Rekrut Willi Winkie

WEE WILLIE WINKIE (20th Century-Fox, 1937), directed by Academy Award winning John Ford, stars Shirley Temple in possibly her most prestigious film of her career. Capitalizing on the current trend of military themes as THE LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER (Paramount, 1935), THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (Warners, 1936), and later the most popular, Rudyard Kipling's GUNGA DIN (RKO, 1939), WEE WILLIE WINKIE, also authored by Kipling, fits well into this category. In spite of Temple's presence, high production values, fine support of Academy Award winning actor Victor McLaglen (RKO's THE INFORMER, 1935), and a well-scripted but leisurely-paced screenplay (by Ernest Pascal and Julian Josephson), WEE WILLIE WINKIE comes close to being overlooked item from cinema history.

With Temple's previous screen efforts typically casting her as an orphan or child of a widowed parents who occupies screen time solving problems with feel good intervals of song and dance, WEE WILLIE WINKIE is a welcome change of pace. While Temple doesn't have any real musical interludes, she does acquire one heartfelt moment worth mentioning where she sings "Auld Lang Syne" to a dying soldier. Of her two 1937 releases, HEIDI, based on the literary work by Johanna Spyri, appears to be most admired mainly because it gears mostly towards the interest of children while WEE WILLIE WINKIE appears to be more of a story for adults. Being the longest (99 minutes, though road show version was reportedly at 105 minutes) of Temple's feature length films of the 1930s, WEE WILLIE WINKIE contains more ingredients of a John Ford movie than Temple's. Regardless, the chemistry of both blends in nicely into the scenario. Temple would work under Ford again in FORT APACHE (RKO, 1948) with McLaglen in the supporting cast.  

Plot summary: The year is 1897. Joyce Williams (June Lang), a young widow unable to support herself and her daughter, Priscilla (Shirley Temple), in America, are sent by her father-in-law, Colonel Williams, to live with him on his British Army Base. Arriving by train to Raj Pore station in Northern India, they are greeted by Sergeant McDuff (Victor McLaglen) to escort them via coach to their destination. Before departure, Priscilla witnesses the arrest of Khonda Khan (Cesar Romero), the rebel leader responsible for the smuggling of guns belonging to her grandfather's regiment. Having dropped his sacred charm, Priscilla runs over return "the necklace" back to him. Khan, dangerous and handcuffed, shows gratitude towards this "strange child" as he is taken away by authorities. During her stay at the post, Priscilla meets Branders (Michael Whalen), a young lieutenant she calls "Coppy" (whose hair, as she described, shines like a copper penny). Feeling her grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith) doesn't like her McDuff, at Coppy's request, shows Priscilla the procedures on becoming a good soldier. Providing her a junior-sized uniform, much to the dismay of drummer boy, Mott (Douglas Scott), McDuff renames his little soldier, "Wee Willie Winkie." With an uprising leading to the prison escape of Khonda Khan and the death of Sergeant McDuff, war is officially declared, causing "Wee Willie Winkie" to try and make peace before any more men are killed.

While Temple dealt with grumpy grandfathers before, Lionel Barrymore being her best encounter in THE LITTLE COLONEL (1935), C. Aubrey Smith fits the bill as her military-minded grandfather with little time for his grandchild. Cesar Romero, believable as Konda Khan, gives a remarkable performance. He would assume another recognizable, but less threatening role, opposite Temple once more in THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1939). Military formation and the lives of British soldiers take precedence over the romantic subplot between June Lang and Michael Whalen that has been kept to a minimum. Others in the cast include Constance Collier (Mrs. Allardyce); Lauri Beatty (Elsa Allardyce, her daughter); Willie Fung (Mohammed Dihn); Brandon Hurst (Bagby); Lionel Pape (Major Allardyce); Mary Forbes (Mrs. MacMonachie), and John Ford regular, Jack Pennick, as one of the soldiers.

A successful film in its day, WEE WILLIE WINKIE was later reissued at 77 minutes, the print most commonly used on commercial television prior to 1985. It wasn't until around 1987 when WEE WILLIE WINKIE was available close to its theatrical length when distributed on home video. In recent years, the 99 minute version became available on numerous cable stations, including The Disney Channel (colorized, 1990s); American Movie Classics (1996-2000), The Fox Movie Channel and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: July 13, 2015). It's availability on DVD contains the choice of both colorized and black and white formats.

While Temple may seem to be an unlikely candidate on a military base in far away India wanting to become a good little soldier, she's certainly one who hasn't lost her appeal in the rank as "Wee Willie Winkie." (***1/2)

"Wee Willie Winkie" is a very, very schmaltzy film. In addition, it is one of many films of this era that strongly reinforced the notion that British imperialism was wonderful (as an American, I never understood why we make pro-imperialism films like this, actually). So, for those two reasons I should hate the film...but I just couldn't.

The film begins with a mother and daughter (Shirley Temple) arriving in India to live with the child's paternal grandfather--who is the Colonel in charge of a Colonial regiment (circa about 1890). It seems that the child has never met the old man and the pair have come there because they are destitute. For the mother, adjusting to India and the loneliness of camp life is tough, but for perky little Shirley, it's a snap. She is seen as a sort of regimental mascot. And, I must say that the child was freakin' adorable dressed up in a cute little uniform.

Everything seemed pretty cool (except for the mother) until the wicked Khoda Khan (Cesar Romero) escaped custody. This villain had the effrontery not to want to become 'civilized' and a loyal subject of the Queen (sarcasm intended)! And, when little Shirley is abducted and taken to him, things look pretty grim. After all, the British just want to be their friends (and enslavement, but that's only a trifle).

All this is packaged in a very attractive sepia-toned package. Some of this is due to Shirley's amazing acting, some is because the film was directed by the king of sentimental films, John Ford. And, some was because of Victor McLaglen's wonderful portrayal of the Sergeant and C. Aubrey Smith as the Colonel. Overall, despite its faults, the film is hard not to like and it is exceptionally well made.

By the way, it was very strange seeing Willie Fung in this film. Not only did he usually play a Chinese man (as he was of Chinese origin) but instead of the rather dim but affable sort, here he plays someone quite evil and blood-thirsty! For fans of old Hollywood films, this should come as a bit of a surprise.

Shirley Temple stars in this 1937 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's tale directed by all people John Ford (Stagecoach/The Searchers). Temple along w/her widowed mother head to India to reside w/her grandfather who commands British troops during the late 1800's when the Brits were called in to quell the hostilities amassing in her satellite colony. No sooner does Temple arrive in town does she cross paths w/the army unit's enemy number one, played by future Joker on TV's Batman, Cesar Romero (he gets arrested for being in possession of arms). Temple is cute, precocious & unrelenting as she tries to melt the stern demeanor of her fellow inductees eventually gaining favor w/a noncom played by Ford regular, Victor McLaglen. W/the majority of the narrative episodic (showcasing those cute curls & that plucky attitude), the film goes into a tense last third when Temple is tricked into being a hostage (held by Romero who has escaped) so that her grandfather will capitulate to his demands but Temple's sheer good will conquers all comers but Ford wisely doesn't let the moppet overwhelm the proceedings by letting his own sensibilities in.

Shirley Temple and mother are traveling to India to see grandfather in this John Ford movie based on a Rudyard Kipling tale. In fact, in most of the Shirley Temple movies, she is the main focus of the film. Here, she is one of many, due to the exceptional talent that went into the making of this film. There's director John Ford's touch that usually makes gold. There's Victor McLaglen, one of John Ford's more frequent actors. There's the colorful and versatile Cesar Romero as a supposed villain here, who also costarred in "The Little Princess." And lastly, there's the locale of India, which seems to be the real star of this film. The mood, the shadows, the direction of Ford all tell a story besides the actual plot and dialogue. McLaglen is a stern officer, but then he meets and befriends Shirley. And, Shirley get embroiled into the war between the natives and the officers, when they think she has been kidnapped. The end result may be somewhat predictable, but the journey is a very different one than most Temple films. Although she is the title character, she just happened to be cast in this John Ford production. And, what a production! Along with "The Little Princess," this has to be one of the best films she ever made. I wanted to watch this over, once I finished it. A true testament to a great film!

Surprisingly great John Ford film starring Shirley Temple. I was unsure if I could stand her cuteness for an hour and forty minutes, but I was never as annoyed as I expected to be. She's actually quite - good (I'll probably never live that down, will I?).Once in a while, she got a bit cloying, but for the most part I enjoyed her performance. Believe me, though, John Ford and his screenwriter were careful to balance her with the rest of the film, which is indeed quite masterful. All of the other performers are pitch perfect, including C. Aubrey Smith, Cesar Romero, Michael Whalen, Constance Collier, June Lang, and especially Ford regular Victor McLaglen. He's amazing, as always. The story, based on a Rudyard Kipling book, is very good. Lang plays Temple's mother. Her husband has apparently died, and she accepts the gracious invitation of her father-in-law (Smith), a colonel in India, whom she has never met. While there, Temple becomes a sort of a mascot of the soldiers, with Sgt. MacDuff (McLaglen) taking care of her and teaching her how to be a soldier. Another soldier (Whalen) courts Temple's mother. Cesar Romero plays Khoda Khan, a bandit prince who is being held prisoner in the fort. Ford's direction is as exciting as ever, and the cinematography is halfway between the expressionism of The Informer and the naturalism of Stagecoach. The musical score is also quite good. One might object to the colonialist viewpoint of the film, but, to be fair, Wee Willie Winkie is a lot more palatable in that respect than George Stevens' much more famous Gunga Din is. 9/10.