Captain January

Captain January (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Remake of the 1924 film has Shirley Temple taking over the role originally played by Baby Peggy. In the film she plays the feisty six-year-old Star who has been raised by Captain January (Guy Kibbee) ever since he found her after a shipwreck killed her parents. Their lives are perfect until a truancy officer (Sara Haden) shows up and tries to start trouble. CAPTAIN January is a step up from the original silent version thanks in large part to the terrific cast. With such an irresistible cast it's nearly impossible not to be entertained by this film no matter how predictable it gets. In regards to the predictability, there's certainly nothing here that's going to shock the viewer because it follows the original film fairly closely, although the truancy officer is something new here. In the original it was the girl's original family showing up that caused the problems. There's no way anyone won't see the ending here coming but it was quite good. The performances are really what makes this one worth watching with Temple and Kibbee doing a wonderful job together. There's no question that their chemistry is off the chart as the two really do come across as being very close and loving. Slim Summerville adds terrific support as the best friend and we get a young Buddy Ebsen in a small role and Jane Darwell is also great in her part. Most people remember Haden from the Andy Hardy series but she's downright perfect as the villain here and I'd say she's one of the most hated villains from any film during this era. You'll be wishing a painful torture to her character! CAPTAIN January, as I said, isn't original and it contains no big twists but it's sweet enough and features such a cast that it's pretty much irresistible.