Stowaway

Believe it or not, Shirley Temple has got herself a Chinese name ("Ching Ching") and lost in Shanghai. The god of luck is looking down favourably on her, though, and she happens upon "Tommy" (Robert Young). She befriends him, takes a nap in his car and next thing is the eponymous lass on a Transpacific liner heading to the USA. He is a decent cove and agrees to take her under his wing but with their destination looming, an orphanage for her beckons! Unmarried men can't adopt. Meantime, "Susan" (Alice Faye) is also on the boat and also takes a shine to the little girl - and to her minder, too! She's engaged to the rather wimpish "Richard" (Allan Lane) though and her mother (Helen Westley) wants no truck with "Tommy" - so, yep - you've guessed it - it falls to the curly-haired star to do a bit of fixing so that true love will blossom and she will hopefully be spared being in a real version of "Annie". The instantly recognisable dulcet tones of Eugenie Pallette help keep things on an even keel and Temple delivers with her usual and natural charm. On that last point, she always comes across as charismatic and never precocious, and here there's a germ of chemistry between her, Young and Faye. Messrs. Revel & Gordon have provided a few gentle numbers to allow Temple to show off some of her nimble dancing and the writing some entertainingly bilingual dexterity. It's light-hearted and characterful fun, this, and though you'll probably never remember it, it's enjoyable.

As I watched this film, I was shocked how the amazingly talented Shirley Temple APPEARED to be speaking Chinese. I assumed she was actually speaking nonsense. I was thrilled, however, by Moondog-8's review as they said that she really WAS speaking reasonably good Mandarin Chinese!! What a talented kid!! Ching-Ching is the orphaned child of missionaries in China. She mostly wanders the street like a ray of sunshine. She happens upon a playboy bachelor (Robert Young) and he's naturally taken by her. Later, when she accidentally stows away on the same ship as Young, he befriends her and even wants to adopt her. But, he needs to find a wife FAST, as they won't let a bachelor adopt a kid. So, he asks a very nice lady (Alice Faye) and the rest is for you to see for yourself.

This film is unusual in that it's pure sentimentality and schmaltz...yet it manages to work. This is because of the combined talents of Shirley, Robert Young and Alice Faye--who were all at the top of their game. Plus, the writing is good...provided you can dismiss some nagging questions you'll naturally face. So, try not to think HOW an orphan living in impoverished China can have permed curls, clean clothes and look well-fed! Just ignore all this and take in the fun--and the film does manage to be quite fun.

By the way, in the credits, Faye's fiancé is credited as Allan Lane. Later, he gained fame as cowboy star 'Rocky' Lane.

STOWAWAY (20th Century-Fox,1936), directed by William A. Seiter, places child star Shirley Temple in shipboard story set in China for her fourth and final 1936 film release. It consists of everything from adventure, romance, music and doses of comedy. The precocious Temple even gets to speak Chinese as well as recite ancient Chinese proverbs. Other than that, she's supported by a strong cast headed by Robert Young (on loan from MGM) and Fox's own songstress Alice Faye, very well on her way in becoming the studio's top attraction.

The story begins in Sanchow, China, where orphan Barbara Stewart, better known as "Ching-Ching" (Shirley Temple), is now the ward of a missionary couple (William Stack and Helen Jerome-Eddy). As bandits come to attack the city, Sun Lo (Philip Ahn), loyal friend of Barbara's deceased parents, places her and her dog on a boat with Chang (Willie Fung) as her guide, bound for Shanghai where she is to be left under the care Sun-Lo's brother. After Chang takes off with her money to go gambling, Ching-Ching wanders off in Shanghai looking food and a soup bone for her dog. While there she encounters Tommy Randall (Robert Young), an wealthy American playboy on an extended cruise, wanting to purchase a Dragon's Head in a souvenir shop, and having a difficult time communicating with the proprietor. After helping him with the Chinese-English translations, Tommy decides to take the little girl along with him to see what he can do for her after learning she's a wandering orphan. Afterwards, the two become separated, a rain storm finds Ching Ching seeking shelter in the trunk of Tommy's sports roadster where she and her dog fall asleep. During that time, Tommy's car is transported on board ship. Hours out of port and sailing through the China seas, Ching-Ching awakens, pops out of the roadster and finds herself a stowaway. Afraid of being arrested, she hides out in the state room of Susan Randall (Alice Faye), a young girl traveling with her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Hope (Helen Westley) to meet her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Richard (Allan Lane) stationed in Bangkak, Siam on an engineering job. After encountering the child, Susan informs the good-natured captain (Robert Greig) she'll be responsible for her. Their union leads to Ching-Ching's reunion with Tommy, and the attraction of the young couple she's befriended, thus causing the meddlesome Mrs. Hope to send for her Richard before things get too involved. Situations do become complex when the captain, learning the child has no living relatives, to do his duty by sending Ching-Ching to an orphanage once the boat docks in Singapore, and having her separated from Tommy and Susan.

A very involving yet good-natured story of how fate steps in when a lost child encounters strangers along the way and becoming involved in their lives. In true Temple tradition, songs numbers are cleverly worked into the story as added attractions. With music and lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel (otherwise noted), the motion picture soundtrack is as follows: "Goodnight, My Love" (Sung by Shirley Temple); "Goodnight, My Love" (sung by Alice Faye); "Please" by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger (sung by Chinaman imitating Bing Crosby); "You Got to S.M.I.L.E." (sung by Temple); "One Never Knows, Does One? (sung by Faye); and "That's What I Want for Christmas" (sung by Temple) by Irving Caesar and Gerald Marks.

Although Temple introduces the film's best song, "Goodnight, My Love," it's Faye's rendition that comes off best. Her only other number, "One Never Knows" finds her memorably standing alone in her stateroom with the moonlight and reflections of the China seas as the backdrop. Faye and Young make a fine pair in what was to become their only collaboration on screen. As for Shirley, she stops the show midway as a participant in a Chinese "Major Bowes" talent contest telling everybody in song they got to "S.M.I.L.E," followed by her imitations of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and doing the Ginger Rogers dancing bit opposite a Fred Astaire look-alike dummy. How convenient to have all those props available and everything else done to perfection without any pre-planning. Yet for Temple movies such as this, entertainment's the key factor. Nothing else matters.

Other members in the cast include the familiar faces of Eugene Palette as The Colonel; Arthur Treacher as Randall's butler, Adkins; Astrid Allwyn as Kay Swift; J. Edward Bromberg adding some amusing bits as Judge J.D. Booth in the Reno sequence.

When STOWAWAY used to air on local television back in the 1960s and 70s, this 87 minute feature would be placed into a 90 minute time slot. To make room for commercial breaks, certain scenes were either altered or completely cut, notably an extended scene in Hong Kong where Temple and Young find themselves arrested and placed in jail due to a misunderstanding involving a Chinese woman's missing child.

Complete prints to STOWAWAY became available in the late 1980s through CBS-Fox Video, as well as in the colorized format on both VHS and DVD. Cable television history consists of the Disney Channel (1980s); American Movie Classics (1996-2001, Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 3, 2013); both in black and white formats; AMC colorized after 2007); and on the Fox Movie Channel.

STOWAWAY is a fun and agreeable film that should still be of interest to viewers of all ages, thanks to the knowhow and ever presence of Temple and company. One never knows, does one? (***)

Well, Shirley Temple is in Shanghai for this feel-good musical-drama-romance. She is an inadvertent stowaway in this story and even speaks in Chinese quite a bit. In addition she relates a few profound and touching Chinese sayings and does a cute song on stage on the boat.

Looking after her are the adults leads: Robert Young (who looks very young in here) and Alice Faye. Also fun to see, speaking of young, is Arthur Treacher, who has some funny lines.

There is not a lot of funny material in here but it's a nice film and definite good addition to any Shirley Temple collection. I also saw a colorized edition of this, and they it was one of the better jobs in that regard. It hasn't been issued on DVD yet, but I assume it will since most of films are out on that format by now.

Shirley Temple is orphaned and alone in Shanghai when she meets up with playboy Robert Young. She stows away accidentally on the cruise ship he's on, where Alice Faye is engaged to Allan Lane. Lane's misfortune lies in having Helen Westley for a mother. Her interference drives a wedge between her son and his fiancee. It's up to Shirley to get Young and Miss Faye together.

The big song in this movie is Harry Revel & Mack Gordon's "Good Night My Love," introduced by Miss Temple and reprised by Miss Faye. As usual, lots of well-known performers show up, including Eugene Pallette, Arthur Treacher, J. Edward Bromberg, and Robert Greig. Several Asian-American actors get sympathetic parts, including Philip Ahn, Willie Fung, and Sammee Tong doing a Bing Crosby imitation.