Stowaway (1936)

A young girl lost in Shanghai is taken in by an American playboy and his girlfriend.

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

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

Stars:

Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley Temple	...	Ching-Ching aka Barbara Stewart
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 J.D. Booth
Astrid Allwyn	...	Kay Swift
Robert Greig	...	Captain
Jayne Regan	...	Dora Day
Julius Tannen	...	First Mate Jenkins
Willie Fung	...	Chang
Philip Ahn	...	Sun Lo
Paul McVey	...	Second Mate

Storyline

Ching-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:

Adventure | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

25 December 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ching Ching

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

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

Shirley Temple was tutored in her Chinese dialogue by Bessie Nyi, a UCLA student from Shanghai. When Shirley tried her phrases on the film's extras, they didn't understand her. Her dialogue was in Mandarin, which was appropriate for her character, but the Chinese community of Los Angeles largely spoke Cantonese, and consequently most of the dialogue spoken by the extras in the movie is in Cantonese, which was not spoken in Shanghai, where this film is set.

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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

Tommy Randall: Do you think your mother would mind if you joined us in a soup bone?
Barbara Stewart aka Ching-Ching: I haven't got any mother.
Tommy Randall: Well, then, your father, or family?
Barbara Stewart aka Ching-Ching: I haven't any family. I haven't even got Chang.
Tommy Randall: Who's Chang?
Barbara Stewart aka Ching-Ching: He brought me here from Sanchow, and then he ran away with my money.

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Connections

Featured in 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)

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Soundtracks

Please
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Ralph Rainger
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Originally from The Big Broadcast (1932)
Copyright 1932 by Famous Music Corp.
Sung by Sammee Tong

User Reviews

She Had a GREAT Mandarin Coach !!!

I had been living in China about a year, when I saw this DVD. (It's a very popular title in the People's Republic: there are original dialog versions, Chinese dubbed versions, colorized versions, even a sing-along version where you follow the lyrics as Shirley or Alice Faye warble.

I was humbled that a 7-year-old, under the tutelage of a Mandarin coach, could get her mouth and lips around some of the words she was using. She spoke pretty good Chinese!! Much better than mine was after living for 12 months in the country.

Aside from that, *Stowaway* is a good product of the studio system. The tunes are hummable; Alice Faye is gorgeous and has the dreamiest contralto voice; Eugene Palette is gruff yet lovable; the plot twists are fun. Plus there's a little darkness in it, because Shirley is orphaned and then abandoned after her money is stolen from her. So the first reel is anything but sweetness and light.

A fun movie.