good back-story, and good acting

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Schoolteacher Andy Wilson makes his usual morning stop for coffee and donuts at Dora's Home Bakery. Today he enjoys talking to Dora so much that he is late to school for the first time. Later that day, Dora tells him about some wonderful new donuts that she has made. Andy is so impressed with them that he decides to have his students help him make a radio commercial, in order to help Dora sell her new product. I guess Temple was a big thing in the 30s.I sort of find her to be annoying. It's a mildly entertaining movie.Wonder if this is where Dunkin Donuts got its name

Although this film has come down to us as a Shirley Temple short, the stars are really Andy Clyde playing a school teacher and his fiancé who runs a place called Dora's Dunkin' Donuts. I wonder if some famous company might not have stolen part of that name.Andy's kids in the local school have been formed into a musical orchestra including Shirley Temple who's there just because she's cute and adorable. Andy's fiancé Ethel Sykes get the bright idea to use the kids on a local radio station to advertise her place and the great donuts she makes.Andy Clyde comes off as a kind of poor man's Mr. Chips as the kids range in age from the teens to barely school age as is Shirley. The orchestra isn't exactly the Philharmonic and could even give competition to Harold Hill and his 'think' system from the music man. But it's all kind of nice fun and definitely one of Shirley Temple's better short subjects.

A previous IMDB reviewer has said that "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" is about a boy who's afraid of dogs. That reviewer is thinking of a different movie, called "Pardon My Pups". Both are short comedies which feature Shirley Temple before her stardom. Both of these films have been released on video as part of a compendium of Shirley Temple shorts, which explains why the reviewer has got them switched. "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" is often packaged as a Shirley Temple film; she's prominently featured in a supporting role, but she is certainly not the central character here."Dora's Dunking Doughnuts" was made at Al Christie's low-budget Educational studio, which (despite its name) specialised in short comedies. (Educational started out making educational films, then producer Christie discovered that slapstick was more profitable.) The star of this film is silent-film comedian Andy Clyde, cast here as a bashful schoolmaster and speaking his dialogue in a soft Perthshire accent. Andy is sweet on Dora, who runs a small roadside diner which isn't getting much custom. But her food is good, especially her doughnuts: if only she could afford to advertise, and attract more customers!Andy maintains order (just barely) over a classroom of students, ranging widely in age. They're all good kids, but very mischievous. Little Shirley is the prize pupil. Andy organises his students into an orchestra and chorus, then he uses his savings to buy some air time on the local radio station. This is quite realistic: in the golden age of radio, many shows were "on sustaining", meaning that the performers had no sponsor and they paid for their own air time.We see some very unrealistic yet amusing shenanigans at the radio station, including a performance by a matronly singer (Florence Gill) who clucks her song as if she were a chicken. Andy leads his schoolkids in a rendition of an advertising jingle, "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", which is actually quite enjoyable. But of course a few things go wrong during the live broadcast...Special attention should be paid to Bud Jamison, unfortunately misspelt in the credits of this film as 'Jamieson'. Bud Jamison was the greatest straight man in the history of film comedy! He worked with most of the greatest comedians in the first 50 years of American films, including Chaplin, Keaton, WC Fields and the Three Stooges. In the Stooges classic 'Disorder in the Court', Jamison is the defence attorney who hands Curly a revolver while speaking the immortal line "Never fear, it's not loaded." Bud Jamison gave sterling service in many of the greatest comedies of the 1920s through '40s (and in a lot of obscure comedies too), yet he remains utterly unknown to old-movie fans ... probably because Jamison specialised in making other comedians seem funnier than they were. Here in "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts", Jamison is quite funny as the put-upon manager of the small-time radio station.I'll rate this nice comedy-musical short 10 out of 10. You'll probably watch it to see Shirley Temple, and Andy Clyde is excellent in the lead role. (Ethel Sykes is quite good too, as the titular Dora.) But please rewind it and watch it again, this time concentrating on Bud Jamison's expert comedy timing.

With Shirley Temple when she was a little child. She is not the star in this film, that is the Scottish comic actor Andy Clyde. The story: A doughnut shop with economical problem is saved when a school music class is on radio to promote the doughnuts.