A tomboy with a publicity stunt so unhinged it could only happen in 1938 Hollywood.
Sad-eyed, uniquely talented child actress Edith Fellows was Columbia's "answer" to Shirley Temple, Jane Withers and Deanna Durbin. In Little Miss Roughneck, Fellows is cast as Foxine LaRue, a tomboyish sort who is being prodded into a show-biz career by her stage mother Gert (Margaret Irving). Young Mr. Partridge (Scott Colton) becomes Foxine's agent, principally because he's sweet on the girl's older sister Mary (Jacqueline Wells). Blackballed from Hollywood because of her mother's pushiness, Foxine tries to help out Partridge and her own family by cooking up a bizarre publicity stunt, enlisting the aid of easy-going Mexican "papacita" Pascual (Leo Carrillo).
Acting
Fellows' naturalistic spunk outshines Temple comparisons.
Writing
Meta-commentary on Hollywood child exploitation, accidentally biting.
Costume
Foxine's tomboy-to-starlet transformations tell the whole story.
Director
Aubrey Scotto
Edith Fellows
Foxine LaRue
Leo Carrillo
Pascual Orozco
Scott Kolk
Al Patridge (as Scott Colton)
Julie Bishop
Mary LaRue (as Jacqueline Wells)
Margaret Irving
Mrs. Gertrude 'Gert' LaRue
Inez Palange
Mercedes Orozco
George McKay
Phil Edwards
John Gallaudet
Larkin
Ivan Miller
Yerkes
Al Bridge
Sheriff
Wade Boteler
Police Inspector Carr
Guy Usher
Police Captain Dorm
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Edith Fellows was Columbia's deliberate Temple clone; this film's meta-plot about manufactured child stardom mirrors her actual exploitation by the studio system.
Leo Carrillo's warm portrayal of Pascual subverted era stereotypes, though the 'Mexican bandit' publicity stunt plot hasn't aged gracefully—1940s audiences saw it as progressive, modern viewers as complicated.
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