If the sugar in your diet doesn't attack your teeth, this overly sappy musical melodrama will. Young Bobby Breen plays an orphan whose mother died after taking him away from his opera singing father in Italy. Years later, Breen runs away from his orphanage to hang out with carnival performer Henry Armetta and finds himself being pursued by two trapeze artists (who could really care less about him) while his real father searches for him, not realizing that his wife is dead.
Unlike Shirley Temple who was cute yet real, Breen seems like a fantasy child made up in somebody's fairy tales. If someone can kill with kindness, this child would be the first suspect. There are some good operatic moments as well as scattered bits of comedy, but Breen's voice is as grating as any child performer whose stage mother throws them into your face at a local talent show. The ending had my eyes rolling so far back I had to turn with my back to the television so I could see the last minutes of the film.
Unlike Shirley Temple who was cute yet real, Breen seems like a fantasy child made up in somebody's fairy tales. If someone can kill with kindness, this child would be the first suspect. There are some good operatic moments as well as scattered bits of comedy, but Breen's voice is as grating as any child performer whose stage mother throws them into your face at a local talent show. The ending had my eyes rolling so far back I had to turn with my back to the television so I could see the last minutes of the film.