The Littlest Diplomat (1937)

"The Littlest Diplomat" is an American 19-minute live action short film from 1937, so this one had its 80th anniversary last year. It was directed and co-written by Bobby Connolly, a man who has several Oscar nominations, but this movie we have here is probably neither his most or least known. There are two very positive aspects here, the first is the use of Technicolor which really makes this a more beautiful look and should not be taken for granted for a film from WWII, especially a non-cartoon. The second is the music that was fun to listen at. Sadly these two are not enough to make me ignore the weak and forgettable aspects. The story is pretty gooey and honestly it is not realistic at all that this girl really ends up in the hand of this Indian leader. It's a story about a little girl, daughter of an important military man, and how her presence solves a diplomatic conflict without any major problems. Nah, it just doesn't feel authentic I must say sadly. And honestly the acting was not exactly top-notch. Sybil Jason is no Shirley Temple that much is safe, but actually she is far more below Temple in terms of talent than I would have hoped. Overall, the negative outweighs the positive and I give this movie a thumbs-down. My suggestion is you watch something else instead.

. . . if Hillary only thinks of dispatching her to Pakistan in 1993 to charm and disarm Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban buddy Mullah Mohammad Omar. Some interpreters of Warner Bros.' prescriptive prophecies for America's Future have argued that THE LITTLEST DIPLOMAT is either urging JFK to send Carolyn to nip the arranged meeting of Osama's parents in the bud, or telling Jimmy Carter to dispatch Amy as a means of making the Afghanistan-bound Russian tanks retreat in 1979 (since she'd already been so successful with the Soviets in the area of nuclear proliferation by that juncture in time), but 1)this is Real Life, folks, not an episode of TV's TIME TUNNEL, and 2)"Sybil's" bugling scene is a dead giveaway that Warner is trying to tap Chelsea to save Our Twin Towers, since it's a well-known fact that the Clintons' heiress would have more musical talent in her little finger than the young Carolyn Kennedy and Amy Carter combined. Plus there's the fact that Sybil's guardian--Grandpa Colonel--says "My word is law," which sounds much more like a Slick Willie Proclamation than a chance remark from Jack or Jimmy. Unfortunately, America ignored Warner's advice about how to combat Radical Islamic Terrorists, and now it's too late. (Besides, no one can picture a fashion show-bound Iwanna Trump being on one of the 9-11 jets and telling her hijackers--to paraphrase Sybil--"I'm an American, and no subject of The Donald need ever be afraid!")

In the tradition of "Gunga Din", "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" and a bazillion other Hollywood productions of the 1930s, this one starts with the presupposition that the British colonial empire is the dog-gone bestest thing in the world. Given you can accept this, this is a wonderful little film. If you can't, try to ignore the inherent injustice of this system and watch the film anyway as it's quite watchable--much of due to its almost terminally cute star, Sybil Jason.The film begins in what is today Pakistan. The local British Colonel is a rather strict guy who is having problems with the locals who, for some inexplicable reason, don't want to be subjugated peoples of the Empire. A diplomat encourages the Colonel to use a bit of tact and diplomacy--and the Colonel informs him that the British heel is the only diplomacy he needs--an obviously prophetic attitude! Soon, the Colonel's granddaughter arrives (Sybil Jason) and she's the gosh-darnedest cutest kid in the world. She immediately captures the hearts of the soldiers and Colonel. But the Colonel's blustering ways eventually drive her away--into the arms of his rival, the Khan. However, the child's amazing charm melts the Khan's heart and in the end they all get together for a little sing-a-long and cookies.The story is a bit ridiculous but very well filmed (in Technicolor) and is quite charming. In many ways, it's more like a movie in look and scope than a short--even though it's only about 19 minutes long. Worth seeing if you have the DVD for "The Life of Émile Zola"--on which it is a special feature.

SYBIL JASON was a very capable child actress who by this time was being promoted by Warner Bros. as their own Shirley Temple. A vehicle like this (a full-length version) had already served as the type of story you'd expect to find Temple starring in.Had the studio found better properties for Jason, the idea to promote her as another Temple might have worked.It's a Wee Willie Winkie sort of thing with Sybil visiting her grandfather at a garrison where the gruff man is not very popular with the regiment. In the course of twenty minutes, she melts his heart and forges diplomacy between him and his sworn enemy.The sets look like leftovers from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" except that they're in Technicolor for this one. Sybil is charming but a bit mechanical in her delivery of the hokey lines.The predictable plot has her escaping from the fort when her grandfather is too harsh with her and kidnapped by an Indian tribe. Their leaders has a heart to heart talk with her that convinces him to return her safely to the fort.All that's missing is a smiling close-up of Sybil, a la Temple--everything else is a cookie cutter mini-version of a Temple vehicle.