Little Miss Marker (1934)
Big Steve Halloway, gambler and proprietor of New York's Horseshoe Cabaret, is in desperate need of money. He arranges for his fellow bookies, especially Sorrowful Jones, to each pay him $1,000 for his racehorse, Dream Prince, to lose. With all bets being placed at the window, Sorrowful encounters a gambler, having lost $500, wanting to place his bet but unable to come up with $20. Instead, he places his little girl, Marthy Jane, as security, or in bookie's terms a "marker". "Marky", as she comes to be known, winds up under the care of Sorrowful Jones and his lady friend, singer Bangles Carson.
- Alexander Hall
- Sam Hellman
- William R. Lipman
- Gladys Lehman
- Leo Robin
- Damon Runyon
Rating: 6.5/10 by 22 users
Alternative Title:
The Girl in Pawn - US
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 19 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: prayer, motherly love, little girl, orphan, bookie, mother figure, bedtime story, father figure, betting, gambling racket, abandoned child, collateral, blood donor, race horse, bookies
This movie really threw Shirley Temple into the spotlight, and for good reason. She hits every note perfectly, and showed that she had what it took to move beyond shorts and into feature films. The problems that Little Miss Marker suffers from are mostly caused by the times. The sound is pretty bad throughout the movie, the levels are all over the place, and the acting from a few characters is completely over the top. Of course, that's all due from the movie being made in 1934. The entire industry was still figuring out the whole sound thing, and this film is definitely a reminder of that. However, Little Miss Marker is still a heartwarming little movie with memorable performances and a solid story.
