Stowaway (1936)

When Ching-Ching's (Shirley Temple) missionary guardians are killed by Chines bandits she must fend for herself on the streets of Shanghai. Taking refuge from the rain in a car's open trunk Ching-Ching wakes up to find the car on a ship bound for America. The car's owner (Robert Young) is thoroughly charmed by the lost child and proposes a temporary marriage to another passenger (Alice Faye) in order to give her a proper home. But when the two adults meet in divorce court it's up to Ching-Ching to make them realize that they are in love.System Requirements:Running Time: 87 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS Rating: G UPC: 024543514435 Manufacturer No: 2251443 Product Description

One of Shirley's best but a nothing package.

It is not easy to classify the films of that phenomenon Shirley Temple. You either love 'em or hate 'em and there is not much in between. For what it is worth, this is one of the better ones and a smash in its day. Shirley plays an orphan in the orient, of all places, complete with Chinese sayings and dialect - all pretty hard to stomach but still impressive for a kid performer. The pluses for this film is that there is a quite exciting story to tell and there are some flesh and blood roles for the adults. Robert Young is a convincing playboy and Alice Faye, emerging at the time from her Harlow look alike days, performs 2 great songs, the signature "Goodnight my Love" which became a huge hit and the stunning "One Never Knows, does One" filmed at the entrance to a moonlit balcony with Faye in closeup. No wonder she became a superstar. Her warm contralto sounds superb and she looks sensational.

The DVD print has been restored and is good but the soundtrack does not seem right with a sort of echoing resonance to it. There are no extras so I would not really say this DVD is great value. May 7, 2008

Strong Temple film; no extras

Fox continues to release the Temple films without any real extras; this one appears to be no exception. According to the Fox press release, this film underwent a restoration, which only leads me to believe it must have been in horrible shape. The picture is watchable, but definitely shows it's age. As a departure from the other releases in this series, there is NO colorized version to choose from. For film buffs, this is a plus!

"Stowaway" (1936) Story: Ching-Ching (Temple), a child whose guardians are killed in Shanghai, seeks refuge from the streets in a car's open trunk, only to wake up and find the car on a ship bound for the U.S. The car's owner, a wealthy playboy (Robert Young, known for the TV shows "Father Knows Best" and "Marcus Welby, MD"), is charmed by Ching-Ching, and offers to marry another passenger (Alice Faye) in order to keep the child. When the two adults meet in divorce court, it's up to Ching-Ching to keep them together. Quite a few memorable songs (Faye & Temple on "Goodnight My Love" & Temple imitating Ginger Rogers & Al Jolson in "You've Gotta' S.M.I.L.E."). Faye really shines in this movie, which would be the last time Temple & Faye were paired together, as Faye was already a star in her own right by this time. Features the original black and white film in its original theatrical aspect ratio with English Stereo and English and Spanish Mono and includes English, French and Spanish subtitles. 85 minutes.

Warning for parents: surprisingly, there are some adult situations in this movie, such as divorce, Alice Faye's character being engaged yet flirting with Young, and Robert Young's philandering playboy character (who asks for his checkbook to "buy off" yet another girl who produces a child!). Nothing really major, but children may seek an explanation just the same.

For a better value, get Volume 6 of Fox's Shirley Temple collection, as it also includes "Wee Willie Winkie" and "Young People." April 26, 2008

Shirley Temple and Alice Faye charm in delightful musical

STOWAWAY is one of Shirley Temple's best films, from her middle years with Twentieth Century-Fox. She gets to speak in fluent Chinese and impress with her impersonation skills.

She plays Ching-Ching, the enchanting young ward of two Chinese missionaries who are killed. Ching-Ching is smuggled away to Shanghai by the faithful Sun-Lo (Philip Ahn), only to get mixed up with carefree playboy Tommy Randall (Robert Young) after taking refuge in the trunk of his car. The car is loaded into the cargo of a luxurious ocean liner, of which Tommy is a passenger. Thus, Ching-Ching becomes the 'stowaway' of the title.

Alice Faye turns in a great performance as Susan, another passenger on the ship, traveling with her prospective mother-in-law (Helen Westley). All kinds of misadventures and misunderstandings occur before Ching-Ching ultimately brings together Tommy and Susan. Temple displays her uncanny skill for impersonation with her delightful takes on Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor and Ginger Rogers dancing with Fred Astaire!

Shirley Temple sings "Goodnight My Love" (later reprised by Alice Faye with different lyrics), "You Gotta S.M.I.L.E." and "That's What I Want for Christmas"; Alice Faye performs "One Never Knows". Truly a delightful film. January 27, 2008

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