Little Miss Marker (1980 film)

Little Miss Marker
Directed byWalter Bernstein
Written byWalter Bernstein
Damon Runyon
Produced byJennings Lang
Walter Matthau
StarringWalter Matthau
Julie Andrews
Tony Curtis
Bob Newhart
Lee Grant
Sara Stimson
CinematographyPhilip H. Lathrop
Edited byEve Newman
Music byHenry Mancini
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • March 21, 1980 (1980-03-21)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$6,321,392[1]

Little Miss Marker is a 1980 American comedy drama film written and directed by Walter Bernstein and based on a short story by Damon Runyon. It stars Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis, Julie Andrews, Bob Newhart and new arrival Sara Stimson. The film is a remake of the 1934 film starring Shirley Temple and Adolphe Menjou.

Plot

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In the 1930s, Sorrowful Jones is a gloomy, cantankerous bookie who is confronted by Carter, a gambler who cannot pay a $10 debt. Carter gives his six-year-old daughter to Sorrowful's gangster-run gambling operation as a "marker" (collateral) for a bet. When Carter loses his bet and ends his life, the gangsters are left with the girl on their hands. Sorrowful's nervous assistant Regret is concerned about the legality of the arrangement, which might violate kidnapping statutes.

In the interim, a crime boss named Blackie coerces his longtime rival Sorrowful to finance a new gambling joint. It is opened in the stately home of Blackie's girlfriend, the widowed Amanda Worthington, who needs money to repurchase her family property. Amanda is also counting on her racehorse Sir Galahad to ride to her rescue. While the girl's personal needs inconvenience Sorrowful, a father-daughter relationship develops and they become inseparable.

Cast

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Award nominations

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In 1981, Sara Stimson was nominated for the female Young Artist Award in the category of Best Major Motion Picture - Family Entertainment. Stimson lost to Diane Lane for her performance in Touched by Love.[2] Little Miss Marker is Stimson's only acting credit.[3]

Notes

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Earlier remakes of Little Miss Marker are 1949's Paramount's Sorrowful Jones with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, and 1962's 40 Pounds of Trouble, which features Tony Curtis in a modified Sorrowful Jones role.[citation needed]

References

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