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To convincingly portray the beloved little orphan named Heidi, a young actress needs to possess overflowing innocence and adorability – oh, and some well-honed song and dance abilities would be nice as well. And perhaps no child was ever more suited for the sentimental demands of the role than America’s sweetheart herself, Shirley Temple.

 

In 1937, 20^th Century Fox released the first screen version of the beloved Johann Spyri novel, Heidi. Some artistic liberties were taken so that Miss Temple would have plenty of opportunity to sing and dance her way into moviegoer’s hearts but the story remained mostly intact.

 

Heidi is a young orphan of an Alpine village who is sent to live with Adolph Kramer, a cranky curmudgeon who also happens to be her Grandfather. As coldhearted as he may be, he can’t help but be warmed by the girl’s innocent and uplifting personality, and it isn’t long before their friendship begins to blossom. That is, until her evil Aunt Dete realized that she can make a pretty penny by selling the girl into servitude. She kidnaps Heidi from Grandpa and sells her to Herr Sesemann. Now, most girls might drop into a depression over these circumstances, but Heidi isn’t going to let a little servitude get her down. Instead she uses her super Heidi healing powers of sorts to help Sesemann’s crippled daughter walk for the first time in years. Her positive and perky attitude brightens everyone’s day around the Sesemann abode and it isn’t long before he has misgivings about keeping the girl and decides she would be better off with Grandpa after all. Now, Heidi just has to figure a way to escape the evil Governess, Fraulein Rottenmeier, who has a few evil intentions of her own. How does it all turn out? Well, you weren’t expecting a spoiler, were you?

 

Over the years, there have been numerous versions of Heidi, both on the big-screen and on television, but the tear-jerking talents of Miss Temple are awfully hard to surpass. Her performing talents, along with enough sweetness to kill your average diabetic in a matter of minutes have made her the clear Heidi of record and kept this classic version of the popular children’s story a sentimental favorite above all others.