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Captain January (1936 film)
Encyclopedia
Captain January is a 1936 American comedy drama film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend is based on the story The Lighthouse at Cape Tempest by Laura E. Richards. The film stars Shirley Temple, Guy Kibbee, and Sara Haden in a story about a foundling pursued by a truant officer. The screenplay is based on the 1891 children's book Captain January by Laura E. Richards
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The film features a famous dance routine for Temple and Buddy Ebsen called “At the Codfish Ball”. The film was a remake of a 1924 version of the story starring Baby Peggy. In 2009, the film was available on videocassette and DVD in both black-and-white and computer-colorized versions.
June Lang commented, “[Temple] was never late on the set, never fluffed her lines […] She was never allowed to associate with anyone. After every scene, […] Shirley would always go to her mother, who sat in a director’s chair with her name on it just to the side of the camera. If not needed, they would go to Shirley’s dressing-room suite. There was never a time actors could talk to Shirley between takes.”
shorts in the film and commented in a British magazine: "Shirley Temple acts and dances with immense vigour and assurance, but some of her popularity seems to rest on a coquetry […] and on an oddly precocious body as voluptuous in grey flannel as Dietrich’s
." He described Captain January as “sentimental, a little depraved, with an appeal interestingly decadent." He visited Hollywood, met Temple at the studio, and retained his initial impression of the young actress.
In October 1937, Graham wrote in a British magazine that Shirley was a "complete totsy" and "[h]er admirers—middle-aged men and clergymen—respond to her dubious coquetry, to the sight of her well-shaped and desirable little body, packed with enormous vitality, only because the safety curtain of story and dialogue drops between their intelligence and their desire." The studio and Temple’s parents sued and won. The settlement was placed in a London trust until Temple was twenty-one at which time it was given to charity for the construction of a youth center in England.
Laura E. Richards
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a high-profile family. During her life, she wrote over 90 books, including children's, biographies, poetry, and others. A well-known children's poem for which she is noted is the literary nonsense verse Eletelephony.Her father...
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The film features a famous dance routine for Temple and Buddy Ebsen called “At the Codfish Ball”. The film was a remake of a 1924 version of the story starring Baby Peggy. In 2009, the film was available on videocassette and DVD in both black-and-white and computer-colorized versions.
Plot
Helen 'Star' Mason is a foundling rescued from the sea as a baby by Captain January, a lighthouse keeper. The two live in the lighthouse at Cape Tempest. Agatha Morgan, a truant officer in the area, demands that Star be enrolled in school and removed from the care of Captain January who never legally adopted her. The possibility of being separated is devastating for both January and Star. Meanwhile, January loses his job at the lighthouse when the lamp is replaced with an automatic one. Things look desperate for Star and January. Nazro, January’s friend, tries to help and traces Star’s relatives to Boston. He contacts them and they arrive at Cape Tempest to claim her. To Star’s surprise and delight, her wealthy aunt and uncle buy her a yacht and hire January as helmsman, Nazro and Roberts as crew, and Mrs. Croft as Cook.Cast
- Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
as Helen 'Star' Mason, a foundling rescued from the sea by Capt. January - Guy KibbeeGuy KibbeeGuy Bridges Kibbee was an American stage and film actor.Born in El Paso, Texas, Kibbee began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats and eventually became a successful Broadway actor...
as Captain January, the lighthouse keeper at Cape Tempest, Maine - Slim SummervilleSlim SummervilleSlim Summerville was an American film actor, best known as a comedy performer.-Life and career:Born George Joseph Summerville in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Summerville began his career as a "Keystone Kop" in 1912...
as Captain Nazro, January’s friend - Buddy EbsenBuddy EbsenBuddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
as Paul Roberts, January's friend - Sara HadenSara HadenSara Haden was a character actress in Hollywood films of the 1930s through the 1950s.She was born Sarah Haden on November 17, 1899 in Galveston, Texas. Haden was the daughter of another character actress, Charlotte Walker, who was active in silent films and early talkies...
as Agatha Morgan, a stern truant officer - June LangJune Lang-Early life:Born Winifred June Vlasek in Minneapolis, Minnesota , she originally trained as a dancer in "kiddie reviews" and went to Hollywood at the urging of her mother.-Career:...
as Mary, a kindhearted schoolteacher - Jane Darwell as Mrs. Eliza Croft, a widow smitten with Capt. January
Production
The studio’s first script ended with the death of Captain January following a massive heart attack when Star departs with her relatives. Zanuck found this ending unacceptable. In the revised script, January does not die but becomes the helmsman of the yacht given Star by her wealthy relatives. A talking parrot was introduced in the revised script but cut by Zanuck. The film went into production in late October 1936 and was ready for post-production work in December.June Lang commented, “[Temple] was never late on the set, never fluffed her lines […] She was never allowed to associate with anyone. After every scene, […] Shirley would always go to her mother, who sat in a director’s chair with her name on it just to the side of the camera. If not needed, they would go to Shirley’s dressing-room suite. There was never a time actors could talk to Shirley between takes.”
Critical reception
‘’Captain January’’ was a hit, but an unpleasant relationship developed between the Temples and the studio, and film critic Graham Greene. Greene saw something of the coquette Temple had portrayed in the old Baby BurlesksBaby Burlesks
Baby Burlesks is the collective series title of eight thematically unrelated one-reeler films produced by Jack Hays and directed by Charles Lamont for Educational Pictures in 1932 and 1933. The eight films are satires on major motion pictures, film stars, celebrities, and current events, and are...
shorts in the film and commented in a British magazine: "Shirley Temple acts and dances with immense vigour and assurance, but some of her popularity seems to rest on a coquetry […] and on an oddly precocious body as voluptuous in grey flannel as Dietrich’s
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
." He described Captain January as “sentimental, a little depraved, with an appeal interestingly decadent." He visited Hollywood, met Temple at the studio, and retained his initial impression of the young actress.
In October 1937, Graham wrote in a British magazine that Shirley was a "complete totsy" and "[h]er admirers—middle-aged men and clergymen—respond to her dubious coquetry, to the sight of her well-shaped and desirable little body, packed with enormous vitality, only because the safety curtain of story and dialogue drops between their intelligence and their desire." The studio and Temple’s parents sued and won. The settlement was placed in a London trust until Temple was twenty-one at which time it was given to charity for the construction of a youth center in England.