Little Miss Marker (1934)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

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

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Adams	...	Bettor (uncredited)
Willie Best	...	Dizzy Memphis (uncredited)
Phil Bloom	...	Bookie (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Bettor (uncredited)
Veda Buckland	...	Nurse (uncredited)
James Burke	...	Detective Reardon (uncredited)
Wong Chung	...	Chinese Cook (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Marky's Father (uncredited)
Tom Gardner	...	(uncredited)
Mildred Gover	...	Sarah, Bangles' Maid (uncredited)
Jack Green	...	(uncredited)
Joseph Herrick	...	Bookie (uncredited)
Willie Keeler	...	Bookie (uncredited)
Crauford Kent	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Texas Kid	...	(uncredited)
Solly Kreiger	...	(uncredited)
Jerry Mandy	...	Barber (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Bookie (uncredited)
Barney O'Toole	...	(uncredited)
Garry Owen	...	Grinder (uncredited)
Stanley Price	...	Bookie (uncredited)
Dream Prince	...	Himself - a Horse (uncredited)
Phillips Smalley	...	Bangles' Pesty Sugar Daddy (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	...	(uncredited)
Huey White	...	Eddie, a Bettor (uncredited)
Tammany Young	...	Bugs (uncredited)

Directed by
Alexander Hall

Writing credits
Damon Runyon		(story)
William R. Lipman		(screenplay) &
Sam Hellman		(screenplay) and
Gladys Lehman		(screenplay)

Produced by
B.P. Schulberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Ralph Rainger

Cinematography by
Alfred Gilks		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
William Shea		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)
John B. Goodman		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Earl S. Hayman	....	sound (uncredited)

Music Department
Sigmund Krumgold	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Tom Satterfield	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Adolph Zukor	....	presenter (re-release)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (as Paramount Productions Inc. [us])

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Bach Films (2007) (France) (DVD)
• Paramount Pictures (1937) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1934) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (VHS)

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:

Shirley Temple was nervous about filming the blood transfusion scene because she feared that she would really be given a shot. In fact the needle was merely taped against her arm.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Marky and Bangles sing "Laugh, You Son of a Gun," Bangles's mouth doesn't move when she says "You son of a gun."

Quotes:

Sorrowful 'Sir Sorry' Jones: Why'd you bring him here?
Bangles Carson: You're my watchman.
Bangles Carson: You need a watchman. Big Steve is hardly out of town, and you step out with a good-time Charlie.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "All in the Family: Little Miss Bunker (#9.1)" (1978)

Soundtrack:

The Bowery

Nothing 'Sorrowful" About Shirley

Despite only two songs, it's another entertaining Shirley Temple film. The story is familiar; it's been done several other times, once under the name "Sorrowful Jones," with Bob Hope. This movie is a bit different from that one, so you could own both and have two different slants on the famous Damon Runyon story.

This version has a lot more comedy from the supporting players, since Temple is cute but she' isn't going to be the main source of humor as Hope was in his films. In here, all the bookies and gangsters provide the humor. The leading male, played by Adolph Menjou, is a sourpuss but still likable. The leading adult female, Dorothy Dell, was a bit tough-looking, I thought, for this role.

Temple doesn't play as sweet a role as she did in most of her films, but she still has her tender moments. Nobody can produce a sentimental scene as quickly as Shirley could. In all, a nice film and enjoyable from start to finish.

Note: This was the best colorized version I have seen of Temple's films. Perhaps that was because MGM did this, not Fox, which did the others. It advertises "stereo" but I didn't hear any.