Captain January (1936)

Shirley lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school, but she's rescued by relatives. Buddy Ebsen dances "At The Codfish Ball" with Shirley.

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Sam Hellman (screenplay), Gladys Lehman (screenplay),

Stars:

Shirley Temple, Guy Kibbee, Slim Summerville

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Shirley lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school, but she's rescued by relatives. Buddy Ebsen dances "At The Codfish Ball" with Shirley.

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Plot Keywords:

boarding school | truant officer | lighthouse | lighthouse keeper | telegram | 

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Taglines:

A classic of childish heartache, courage, and laughter!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shirley Ahoi!

Filming Locations:

Monterey, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 77 min (FMC Library Print) (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Star's lack of schooling is being questioned, Captain January says that he has taught her using "the Bible and Bowditch". "Bowditch" refers to "The American Practical Navigator" by Nathaniel Bowditch, first published in 1802. Over the years, the text has evolved with advances in navigation practices, and continues to be a valuable reference for marine navigation in modern times.

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Quotes

Capt. Nazro: Miss Morgan is on her way here now with a deputy from Salem. You've got to beat it! You don't want them to take Star away, do you?
Capt. January: I'm not running away!
Capt. Nazro: Don't you understand? If they find you with Star, they'll take her away as sure as you're standing here!
Helen: What are they going to do to me?
Capt. Nazro: Don't be stubborn, January. You can fight later. In the meantime, take Star and hide out.

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Connections

Featured in Living Seas (1986)

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Soundtracks

"The Sailor's Hornpipe"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played by an unidentified accordian player and Danced by Buddy Ebsen
Played when Star is walking up the wooden steps

User Reviews

The Captain's Kid

CAPTAIN January (Fox, 1936), directed by David Butler, is prime Shirley Temple in a formula story about an orphan named Star who is being raised by Captain January (Guy Kibbee), a crusty old lighthouse keeper of Cape Tempest, Maine, after being rescued from a shipwreck that has drowned both her parents four years ago. All goes well until Agatha Morgan (Sara Haden), a new tyrant officer from Salem, who feels that the child isn't being reared properly, makes arrangements to take the child away from him and have her placed in an institution.

Based on the story by Laura E. Richards, CAPTAIN January is an updated reworking to an earlier 1924 Principal Pictures 1924 silent version starring Baby Peggy, Hobart Bosworth and Irene Rich. As much as this new adaptation has the makings of a straight drama, due to Temple's musical talents, and the support of a young hoofer named Buddy Ebsen (on loan from MGM), song numbers were inserted to give it some added sparkle. With the score by Lew Pollack, Sidney Mitchell and Jack Yellen, songs include: "Early Bird" (sung by Shirley Temple); "The Codfish Bowl" (sung and danced by Temple with Buddy Ebsen); a portion from "Lucia di Lammermoor" (an opera by Gaetana Donizetti, performed by Temple, Guy Kibbee and Slim Summerville) "The Right Somebody to Love" (sung by Temple/ and unseen chorus during dream sequence); "The Right Somebody to Love" (reprise by Temple) and "The Codfish Bowl" (sung by Temple, Kibbee and Summerville). With the exception of a dream sequence, where singing is possible, all the other song numbers are inserted the story, with the music played by an off-screen orchestra right on cue. For the fade-in, it's morning and Kibbee places a record player into Temple's bedroom. Temple awakens, stretches her arms into the air and looking straight into the camera starts singing the opening lyrics of "Good Morning" which begins her opening number of "Early Bird." She dances her way to the bathroom where she changes into her sailor clothes, and occasionally continues to look her way towards the camera as she brushes her teeth. A little fake, but not as imaginative as her next number, "The Codfish Bowl," displaying the dancing talents of both Temple and Buddy Ebsen. This is performed on the dock surrounded by loafing seamen playing a harmonica and according before the hi-fi off-screen orchestration sets in. A show stopper that's regrettable in not having Ebsen and Temple performing another one for an encore.

The supporting cast consists of Jerry Tucker as Cyril Morgan; Nella Walker as Mary Mason; George Irving as John Mason; Harry Hayden as Ira J. Slocum; and James Farley as the Deputy Sheriff.

While 20th Century-Fox might have used some of its own resident lovable old coots as Claude Gillingwater Sr., playing Captain January, for example, the studio used Guy Kibbee from Warner Brothers, who, in the final product, proved to be the logical choice. Kibbee also makes a memorable over-sized baby with a bib sitting in the high chair in an amusing dream sequence with Temple acting as his nursemaid.

Aside from some melodramatic scenes, including Temple crying for "Cap" as she is being being taken away by the officers after losing his position as lighthouse keeper, CAPTAIN January is equipped with amusements, the best being the exchanges between Guy Kibbee and the underrated Slim Summerville as Captain Nazro, January's best friend, along with the middle-aged Eliza Croft (Jane Darwell), a rich widow woman after the affections of January. Buddy Ebsen, years before immortalized on television as Jed Clampett in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (1962-1971), supports as the loafer with a talent for dancing who finds companionship with the local school teacher named Mary (June Lang). Their characters are essential to the plot, but both have little to do. The story relatively belongs to the trio of Temple, Kibbee and Summerville.

Temple, who rarely gets a chance to share screen time with another child actor of equal age status, does so this time with Cyril Morgan (Jerry Tucker), a precocious but obnoxious little boy with whom she finds she has to compete in an entrance exam to enter the third grade. It so happens that Cyril happens to be the nephew of the woman who wants to take Star away from January. As much as the boy keeps telling Star that she knows nothing, this equally precocious little girl eventually displays how much she does know and more.

CAPTAIN January, at 76 minutes, was one of the handful of feature films displayed in 1989 on Playhouse Video, a division of CBS/Fox Video, as part of the Shirley Temple collection. With video transfer satisfactory, most important, it's complete, with the restoration of the closing cast credits to the underscoring to "The Codfish Bowl", usually cut from TV prints. In some local television markets (particulary the New York City area prior to 1976), the closing cast credits was substituted with a NTA (National Television Association) logo. When the Disney Cable Channel presented Shirley Temple movies in the early 1990s, all of which were colorized, the closing cast credits were included while prints for American Movie Classics (1996-2001) and later, the Fox Movie Channel, in the original black and white format, eliminated the closing credits with an insertion of a THE END title card taken from another movie. FMC later had the closing credits restored. While the Shirley Temple collection from Playhouse Video has been out of print, CAPTAIN January can also found colorized in both the VHS and DVD format.

Regardless of format CAPTAIN January, is recommended viewing for adults and youngsters alike, especially those who endure themselves with old-fashioned screen entertainment equipped with comedy, songs and a touch sentiment combined. (**1/2)