Amy Adler Little Star (Shirley Temple) lives in a lighthouse with the keeper, Captain January (Guy Kibbee). He is her unofficial guardian and has been so for years, after rescuing the little gal from a shipwreck. Her parents drowned. Their is strong love and bond between the crusty older man and the wee girl. Because he wants to keep her in his household, Cap hasn't registered Star for school, even though she is of kindergarten age. Instead, he has taught her at home, giving her arithmetic lessons as they count the steps up and down the lighthouse and so forth. Also on hand to help are Cap's argumentative friend, Nazro (Slim Summerville) and sailor Paul (Budde Ebsen). But, spying Star on the streets, a truant officer insists that Cap put Star in school. Very nervous about this venture, as Star doesn't have any dresses and, more importantly, he considers Star his family and doesn't want it ripped apart, the two move forward. Cap borrows money from a friend to buy Star a lovely dress and the little girl does so well on the entrance exam, she is put in first grade immediately! More trouble arrives. The lighthouse is being replaced by one that doesn't need a keeper and Cap will be out of a job. As his employment is uncertain, Star may indeed be placed in a foster home. But, what about the documents found with Star during the shipwreck? Could they provide information about any relatives Star might still have in the world? Don't fret, happy endings are what our Shirley does best! This beautiful film is a delight in every way. The cast is terrific, with Kibbee, Summerville, Ebsen and the rest supporting the most darling child star ever. Just watch Temple and the young Ebsen dance to the wonderful At the Codfish Ball. The coastal scenery is also nice while the story has plenty of humor and drama to provide captivating entertainment. Be it January, February, March or any other month, get Captain January and know you will be watching one of Shirley's best films ever.

drystyx I'm generally not big on Shirley Temple kid films, although she is a great performer. This is one of her best films as a child.She is an orphan (isn't she always?) found at sea by an old lighthouse keeper. Among the lighthouse keeper's buddies are film legends Slim Summerville (sole survivor of "All Quiet on the Western Front") and Buddy Ebsen (surely everyone knows the original Tin Man and Jed Clampett).The film is probably best classified as comedy/drama/music. Although it was made 75 years before the date of this review, 20 years before I was born, I have to admit, and I'm sure most honest people will admit, it is funnier, livelier, and more amusing than over half of the comedies made since 1990.Why is that? Probably because at one time films were made with the public in mind, for the public, instead of vice versa.The film moves at a brisk pace, and seems like it takes only a few minutes.Lots of mature, likable characters, but we do have a villain. Sara Haden would steal the show as Agatha Morgan, the one you love to hate, if not for the super performers abounding in the cast. As Agatha, Sara presents a sort of sexuality underneath a vicious bark. Next to the gorgeous lead heroine, she blends into the background a bit. This was one great actress.There is just about everything going for this work. We care about the characters, and our interest is kept throughout. Very engaging.

lugonian CAPTAIN January (Fox, 1936), directed by David Butler, is prime Shirley Temple in a formula story about an orphan named Star who is being raised by Captain January (Guy Kibbee), a crusty old lighthouse keeper of Cape Tempest, Maine, after being rescued from a shipwreck that has drowned both her parents four years ago. All goes well until Agatha Morgan (Sara Haden), a new tyrant officer from Salem, who feels that the child isn't being reared properly, makes arrangements to take the child away from him and have her placed in an institution.Based on the story by Laura E. Richards, CAPTAIN January is an updated reworking to an earlier 1924 Principal Pictures 1924 silent version starring Baby Peggy, Hobart Bosworth and Irene Rich. As much as this new adaptation has the makings of a straight drama, due to Temple's musical talents, and the support of a young hoofer named Buddy Ebsen (on loan from MGM), song numbers were inserted to give it some added sparkle. With the score by Lew Pollack, Sidney Mitchell and Jack Yellen, songs include: "Early Bird" (sung by Shirley Temple); "The Codfish Bowl" (sung and danced by Temple with Buddy Ebsen); a portion from "Lucia di Lammermoor" (an opera by Gaetana Donizetti, performed by Temple, Guy Kibbee and Slim Summerville) "The Right Somebody to Love" (sung by Temple/ and unseen chorus during dream sequence); "The Right Somebody to Love" (reprise by Temple) and "The Codfish Bowl" (sung by Temple, Kibbee and Summerville). With the exception of a dream sequence, where singing is possible, all the other song numbers are inserted the story, with the music played by an off-screen orchestra right on cue. For the fade-in, it's morning and Kibbee places a record player into Temple's bedroom. Temple awakens, stretches her arms into the air and looking straight into the camera starts singing the opening lyrics of "Good Morning" which begins her opening number of "Early Bird." She dances her way to the bathroom where she changes into her sailor clothes, and occasionally continues to look her way towards the camera as she brushes her teeth. A little fake, but not as imaginative as her next number, "The Codfish Bowl," displaying the dancing talents of both Temple and Buddy Ebsen. This is performed on the dock surrounded by loafing seamen playing a harmonica and according before the hi-fi off-screen orchestration sets in. A show stopper that's regrettable in not having Ebsen and Temple performing another one for an encore. Also in the cast are Jerry Tucker (Cyril Morgan); Nella Walker (Mary Mason); George Irving (John Mason); Harry Hayden(Ira J. Slocum(; and James Farley(The Deputy Sheriff).While 20th Century-Fox might have used some of its own resident lovable old coots as Claude Gillingwater Sr., playing Captain January, for example, the studio used Guy Kibbee from Warner Brothers, who, in the final product, proved to be the logical choice. Kibbee also makes a memorable over-sized baby with a bib sitting in the high chair in an amusing dream sequence with Temple acting as his nursemaid.Aside from some melodramatic scenes, including Temple crying for "Cap" as she is being being taken away by the officers after losing his position as lighthouse keeper, CAPTAIN January is equipped with amusements, the best being the exchanges between Guy Kibbee and the underrated Slim Summerville as Captain Nazro, January's best friend, along with the middle-aged Eliza Croft (Jane Darwell), a rich widow woman after the affections of January. Buddy Ebsen, years before immortalized on television as Jed Clampett in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (1962-1971), supports as the loafer with a talent for dancing who finds companionship with the local school teacher named Mary (June Lang). Their characters are essential to the plot, but both have little to do. The story relatively belongs to the trio of Temple, Kibbee and Summerville. Temple, who rarely gets a chance to share screen time with another child actor of equal age status, does so this time with Cyril Morgan (Jerry Tucker), a precocious but obnoxious little boy with whom she finds she has to compete in an entrance exam to enter the third grade. It so happens that Cyril happens to be the nephew of the woman who wants to take Star away from January. As much as the boy keeps telling Star that she knows nothing, this equally precocious little girl eventually displays how much she does know and more.CAPTAIN January, at 76 minutes, was one of the handful of feature films displayed in 1989 on Playhouse Video, a division of CBS/Fox Video, as part of the Shirley Temple collection. With video transfer satisfactory, most important, it's complete, with the restoration of the closing cast credits to the underscoring to "The Codfish Bowl", usually cut from TV prints. In some local television markets (particulary the New York City area prior to 1976), the closing cast credits was substituted with a NTA (National Television Association) logo. When the Disney Cable Channel presented Shirley Temple movies in the early 1990s, all of which were colorized, the closing cast credits were included while prints for American Movie Classics (1996-2001) and later, the Fox Movie Channel, in the original black and white format, eliminated the closing credits with an insertion of a THE END title card taken from another movie. FMC later had the closing credits restored. While the Shirley Temple collection from Playhouse Video has been out of print, CAPTAIN January can also found colorized in both the VHS and DVD format.Regardless of format CAPTAIN January, is recommended viewing for adults and youngsters alike, especially those who endure themselves with old-fashioned screen entertainment equipped with comedy, songs and a touch sentiment combined. (**1/2)

Ron Oliver A vindictive truant officer attempts to wrest little Star from CAPTAIN JANUARY, the old lighthouse keeper who saved her from a watery grave.Shirley Temple captivates her audience once again in this, one of her most popular films. Aided by fine production values courtesy of Fox, the Tiny Tyke does not disappoint. Singing & dancing, laughing or crying, she once again exhibits all the talents which for years made her top of the Hollywood box office heap.It's difficult to imagine anyone other than cuddly Guy Kibbee in the title role. He's excellent, but he's also given firm support from old pros Slim Summerville & Jane Darwell. Sara Haden makes a nasty villainess, while OUR GANG bad boy Jerry Tucker is her obnoxious nephew. Pretty June Lang plays the sweet village schoolteacher.Amiable hoofer Buddy Ebsen joins Shirley in a wonderful song & dance number, ‘The Cod Fish Ball.' Tall & pliable, with plenty of goofy facial expressions, Buddy's performance gives a little idea as to how much he might have contributed to THE WIZARD OF OZ three years later over at Metro, had not health reasons forced him to withdrawal.Shirley also sings ‘Early Bird' and, in a delightful nursery fantasy, ‘The Right Somebody To Love.'