La mascotte du régiment

Rudyard Kipling's story serves as the basis for this excellent John Ford film. Mr. Ford, one of America's best directors of all times, got probably a fantastic budget to get this movie made. It paid well as we are given a great account of Mr. Kipling's novel by the man who knew about how to make movies come alive.

This was obviously a Shirley Temple vehicle. Ms. Temple was one of the best child actress of all times. Whenever she is in front of the camera, this little girl has a way of stealing the viewer's heart. In all the films we have seen, this seems to be her best, and in fact, Ms. Temple always speaks about her fond memories about this movie.

Of course, this film wouldn't have worked the way it did, had it not been by the amazing performance by Victor McLaglen, who as Sgt. MacDuff, befriends the little girl that has come to live at the headquarters where he is serving. His roughness are tamed by the love he feels toward young Priscilla.

John Ford got excellent performances from everyone, but of course, Shirley Temple and Victor McLaglen run away with the film and our admiration. C. Aubrey Smith, the distinguished actor makes a great appearance as the Colonel in charge of the outpost in India. Cesar Romero is also good as the rebel Khoda Kahn. June Lang plays Priscilla's mother and Michael Whalen is "Coppy", the man who falls for the young girl's widowed mother.

This is a film that will delight anyone, young or old, because it is a timeless classic, thanks to John Ford.

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.

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.

This was okay but Shirley Temple made enough better movies that this wasn't a "keeper"in the end. I still have at least a half dozen of her other films which, I thought, were far more appealing.

They were also shorter, too. At 100 minutes, this is too long a movie for the normal Temple fare. It was her longest movie as a child actor. The major fault, which also involves the time, is that is simply wasn't that interesting.

It has its cute moments as all Temple films did and the cinematography was good. The fact John Ford directed it may have something to do with the better-than-average photography. I also enjoyed Victor McLaughlen in here. He played the best character.

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!