Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

Priscilla Williams is a young girl traveling with her mother, Joyce, to join her paternal grandfather, a British army colonel, at the post he commands in northern India. Upon arrival, they ... See full summary »

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Ernest Pascal (screen play), Julien Josephson (screen play),

Stars:

Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, C. Aubrey Smith

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley Temple	...	Priscilla Williams
Victor McLaglen	...	Sergeant MacDuff
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Colonel Williams
June Lang	...	Joyce Williams
Michael Whalen	...	Coppy - Lieut. Brandes
Cesar Romero	...	Khoda Khan
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Allardyce
Douglas Scott	...	Mott
Gavin Muir	...	Captain Bibberbeigh
Willie Fung	...	Mohammet Dihn
Brandon Hurst	...	Bagby
Lionel Pape	...	Major Allardyce
Clyde Cook	...	Pipe Major Sneath
Bunny Beatty	...	Elsie Allardyce (as Lauri Beatty)
Lionel Braham	...	Major General Hammond

Storyline

Priscilla Williams is a young girl traveling with her mother, Joyce, to join her paternal grandfather, a British army colonel, at the post he commands in northern India. Upon arrival, they witness the capture of Khoda Khan, leader of the rebel Indian faction. Priscilla plays at being a soldier and is even given a uniform and allowed to drill by the genial Sergeant MacDuff, but her gruff grandfather disapproves and insists she remain apart from the troops. She eventually charms him, along with everyone else on the post, including Khoda Khan, whom she wins over by returning a talisman he's dropped. When the attractive Lieutenant Brandes deserts his post to take Joyce to a dance, Khan escapes, and Brandes is arrested. As hostilities with the rebels mount, Priscilla and servant Mohammet Dihn --actually an Indian spy--take off for Khoda Khan's stronghold.

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Plot Keywords:

colonel | lieutenant | sergeant | auld lang syne | little girl | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

La mascota del regimiento

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original story by Rudyard Kipling was about a boy, Percival Williams, but this was changed to a girl, Priscilla Williams, in order for Shirley Temple to play the role.

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Quotes

Priscilla Williams: [on her new nickname] Wee Willie Winkie. It does sound like a soldier, doesn't it?
Sgt. Donald MacDuff: Aye.
Priscilla Williams: Then I'd be Private Winkie!
Sgt. Donald MacDuff: Private Winkie it is. A full-fledged soldier of the Queen!

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Million Dollar Movie Week 4 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Auld Lang Syne"
(1788) (uncredited)
Traditional
Music Arranged by Alfred Newman and Herbert W. Spencer
Lyrics by Robert Burns
Sung a cappella by Shirley Temple

User Reviews

A Little Child Shall Lead Them --------- At the Box office

Wee Willie Winkie is quite an interesting mix of a film, combining the seemingly disparate talents of Rudyard Kipling, John Ford, and Shirley Temple in one film. The very British Mr. Kipling and the very Irish Mr. Ford is odd enough right there.

But when all is said and done it's a cavalry picture, just like Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Rio Grande. The same rough house monkeyshines among the troops, the same tribute to regimental tradition and of course the same Victor McLaglen. All military units for Ford are the same, be they the Scotch Highlanders posted to India or the Seventh Cavalry fighting the Indians.

Little Shirley and her mother June Lang go to live with Shirley's grandfather, C. Aubrey Smith, colonel of a regiment on India's northern frontier. He's a spit and polish soldier of the old school, but like she does in all her films, the little moppet melts the old guy.

But she does more than that. She also gets into the heart of bandit chief Cesar Romero who probably gives the best performance in the film. He's a warrior chief fighting for his people, but he's light years removed from the terrorists of today. Since Shirley is the only one on speaking terms with Smith and Romero, she stops a frontier uprising as well.

Wee Willie Winkie will not go down as one of John Ford's greater films, but it's decently entertaining enough. And I'm sure he didn't care about filming a Kipling story because with Shirley Temple in the lead it was going to make money.