1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected president of the United States. Air conditioning is invented, and Walt Disney produces Flowers and Trees, the first film released in three-strip technicolour. The year also marked the emergence of a short film series, Baby Burlesks. The star of the series was three year old newcomer, Shirley Temple who played the lead role in each short film. Temple and her co-stars are comedically portrayed in adult roles, which often referenced popular culture such as pre-existing films and political events. Throughout the eight short film’s the children are presented in an overtly sexualised manner, often appearing scantily clad. The films comedy is frequently derived through this, by contrasting the children’s innocence …show more content…
The short film parodies 1926 silent film What Price Glory? The film’s establishing shot and mise-en-scene depicts the central location ‘Buttermilk Pete’s Cafe’, as the shot pans down, scantily clad toddlers wearing hats and diapers enter the Cafe. Temple dances in the centre of the cafe, catching the gaze of many of the toddlers within the scene, who appear mystified and even distracted by Temple’s implied sexual appeal once toddler referring to her as ‘hot’. Within one scene, currency is established as lollipops, as a cash register is seen dispensing lollipop’s as a substitute for money, throughout the film Temple trades favours, such as kisses, for the lollies and is delighted when she received a larger lollipop. A shot of a crawling toddler attempting to get milk off a table by shaking the table, the milk bottle topples and squirts onto the kneeled toddler’s face as he catches the droplets with a smiling open mouth, the sign above him reads ‘Sour Milk’. The short film is rich in sexual metaphors and phallic imagery
The films made in the midst of The Great Depression and by 1933 the film industry was hit hard by the great depression and 14 million were left unemployed. (p. 189) The depression also resulted in less leisure time for people, furthermore leading to a decrease in cinema audiences and viewing. The depression also created a perfect climate for social and political