Captain January (1936)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Sam Hellman (screenplay) &
Gladys Lehman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Family

Tagline:

Singing, dancing, laughing...in the most lovable story she's ever had!

Plot:

Shirley lives with a lighthouse keeper (Kibbee) who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer...

Plot Keywords:

Truant Officer | Boarding School | Lighthouse Keeper | Lighthouse | Deputy Sheriff

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Star
Guy Kibbee	...	Captain January
Slim Summerville	...	Captain Nazro
Buddy Ebsen	...	Paul Roberts
Sara Haden	...	Agatha Morgan
Jane Darwell	...	Eliza Croft
June Lang	...	Mary Marshall
Jerry Tucker	...	Cyril Morgan
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. John Mason
George Irving	...	John Mason
Jim Farley	...	Deputy Sheriff (as James Farley)
Si Jenks	...	Old Sailor

Runtime:

77 min (FMC Library Print) (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #1823)

Filming Locations:

Monterey, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In one scene of this film, Shirley Temple's character is given a crane for her birthday. This crane continually pecked at cast and crew members, so a prop man nailed its webbed feet to the floor. Director David Butler insisted that this was not painful for the crane, and Shirley Temple later recalled that the crane never seemed to be suffering, even after the nails were removed. The local humane society learned of the incident and sent an agent to the set to investigate, but when the agent tried to get a closer look at the crane, it pecked at her, too.

Quotes:

Capt. Nazro: Star can read writing and write reading better than any six year old on this coast.
Capt. January: Any six year old? Why, there ain't no seven or eight year old that knows as much as Star. I've been learning her from the two best books there is, The Bible and Bowditch.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Bowditch? A book on navigation? Fine reading for a child of six!
Capt. Nazro: Any objections to The Bible?
Capt. January: There ain't no better reading in the world than The Bible and Bowditch. They both learn you to steer a straight course.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (#6.6)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Chi mi freno in tal momento?

Another Shirley Temple Family Film Classic

A vindictive truant officer attempts to wrest little Star from CAPTAIN JANUARY, the old lighthouse keeper who saved her from a watery grave.

Shirley Temple captivates her audience once again in this, one of her most popular films. Aided by fine production values courtesy of Fox, the Tiny Tyke does not disappoint. Singing & dancing, laughing or crying, she once again exhibits all the talents which for years made her top of the Hollywood box office heap.

It's difficult to imagine anyone other than cuddly Guy Kibbee in the title role. He's excellent, but he's also given firm support from old pros Slim Summerville & Jane Darwell. Sara Haden makes a nasty villainess, while OUR GANG bad boy Jerry Tucker is her obnoxious nephew. Pretty June Lang plays the sweet village schoolteacher.

Amiable hoofer Buddy Ebsen joins Shirley in a wonderful song & dance number, ‘The Cod Fish Ball.' Tall & pliable, with plenty of goofy facial expressions, Buddy's performance gives a little idea as to how much he might have contributed to THE WIZARD OF OZ three years later over at Metro, had not health reasons forced him to withdrawal.

Shirley also sings ‘Early Bird' and, in a delightful nursery fantasy, ‘The Right Somebody To Love.'