Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Rudyard Kipling (story) and
Julien Josephson (writer)

Release Date:

30 July 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Plot:

Cherubic, adorable, and precocious Priscilla Williams lives in Colonial India with her dad, a Colonel...

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Girl | Sergeant | Lieutenant | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Shirley Temple	...	Priscilla 'Winkie' Williams
Victor McLaglen	...	Sgt. Donald MacDuff
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Col. Williams
June Lang	...	Joyce Williams
Michael Whalen	...	Lt. 'Coppy' Brandes
Cesar Romero	...	Khoda Khan
Constance Collier	...	Mrs. Allardyce
Douglas Scott	...	Pvt. Mott - Drummer Boy
Gavin Muir	...	Capt. Bibberbeigh
Willie Fung	...	Mohammaudin
Brandon Hurst	...	Bagby - Col. Williams's Valet
Lionel Pape	...	Maj. Allardyce
Clyde Cook	...	Pipe Major Sneath
Bunny Beatty	...	Miss Elsie Allardyce (as Lauri Beatty)
Lionel Braham	...	Maj. Gen. Hammond

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The original story by Rudyard Kipling was about a boy, Percival Williams, but this was changed to a girl, Priscilla Williams, in order for Shirley Temple to play the role.

Quotes:

Priscilla Williams: [on her new nickname] Wee Willie Winkie. It does sound like a soldier, doesn't it?
Sgt. Donald MacDuff: Aye.
Priscilla Williams: Then I'd be Private Winkie!
Sgt. Donald MacDuff: Private Winkie it is. A full-fledged soldier of the Queen!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Being Julia (2004)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

I have to admit that I liked it a lot!

Surprisingly great John Ford film starring Shirley Temple. I was unsure if I could stand her cuteness for an hour and forty minutes, but I was never as annoyed as I expected to be. She's actually quite - good (I'll probably never live that down, will I?).Once in a while, she got a bit cloying, but for the most part I enjoyed her performance. Believe me, though, John Ford and his screenwriter were careful to balance her with the rest of the film, which is indeed quite masterful. All of the other performers are pitch perfect, including C. Aubrey Smith, Cesar Romero, Michael Whalen, Constance Collier, June Lang, and especially Ford regular Victor McLaglen. He's amazing, as always. The story, based on a Rudyard Kipling book, is very good. Lang plays Temple's mother. Her husband has apparently died, and she accepts the gracious invitation of her father-in-law (Smith), a colonel in India, whom she has never met. While there, Temple becomes a sort of a mascot of the soldiers, with Sgt. MacDuff (McLaglen) taking care of her and teaching her how to be a soldier. Another soldier (Whalen) courts Temple's mother. Cesar Romero plays Khoda Khan, a bandit prince who is being held prisoner in the fort. Ford's direction is as exciting as ever, and the cinematography is halfway between the expressionism of The Informer and the naturalism of Stagecoach. The musical score is also quite good. One might object to the colonialist viewpoint of the film, but, to be fair, Wee Willie Winkie is a lot more palatable in that respect than George Stevens' much more famous Gunga Din is. 9/10.