Stowaway (1936) on Netflix
Ching-Ching, an orphan in Shanghai, meets wealthy Tommy Randall. She dozes off in his car, which is loaded onto a ship, and becomes a stowaway. Passenger Susan Parker helps care for her.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.1/101,624 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Plot summary
Ching-Ching is an American orphan living in Sanchow, China, under the care of missionary guardians. When bandits endanger the village, the girl is sent off to Shanghai but becomes separated from her guide. Alone except for her dog, she meets Tommy Randall, a wealthy American traveler. He leaves her in his car while visiting friends; when rain begins, she climbs into the trunk and falls asleep. The vehicle is later loaded onto an ocean liner, and Ching-Ching is accidentally carried aboard as a stowaway. Once discovered, she is looked after by Tommy and by Susan Parker, a passenger traveling to Bangkok to marry Richard Hope. During the voyage, Tommy and Susan grow close, and Ching-Ching tries to bring them together.
Cast
Show all 15 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Stowaway (1936)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Shirley Temple learned forty words in Mandarin Chinese for the film, a process she said required six months of instruction from a UCLA student. On the set she ran into communication problems because the extras were actually speaking a south Chinese dialect.
- In one number Shirley Temple impersonates Ginger Rogers, with a life-sized Fred Astaire doll fixed to her toes, plus Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson singing "Mammy". In the first take the elastic band of the dummy, which she named Tommy Wonder, snapped off her foot.
- The miniature Pekinese seen in the film belonged to the wife of a local photographer and was given to Shirley Temple, who renamed it Ching-Ching after her character. Temple's mother arranged a trade in which Temple and her father posed for the photographer in exchange for the dog.
- Production of Stowaway was held up for close to four weeks while first Alice Faye, then Shirley Temple, came down with the flu.
