Now And Forever (1934)

A jewel thief and con artist (Gary Cooper) decides to rescue his daughter (Shirley Temple) from the clutches of his late wife's stuffy family. However, his new wife (Carole Lombard) is uncomfortable with the adventurous but aimless life they've been leading and with the child now part of the equation, she wants a more stable life. But can the con man put aside his old ways and reform? Based on the short story HONOR BRIGHT by Jack Kirkland and Melville Baker and directed by Henry Hathaway (NORTH TO ALASKA). Although Shirley Temple is in the cast, this is not a typical Shirley Temple vehicle because the focus isn't on her. It's a surprisingly dark film and Temple gets to give a real performance rather than play the usual cloying doll she played in her starring Fox films (this is a Paramount picture). While the film's original bleak ending was jettisoned (Cooper and Lombard died) and refilmed, the reshot ambiguous ending leaves the fate of the major characters in doubt. Cooper and Lombard (I've always preferred her in drama rather than comedy) are in top form. With Guy Standing and Charlotte Granville.