La mascotte du régiment

"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.

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.

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 quite an interesting mix of a film, combining the seemingly disparate talents of Rudyard Kipling, John Ford, and Shirley Temple in one film. The very British Mr. Kipling and the very Irish Mr. Ford is odd enough right there.

But when all is said and done it's a cavalry picture, just like Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande. The same rough house monkeyshines among the troops, the same tribute to regimental tradition and of course the same Victor McLaglen. All military units for Ford are the same, be they the Scotch Highlanders posted to India or the Seventh Cavalry fighting the Indians.

Little Shirley and her mother June Lang go to live with Shirley's grandfather, C. Aubrey Smith, colonel of a regiment on India's northern frontier. He's a spit and polish soldier of the old school, but like she does in all her films, the little moppet melts the old guy.

But she does more than that. She also gets into the heart of bandit chief Cesar Romero who probably gives the best performance in the film. He's a warrior chief fighting for his people, but he's light years removed from the terrorists of today. Since Shirley is the only one on speaking terms with Smith and Romero, she stops a frontier uprising as well.

Wee Willie Winkie will not go down as one of John Ford's greater films, but it's decently entertaining enough. And I'm sure he didn't care about filming a Kipling story because with Shirley Temple in the lead it was going to make money.

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.