Our next post comes in the form of our first Shirley Temple film, 1936's "Captain January", a film about an orphan who lives with the lighthouse keeper who found her when she was a baby. A mean truant officer tries to force her to go to school and tear her away from the home she loves. The supporting cast includes Guy Kibbee, Slim Summerville, Buddy Ebsen, Sara Haden, Jane Darwell, June Lang, Nella Walker, George Irving, and Bill Robinson.
Right away we meet Star. Lighthouse keeper Captain January (Kibbee) puts on some music as she awakens, and Star starts to sing "Early Bird".
We find out that Star is an orphan Captain January rescued. The only link she has with her family is an album of pictures that washed ashore in a trunk. After breakfast, Captain January sends Star on an errand in town.
Finishing her errand, Star and her friend Paul delight the locals with a song and dance, "At The Codfish Ball".
It's a cute little song. The opening lyrics go: "Next Friday night you're all invited to dance from eight to five. All the fish that's still alive are having a ball. It's some affair. They'll all be there from the herring to the whale. They'll turn out to shake a scale in Neptune's hall. Come along and follow me to the bottom of the sea. We'll join in the jamboree at the Codfish Ball."
Watching Star are exceedingly stern truant officer Agatha Morgan and kind-hearted schoolteacher Mary Marshall. Agatha tells Star that she needs to get home so she can tell Captain January the truant officer wants a word. Before racing home, Star asks the locals, "What's a truant officer?" "Stormy weather for kids!" comes the reply.
On Star's birthday, Captain Nazro, a friend of Captain January, comes calling. He's brought a present for Star: a crane.
Captain Nazro says the crane's name is Ichabod. "Look at 'em! Look at 'em!" sighs an exasperated Captain January. "If it wasn't for the ribbon, you couldn't tell 'em apart."
The truant officer barges in on her birthday and demands that Star report to school for an examination of a child of eight, two years ahead of Star's rightful age. The truant officer ultimately wants to remove Star from Captain January's care.
So, Star has to cram for her exam in a hurry. Captain January teaches her some geography, multiplication tables, and spelling. Captain Nazro even comes over to help. Captain January wants to know why he came. "Why, I bet you can't count over ten without taking your shoes off," he says as Star laughs.
The day comes for Star to take her examination. She does alright, but then the teacher asks Star to make up a story about being left alone with a little brother. Star excels in the story with a wonderful imagination. Star eventually passes the examination, even after answering a surprise question about history. The truant officer is angry that Star passed, and vows to continue pressing on with her case.
An adorable moment comes in the form of an operatic song (Chi mi freno in tal momento? from Lucia di Lammermoor). Star and Captains January and Nazro "la la la" their way through it from beginning to end. At one point, Star tries her hardest to sing the notes, but exclaims "too high!" right in the middle of the performance.
It's definitely worth a couple of minutes to watch this highly amusing piece of music.
It's a cute interpretation of a classic song. And Shirley Temple sings to the top of her range (literally!).
Captain Nazro gets some bad news. They're installing some equipment in Captain January's lighthouse that will put him out of a job. With no job, it's a cinch that he won't be able to keep Star. He finds the address of some people who may be related to her and secretly writes to them.
Eventually, Captain January finds out the truth about the lighthouse and gets depressed about not being able to find another job. Captain Nazro tells him he sent for Star's family, which further depresses January.
On the day they are scheduled to leave the lighthouse, the truant officer comes with a warrant to appear in court with Star. They hurry to Captain Nazro's boat before the truant officer arrives at the lighthouse. They almost forget Captain January's pet parrot as they leave quickly.
On Captain Nazro's boat, Star's friend Paul is waiting. The plan is for them to take it out a mile or so and wait until the truant officer backs down. Later that night, the truant officer catches up with them, and has Star forcibly removed from January's custody. Captain January gets injured in the process.
Just as Star is being taken away by the truant officer, her family comes to claim her. It turns out that her uncle is the American Consul in Morocco and has just returned after having been away for many years. On Captain Nazro's advice, they leave without first seeing Captain January.
Star moves with her uncle and aunt to their home in Boston, and they shower her with gifts. However, she can't get Captain January out of her mind, and misses him terribly.
Star's aunt and uncle tell her they're going to take a trip and they have a surprise for her. They think they've found a toy she'll really like. It's a new yacht, and they're fixing up a playroom for her. But that's not the surprise.
They've hired Captain January as the captain. And that's not all, they've also made Captain Nazro first mate. Her friend Paul is made a member of the crew. Also joining the crew is Mrs. Croft (who's been sweet on Captain January for the whole movie). She's been made the ship's cook.
The film ends with a reprise of "At The Codfish Ball", and Star is happy that she has both her newfound family and her old one in her life. Cast rundown:
Buddy Ebsen..............................................Paul Roberts
Sara Haden................................................Agatha Morgan
Jane Darwell..............................................Eliza Croft
June Lang..................................................Mary Marshall
Nella Walker...............................................Mary Mason
George Irving.............................................John Mason And that's all for Captain January. An interesting fact: one scene where Shirley Temple was supposed to dance the hula was cut. Test audiences considered the hula immoral so it was removed from the final product. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
No comments:
Post a Comment