Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

classicsoncall I have a fond recollection of Shirley Temple movies because when I was in grammar school during the Fifties, the classrooms would be brought to the auditorium once or twice a year to watch one of them. I think we had to pay a quarter to see them, one of the ways the school managed to generate a little income back in the day. It's impossible now to remember which ones they might have been, but as I think about it now, the movies would have already been about twenty years old even way back then! Time is a funny thing.This Shirley Temple picture is particularly delightful, with young Barbara 'Ching-Ching' Sherman (Temple) playing matchmaker for co-stars Robert Young and Alice Faye. Their relationship is jeopardized right from the start as Susan Parker (Faye) is engaged to businessman Richard Hope (Allan Lane), as playboy Tommy Randall's (Young) heart and demeanor does flip-flops in his attempt to woo Miss Parker. Ultimately it becomes a no-contest as Richard's domineering mother overshadows the relationship, and Miss Parker sorts out her feelings over the course of the story.Young Shirley's charisma as a child entertainer shines through in a variety of song numbers, particularly in her rendition of 'You Gotta S-M-I-L-E' during a Chinese talent contest. She then does an effective imitation of Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor, right before shuffling into a dance routine with a Shirley-sized mannequin. If you want to be critical, you'd have to wonder why the theater operator would have had one of those around for Ching-Ching's convenience. You know, they never did say if she won the ten yuan prize, but since there were no other performers, I guess it's a safe bet.The picture offers a humorous sequence in which Young's character walks out of a Shanghai shop with a young Chinese boy by accident instead of Shirley. The authorities are brought into the picture and both Randall and Ching-Ching spend the night in jail! Which led me to reflect on one of Ching-Ching's Chinese proverbs from her mentor Sun Lo quoted in my summary line above. If you expand the meaning of prisoners to include someone stuck in an unsuccessful marriage or relationship, you have a pretty good description of why little matchmaker Ching-Ching had to bring her Uncle Tommy and Aunt Susan together.

wes-connors Cute orphaned Shirley Temple (as Barbara "Ching-Ching" Stewart), a daughter of missionaries, gets stranded in Shanghai. When playboy tourist Robert Young (as Thomas "Tommy Randall) has trouble buying a "dragon head" from locals, Ms. Temple helps translate Chinese to English. Yes, the dimpled tyke occasionally speaks Chinese in this film. When he discovers she is homeless, Mr. Young agrees to care for Temple. After lunch, she waits in Young's car while he visits drinking buddy Eugene Palette...Due to the rain and a runaway dog, Temple becomes a "Stowaway" in Young's car...Temple finds herself on board a ship, re-encounters Young, then helps him hook up with attractive passenger Alice Faye (as Susan Parker). However, Ms. Faye is engaged to another man - putting Temple at odds with his mother Helen Westley (as Ruth Hope). Good luck opposing Temple. The film's highlight is Temple's imitations at an amateur show. First, she does Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor, singing. Next, Temple does an unfathomable, but delightful impersonation of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.****** Stowaway (12/18/36) William A. Seiter ~ Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye, Helen Westley

lugonian STOWAWAY (20th Century-Fox,1936), directed by William A. Seiter, places child star Shirley Temple in shipboard story set in China for her fourth and final 1936 film release. It consists of everything from adventure, romance, music and doses of comedy. The precocious Temple even gets to speak Chinese as well as recite ancient Chinese proverbs. Other than that, she's supported by a strong cast headed by Robert Young (on loan from MGM) and Fox's own songstress Alice Faye, very well on her way in becoming the studio's top attraction.The story begins in Sanchow, China, where orphan Barbara Stewart, better known as "Ching-Ching" (Shirley Temple), is now the ward of a missionary couple (William Stack and Helen Jerome-Eddy). As bandits come to attack the city, Sun Lo (Philip Ahn), loyal friend of Barbara's deceased parents, places her and her dog on a boat with Chang (Willie Fung) as her guide, bound for Shanghai where she is to be left under the care Sun-Lo's brother. After Chang takes off with her money to go gambling, Ching-Ching wanders off in Shanghai looking food and a soup bone for her dog. While there she encounters Tommy Randall (Robert Young), an wealthy American playboy on an extended cruise, wanting to purchase a Dragon's Head in a souvenir shop, and having a difficult time communicating with the proprietor. After helping him with the Chinese-English translations, Tommy decides to take the little girl along with him to see what he can do for her after learning she's a wandering orphan. Afterwards, the two become separated, a rain storm finds Ching Ching seeking shelter in the trunk of Tommy's sports roadster where she and her dog fall asleep. During that time, Tommy's car is transported on board ship. Hours out of port and sailing through the China seas, Ching-Ching awakens, pops out of the roadster and finds herself a stowaway. Afraid of being arrested, she hides out in the state room of Susan Randall (Alice Faye), a young girl traveling with her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Hope (Helen Westley) to meet her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Richard (Allan Lane) stationed in Bangkak, Siam on an engineering job. After encountering the child, Susan informs the good-natured captain (Robert Greig) she'll be responsible for her. Their union leads to Ching-Ching's reunion with Tommy, and the attraction of the young couple she's befriended, thus causing the meddlesome Mrs. Hope to send for her Richard before things get too involved. Situations do become complex when the captain, learning the child has no living relatives, to do his duty by sending Ching-Ching to an orphanage once the boat docks in Singapore, and having her separated from Tommy and Susan.A very involving yet good-natured story of how fate steps in when a lost child encounters strangers along the way and becoming involved in their lives. In true Temple tradition, songs numbers are cleverly worked into the story as added attractions. With music and lyrics by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel (otherwise noted), the motion picture soundtrack is as follows: "Goodnight, My Love" (Sung by Shirley Temple); "Goodnight, My Love" (sung by Alice Faye); "Please" by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger (sung by Chinaman imitating Bing Crosby); "You Got to S.M.I.L.E." (sung by Temple); "One Never Knows, Does One? (sung by Faye); and "That's What I Want for Christmas" (sung by Temple) by Irving Caesar and Gerald Marks.Although Temple introduces the film's best song, "Goodnight, My Love," it's Faye's rendition that comes off best. Her only other number, "One Never Knows" finds her memorably standing alone in her stateroom with the moonlight and reflections of the China seas as the backdrop. Faye and Young make a fine pair in what was to become their only collaboration on screen. As for Shirley, she stops the show midway as a participant in a Chinese "Major Bowes" talent contest telling everybody in song they got to "S.M.I.L.E," followed by her imitations of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and doing the Ginger Rogers dancing bit opposite a Fred Astaire look-alike dummy. How convenient to have all those props available and everything else done to perfection without any pre-planning. Yet for Temple movies such as this, entertainment's the key factor. Nothing else matters.Other members in the cast include the familiar faces of Eugene Palette as The Colonel; Arthur Treacher as Randall's butler, Adkins; Astrid Allwyn as Kay Swift; J. Edward Bromberg adding some amusing bits as Judge J.D. Booth in the Reno sequence.When STOWAWAY used to air on local television back in the 1960s and 70s, this 87 minute feature would be placed into a 90 minute time slot. To make room for commercial breaks, certain scenes were either altered or completely cut, notably an extended scene in Hong Kong where Temple and Young find themselves arrested and placed in jail due to a misunderstanding involving a Chinese woman's missing child. Complete prints to STOWAWAY became available in the late 1980s through CBS-Fox Video, as well as in the colorized format on both VHS and DVD. Cable television history consists of the Disney Channel (1980s); American Movie Classics (1996-2001, Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 3, 2013); both in black and white formats; AMC colorized after 2007); and on the Fox Movie Channel.STOWAWAY is a fun and agreeable film that should still be of interest to viewers of all ages, thanks to the knowhow and ever presence of Temple and company. One never knows, does one? (***)

ccthemovieman-1 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.