Never weary of riding that Good Ship Lollipop

Shirley Temple Black is 74, but she still seems as energetic and cheerful as when her famous dimples and curly hair captivated the country decades ago.

On Christmas, Fox Movie Channel aired “ShirleyMania,” a documentary about the continuing phenomenon of “the best little girl in the world,” the childhood star of such films as “Curly Top” (1935), “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938) and “The Little Princess” (1939).

“Who knew?” Black says. “I didn’t.”

Black said she hasn’t seen her movies on television in a while.

“But if there is one thing I would like to say, it is how much I enjoy that people think of me, especially those of all ages,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle. “You know, I get a lot of kids at my house for Halloween. And one year a little girl came up and said, ‘Are you really Shirley Temple?’ And I said, ‘Yes, Shirley Temple Black.’ She looked at me for a long time in silence and then she said, ‘I see the resemblance.’ ”