Shirley Temple: Helen

Captain January

Helen

Helen: My mother was very beautiful, wasn't she, Cap?
Capt. January: Mighty pretty, Star, according to her pictures.
Helen: We're awfully lucky, aren't we?
Capt. January: Lucky?
Helen: I'd never have known what my mother looked like if it wasn't for that trunk. Did you swim out to get it, too?
Capt. January: No, it just washed ashore.

Helen: Good morning, Mrs. Croft.
The Widow Mrs. Eliza Croft: Good morning, Star. Is Captain January with you today?
Helen: No, ma'am.
The Widow Mrs. Eliza Croft: Well, do tell the dear captain that I asked after him. Don't forget, now.
Helen: I will. I mean, I won't.

Mrs. Agatha Mogan: You should be taken home and spanked! What kind of man is this Captain January to allow you to run around?
Helen: Cap's the finest man in the whole world! See that lighthouse down there? Well, Cap owns it... He saved a million ships in his day.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: You go right home and tell him I'm coming to have a talk with him.
Helen: Yes, ma'am. I'll bet SHE can't spit a curve in the wind.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Don't be impudent!
Helen: I didn't mean to be! Cap always tells me to be polite to old ladies.

Helen: Why do I have to do this?
Capt. January: All nice little girls sew samplers.
Helen: Well, it doesn't seem like anything I'll need in a sea-faring life.
Capt. January: That's where you're wrong, Star. A good sailor has to be able to steer a needle.

Mrs. Agatha Mogan: There is a compulsory education law in this state, and this child is old enough.
Helen: How can she know how old I am? We don't even know ourselves.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: From what I've observed, this child is being brought up completely without control. She's rude and undisciplined, like a little heathen. Look at the clothes she wears. Not even a dress!
Capt. January: What business is that of yours? Star is mine!
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: You forget that Star is adopted, Captain January. It's well within the power of the school authorities to have her taken away from you and placed in an institution.

Helen: Can you stop polishing and help me study for my school examination?
Capt. January: In a minute, honey. Ships and lives depend on this light being just so. Suppose this light had been out on the night you washed ashore, where would you be then?
Helen: Asleep in the deep.

Capt. January: What are the four Gospels?
Helen: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Capt. January: Correct! Do you remember the story of the Prodigal Son?
Helen: He came home, and the father said, "Bring me the fattest calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry."
Capt. January: But not everyone was merry, Star. There was another son and some neighbors. Who was sorry that the Prodigal Son came home?
Helen: The fattest calf!

Capt. January: Now, listen, Star, you've just got to pass this examination. You've just got to. It may mean they'll try to take you away from me if you don't. Now, I don't want to make you nervous...
Capt. Nazro: No, he don't want to make you nervous.
Helen: I'll do my best, Cap. I'm not worried.

Cyril Morgan: I'll bet you don't even know who discovered America.
Helen: Was it a sailor?
Cyril Morgan: I don't know. I guess so.
Helen: Cap did!
Cyril Morgan: He didn't do no such thing! Christopher Columbus discovered America, and I know when he discovered it, too... it was in 1492... you don't know NUTHIN!

The Widow Mrs. Eliza Croft: Wouldn't you like me to live here, so I could cut'em all down to fit'cha?
Helen: No, I'd rather grow up to fit the dresses.
The Widow Mrs. Eliza Croft: Oh! You mean you wouldn't like me to live here?
Helen: Well, I like you, but you see, I'm the lady of the house, and we couldn't have two ladies of the house.

Capt. Nazro: Miss Morgan is on her way here now with a deputy from Salem. You've got to beat it! You don't want them to take Star away, do you?
Capt. January: I'm not running away!
Capt. Nazro: Don't you understand? If they find you with Star, they'll take her away as sure as you're standing here!
Helen: What are they going to do to me?
Capt. Nazro: Don't be stubborn, January. You can fight later. In the meantime, take Star and hide out.

Paul Roberts: Here comes Star! Come on, Star, we've been waiting for you.
Helen: Can't now, Paul, I'm on government duty. Got a job yet?
Paul Roberts: No, but I've been promised one as soon as the halibuts start running.
Helen: I hope they start running soon.
Paul Roberts: Well, you can't rush a halibut.
Helen: Well, don't give up the ship.

Ira J. Slocum, storekeeper: Better watch out, Star. One day she'll tie a tow rope onto January, and you'll lose him.
Helen: Not while I'm in charge of the lighthouse. We need another case of brass polish. We need it right away.
Ira J. Slocum, storekeeper: [holding out a jar of lollipops] Here, have one on the house. They're all the same size, I checked.
Helen: I know, but the black ones last longer. Now don't forget about our special prize. You know I'm giving you all our trade.
Ira J. Slocum, storekeeper: I won't forget.

Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Disreputable sailors, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves, teaching a child to behave this way!
Helen: Don't be mad at them. They always have fun with me like this. Did you know that Captain Joe Ross can spit 15 feet in a 20-mile gale?
[Captain Joe Ross smiles at Mrs. Morgan]
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Indeed!
Helen: And the skipper, the one with the accordion, once he killed three men with a table knife!

Helen: Ooh, it's Captain Nazro!
Capt. Nazro: Hello, honey.
Capt. January: Can't I give a birthday party around here without you barging in?
Capt. Nazro: Pipe down, you old caddywompus. I didn't come to see you. Come on out and see the birthday present I brung you, honey.
[They go outside. Capt. Nazro has brought a crane for Star's birthday]
Helen: [to the crane] Remember me?
Capt. Nazro: Why should the crane remember you?
Helen: Is it a crane? I thought it was a stork.

Helen: You're going to invite Captain Nazro to stay for my party, aren't you?
Capt. January: Well, I wasn't counting on it, but...
Helen: Goody! I'll fix an extra place.
Capt. Nazro: I'm here and I'm gonna stay for a while.
Capt. January: Oh, you are, are you?
Capt. Nazro: Yeah, I are. It's time I do some inspecting around this lighthouse.
Capt. January: They must be daft in Washington to make you an inspector. You probably don't know the difference between a telescope and a tarbell!
Capt. Nazro: The way you handle it, I guess there ain't any!

Mrs. Agatha Mogan: There seems to be some doubt about the child's age. You say she has the learning of a child of eight. Very well, we'll call her eight.
Helen: Maybe I'm only six.
Capt. January: I'll stand on eight.

Deputy Sheriff: I've got an order here to produce that child before Judge Thompson.
Capt. January: All right, when do you want her?
Deputy Sheriff: Tomorrow afternoon at three.
Capt. January: All right, we'll be there.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: You take that child right now! Don't you understand he's trying to sneak her out of the jurisdiction of the court?
Capt. Nazro: He's trying to do no such thing!
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Then why is he on this boat? Officer, you're responsible for the custody of the child!
Deputy Sheriff: Maybe you're right. I can't take any chances.
Helen: Oh, Cap, don't let them take me away!