Stowaway (1936)

Chin-Ching gets lost in Shanghai and is befriended by American playboy Tommy Randall. She falls asleep in his car which winds up on a ship headed for America. Susan Parker, also on the ship... See full summary »

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

William M. Conselman (screen play), Arthur Sheekman (screen play),

Stars:

Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley Temple	...	Ching-Ching
Robert Young	...	Tommy Randall
Alice Faye	...	Susan Parker
Eugene Pallette	...	The Colonel
Helen Westley	...	Mrs. Hope
Arthur Treacher	...	Atkins
Allan Lane	...	Richard Hope
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Judge Booth
Astrid Allwyn	...	Kay Swift
Robert Greig	...	Captain
Jayne Regan	...	Dora Day
Julius Tannen	...	First Mate
Willie Fung	...	Chang
Philip Ahn	...	Sun Lo
Paul McVey	...	Second Mate

Storyline

Chin-Ching gets lost in Shanghai and is befriended by American playboy Tommy Randall. She falls asleep in his car which winds up on a ship headed for America. Susan Parker, also on the ship, marries Randall to give Chin-Ching a family.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | melodrama

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Genres:

Musical | Adventure | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

25 December 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sonnenscheinchen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

New York dateline, November 17, 1938: Composers Galore Say Tune in "Stowaway" was Pirated [Headline]. Plagiarism suits and claims plagued 20th Century-Fox this week, with all parts of the world represented, apparently, in the allegations that the Mack Gordon-Harry Revel tune "Good Night, My Love," which was used in the 1936 Shirley Temple picture "Stowaway" had been pirated wholly or in part. In Argentina, a musical trial was held in a Buenos Aires theater with the audience, admitted on free passes, acting as a jury. Two reels of the picture were exhibited and the song of the claimant, Juan Calabria, and the Gordon-Revel piece were played. The audience found for the plaintiff. Twentieth Century-Fox's legal department, taking the position that the audience-jury was "packed," is moving for a dismissal. Charles McCord, a New York tune smith, is suing for $60,000 damages from 20th Century-Fox, alleging that Gordon and Revel lifted music from a song he wrote as the basis for "Good Night, My Love." Claims have also been received from Europe also. So maybe it isn't surprising that Edwin P. Kilroe, copyright expert of the company's legal staff, said yesterday that he was waiting to hear from the heirs of Verdi and Brahams. Gordon and Revel were to arrive in New York this week from the coast.

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Goofs

When Ching-Ching meets Tommy Randall in the shop where he's trying to buy a dragon's head, the shop owner holds up the dragon head to let Tommy Randall see it. In the next shot, the dragon's head is sitting on the counter.

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Quotes

Susan Parker: Do you know where Ching-Ching is?
Tommy Randall: Yes.
Susan Parker: Well, would you mind telling me?
Tommy Randall: She's below, getting ready to leave the ship at the next stop. They're sending her to an orphanage for girls. She'll be marching in lockstep and eating gruel within a week. I hope you like it!
Susan Parker: Surely something can be done. That can't happen to Ching-Ching.
Tommy Randall: Wait a minute, I've got an idea. You're going to marry old sourpuss, aren't you?
Susan Parker: I beg your pardon!
Tommy Randall: I'm sorry, no offense meant. Look, I wanted to adopt Ching-Ching, but ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Innocence (1998)

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Soundtracks

Rock-a-Bye Baby: (1886) (uncredited)
Written by Effie I. Canning
Sung a cappella by Arthur Treacher

User Reviews

Shirley Speaks Chinese!

Well, Shirley Temple is in Shanghai for this feel-good musical-drama-romance. She is an inadvertent stowaway in this story and even speaks in Chinese quite a bit. In addition she relates a few profound and touching Chinese sayings and does a cute song on stage on the boat.

Looking after her are the adults leads: Robert Young (who looks very young in here) and Alice Faye. Also fun to see, speaking of young, is Arthur Treacher, who has some funny lines.

There is not a lot of funny material in here but it's a nice film and definite good addition to any Shirley Temple collection. I also saw a colorized edition of this, and they it was one of the better jobs in that regard. It hasn't been issued on DVD yet, but I assume it will since most of films are out on that format by now.