''Stowaway'' is a 1936 American musical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay by

William M. Conselman William Marien Conselman (July 10, 1896 – May 25, 1940) was an American screenwriter who also wrote newspaper comic strips under his Bill Conselman byline and sometimes under the pseudonym Frank Smiley. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

Nat Perrin Nat Perrin (March 15, 1905 – May 9, 1998) was an American comedy film, television, and radio screenwriter, producer, and director, who contributed gags and storylines to several Marx Brothers films and co-wrote the script for the film '' Hellz ...

, and

Arthur Sheekman Arthur Sheekman (February 5, 1901 – January 12, 1978) was an American theater and movie critic, columnist, playwright, and editor—but best known for his writing for the screen. His specialty was light comedy. Groucho Marx called him "The Fast ...

is based on a story by

Samuel G. Engel Samuel G. Engel (December 29, 1904 – April 7, 1984) was a screenwriter and film producer from the 1930s until the 1960s. He wrote and produced such films as ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), ''Sitting Pretty (1948 film), Sitting Pretty'' ...

. The film is about a young orphan called "Ching Ching" ( Shirley Temple) who meets wealthy playboy Tommy Randall ( Robert Young) in Shanghai and then accidentally stows away on the ocean liner he is travelling on. The film was hugely successful, and is available on videocassette and DVD.

Plot

Young orphan Barbara "Ching-Ching" Stewart lives in Sanchow, China. When bandits threaten the village, she is sent to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

for safety. Accidentally separated from her guide, Ching-Ching finds herself alone in Shanghai with her dog, Mr Wu. She meets Tommy Randall, a rich American playboy traveling about the world by ocean liner. Tommy leaves Ching-Ching in his convertible car while he goes into a hotel to see several friends. When Tommy returns, it appears Ching-Ching is gone, though she actually crawled into the car's trunk when it started raining and has fallen asleep. Tommy's car is loaded into the ship's cargo hold and Ching-Ching accidentally becomes a stowaway. When discovered, Tommy provides for her, helped by Susan Parker, a beautiful young woman traveling aboard the ship with her future mother-in-law, Mrs Hope. They are headed to Bangkok where Susan is to marry her fiancé, Richard Hope, who works there. As Susan and Tommy grow attracted to one another during the voyage, Ching-Ching plays Cupid to ignite a romance. Mrs Hope, alarmed over Susan's attachment to Tommy, telegrams Richard to meet them at the next port. Tommy and Susan learn Ching-Ching is to disembark at the next port and sent to an orphanage in Shanghai after it is learned her missionary guardians were killed in the village attack. Tommy wants to adopt Ching-Ching but, being a bachelor, cannot. He asks Susan to adopt Ching Ching when she marries Richard and only until he can himself marry and then adopt the child. However, Susan has ended her engagement over Richard's selfish nature and his overbearing mother's constant interference. She agrees to marry Tommy in name only so they can adopt Ching-Ching. They agree to divorce upon returning to the US, giving Tommy custody. During the court proceedings, they realize they love each other and remain married and adopt Ching-Ching.

Cast

* Shirley Temple as Barbara "Ching-Ching" Stewart, a young American girl

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

ed in China * Robert Young as Tommy Randall, a playboy and world traveler who wants to adopt Barbara *

Alice Faye Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as '' On the Avenue'' (1937) and ''Alexander's Ragtime ...

as Susan Parker, who is engaged Mrs Hope's son, Richard *

Helen Westley Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen Early years Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, ...

as Mrs Hope, Richard's mother and Susan's future mother-in-law *

Allan Lane Allan "Rocky" Lane (born Harry Leonard Albershardt; September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV show ...

as Richard Hope, the son of Mrs. Hope and Susan's fiancé *

Eugene Pallette Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, ...

as the Colonel, Tommy's friend * Astrid Allwyn as Kay Swift, Tommy's friend *

Jayne Regan Bobbie Stoffregen (July 28, 1909 – March 19, 2000), known professionally as Jayne Regan, was an American film actress. Her original name was sometimes seen as Bobby Stoffregen. Regan was the daughter of Herman C. and Anna Stoffregen. From ag ...

as Dora Day, Tommy's friend *

Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet c ...

as Atkins, Tommy's valet *

Philip Ahn Philip Ahn (born Pillip Ahn (), March 29, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asi ...

as Sun Lo, Barbara's friend in Sanchow *

Willie Fung Willie Fung (3 March 1896 – 16 April 1945) was a Chinese-American film actor who played supporting roles in 125 American films between 1922 and 1944. Like many Chinese actors working in Hollywood during the era, he often played Japanese charac ...

as Chang, Sun-lo's friend and a boatman *

Robert Greig Robert Greig (December 27, 1879 – June 27, 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian pol ...

as Captain of SS Victoria * J. Edward Bromberg as Judge J. D. Booth * Layne Tom Jr. as Chinese Boy in the Musical Band (uncredited)

Production

Temple learned forty words in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

for the film, later stating the learning process required six months of instruction. She was taught by UCLA student Bessie Nyi. She encountered problems in her communication with the extras on the set, however, as she found out they were actually speaking a south Chinese dialect. In the film, she impersonates

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

(with a life-sized

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

doll fixed to her toes), Eddie Cantor, and

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

singing “ Mammy”. In the first take, the elastic band of the dummy, which she named Tommy Wonder, snapped off her foot. In preparation for the Jolson imitation, she had to listen and watch Jolson, something she did not enjoy doing. Production of the movie was held up for close to four weeks while first Alice Faye then Shirley Temple came down with the flu. The dog in the film, a miniature Chinese Pekinese which was owned by the wife of a local photographer, was given to Temple and renamed Ching-Ching (after her character in the movie). Temple's mother worked out a trade in which Temple and her father would agree to pose for the photographer in exchange for the dog. Temple’s IQ was tested during the ''Stowaway'' period and found to be 155, the genius classification.

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' remarked, “It’s a nifty Shirley Temple comedy with musical trimmings.” ''Variety'' commented, “Whether or not due to Seiter’s efforts, hirleydoes not appear to have outgrown ��the '' Little Miss Marker'' stage in this one as she had in her last pictures”. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' applauded the film, noting that Temple had “an amusing script behind her, an agreeable adult troupe with her, and a clever director before her.” The reviewer thought the film the best from Temple since '' Little Miss Marker''.

Notes

References

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External links

* * * * {{William A. Seiter 1936 films American black-and-white films Films about orphans Films directed by William A. Seiter Films set in China Films set on ships 20th Century Fox films 1936 musical films American musical films 1930s American films