would like to suggest that where the actors themselves are allowed to show their talents, they transcend the stereotypes in ways even the filmmakers themselves recognized.Take, for example, the show-stopping finale to "I'm Laughing," performed by Tess Gardella. There are a series of tableaux in this number, of various individuals all representing different marginalized groups: Immigrants, sweatshop workers, laborers of all kinds, all leading up to Tess Gardella herself busting out with the biggest, cheeriest performance of all, surrounded by a rousing, dancing chorus. It was clearly meant to recap the song's theme--if I can laugh, as downtrodden as I am, so can you--and to embody those who persevere and triumph over circumstance. With a swish of her ample hips and a gleam in her eye, Ms. Gardella triumphs.The standard Stepin Fetchit routine has been analyzed everywhere, but let me just add that in this picture, the actor personifies African American resistance. In 1934 Black men were still not free from the vicious system of racial etiquette known as Jim Crow, and were therefore limited in the number of personae they were allowed to display. The genius of Stepin Fetchit is that he acts out the prescribed social role while frustrating those who prescribe it by withholding his intelligence and personality from the social interaction altogether. He slyly gives white people exactly what they demand,nothing more, forcing them to realize that perhaps that's not what they want after all. The resistance is his and the joke is on them.

JohnnyOldSoul 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.