Captain January

I had an unusual opportunity to see both the original 1924 version of "Captain January" (Starring Baby Peggy) and the 1936 version (Starring Shirley Temple). And, while I will freely admit that Shirley was an amazing talent, I actually preferred the original a bit more. Much of it might be because the singing and dancing in the remake seemed a bit out of place with such a sad story. Part of it might be that I just prefer originals in almost every case.

The story is not exactly the same as the original. The biggest difference is WHO Captain January is. In the 1924 film, it was the child's nickname but in this film, it's the name given to the child's adoptive father. Either way, the child was found along the shore following a shipwreck where the child's parents were killed. She was raised by a nice old lighthouse keeper (Guy Kibbee) and years later, a nasty old biddy wants to take the child away and put it in an orphanage because she feels the man is a bad influence on the kid. In the original, it was the child's aunt and uncle who threaten to take the kid and the old biddy was only a minor character. Either way, it all ends well--and everyone, naturally, is very happy.

This is a good family film....but not a great one. Shirley was fine and the film enjoyable but it just didn't seem like an improvement on an already lovely film. Worth seeing, but I recommend you see both.