Little Miss Marker (1934)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

Damon Runyon (story)
William R. Lipman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 June 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Drama

Plot Keywords:

King Arthur | Time | Hospital | Wager | Temple

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Adolphe Menjou	...	Sorrowful Jones
Dorothy Dell	...	Bangles Carson
Charles Bickford	...	Big Steve Halloway
Shirley Temple	...	Marthy 'Marky' Jane
Lynne Overman	...	Regret
Warren Hymer	...	Sore Toe
Sam Hardy	...	Benny the Gouge
John Kelly	...	Canvas Back
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Doc Chesley
John Sheehan	...	Sun Rise, a Bookie
Frank Conroy	...	Doctor Ingalls

Also Known As:

The Girl in Pawn (UK)

Runtime:

80 min | USA:79 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1356-R, 31 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The character Regret, named after the prize winning 1915 racehorse, was based on Otto "Abadabba" Berman, the financial genius behind gangster Dutch Schultz's business empire and the close friend of writer Damon Runyon. Berman was shot dead in a hit on Schultz a year after the film's release.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Marky asks to sit on the piano, Bangles leans down and picks her up. In the next shot, she leans down and picks Marky up again.

Quotes:

Sorrowful 'Sir Sorry' Jones: Dizzy, when that guy comes back for the little doll, don't you turn her over to him until you get that twenty bucks.
Dizzy Memphis: But she's gone, boss.
Sorrowful 'Sir Sorry' Jones: So he sneaked her out, eh? Serves me right. Every time I get big-hearted -
Regret: When was the other time?
Sorrowful 'Sir Sorry' Jones: Why didn't you watch her?
Regret: What am I, a nursemaid? What'd you take her as a marker for, anyway?
Sorrowful 'Sir Sorry' Jones: I don't know.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in For the Boys (1991)

Soundtrack:

Low Down Lullaby

Shirley's Star Maker

A tiny child, left as an IOU at a race track by her insolvent father, charms her way into the hearts of a group of hard-boiled gamblers.

Shirley Temple - not quite six years old - became a full-fledged movie star with LITTLE MISS MARKER. Loaned out to Paramount for the one picture, she emerged as a top of the bill powerhouse prepared to return to Fox Studios and become the most popular performer in Hollywood for the next five years. With genuine talent & an infectious sparkle, she would carve out her unassailable niche in film history.

To its credit, the fast moving script allows her to be a little less than saintly, with a normal dose of cranks & crotchets. Even so, her costars, as well as the audience, become her willing slaves in short order. Adolphe Menjou, as the cynical gambler who takes her in, and Charles Bickford as his tough boss, find themselves completely overwhelmed by the mighty moppet. Both of these gentlemen were abundantly experienced actors, used to controlling viewers' attentions in their screen scenes; it must have been somewhat odd for them to be reduced to so much stage dressing - but Shirley's ascendant flood swamped all other boats.

The Damon Runyon story is well served by the rest of the colorful cast, but it is easy to regret every minute the Small One does not appear on screen. Shirley became quite close to pretty Dorothy Dell, playing a nightclub chanteuse involved with both Bickford & Menjou. The news of Miss Dell's tragic death in a car wreck soon after filming completed was kept from Shirley for some time.

Movie mavens will recognize Willie Best as a friendly janitor & Tammany Young as a bettor, both uncredited.