Stowaway (1936)
- kbroer
- Nov 17, 2023
- 2 min read
Shirley Temple, Robert Young, Alice Faye
Directed by William A. Seiter
Available to stream on Amazon Prime
Our next shipboard classic features one of the biggest stars of the 1930's -- Shirley Temple. In this film, playboy Robert Young and fellow passenger Alice Faye befriend orphan Shirley Temple onboard a ship in China.
Why we love it: This is one of our favorite Shirley Temple movies, and it stands up well to the test of time. Shirley Temple is cute and funny, but the film is also entertaining on an adult level with Robert Young and Alice Faye on board ship with Alice’s dreadful future mother-in-law and prosaic fiancé. It’s a straight-forward, fun story; admittedly, with a bit of faux Asian flavor thrown in.
Fun facts:
Child actress Shirley Temple was at the peak of her phenomenal career in the mid 1930’s. Born in 1928 (although her mother maintained that she was born in 1929), she appeared in a multitude of films, four hits in 1936 alone. Credited with keeping up the spirits of the nation during the Depression years, Shirley was also a cultural phenomenon with dolls, games, dishes, spoons, and more created in her honor.
Though only 8 years old, Shirley was known to be a consummate professional. She learned 100 phrases in Mandarin for her role as Ching-Ching and came to work on time every day with all of her dialogue memorized.
Several years after this film, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of Fox Studios, famously refused to loan Shirley out to MGM for The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland was cast as Dorothy instead.
Shirley retired from movies in 1949 at the age of 21 and went on to have a political career in later life. In 1974 she was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and from 1989 to 1992 she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
For articles and reviews from the time, go to the Fan Magazine Reviews page.
Featured Cocktail:
Shirley Temple
The world’s first “mocktail” was born in the 1930s when Shirley Temple was at the height of her popularity. It is unclear who made it first, but it surely was served to the child actress herself.
As an adult, she said the “saccharine sweet, icky drink” was probably created in the “middle 1930s by the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood and I had nothing to do with it. . . . I hate them. Too sweet!”
The drink has been made so many times that there are inevitable debates about the ‘correct’ recipe. Some call for lemon-lime soda (7-Up, Sprite), some for ginger ale, and some for equal parts of the two. Experimentation will help you decide which one you—or your kids—prefer.
5-6 oz (150-180 ml) lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, or a combination of the two
2 tsp (10 ml) grenadine
The only acceptable garnish is a Maraschino cherry
Fill a tall glass with ice. Add grenadine and top with soda. Place cherry on top.
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