| Little Miss Marker | |
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| Directed by | Walter Bernstein |
| Written by | Walter Bernstein Damon Runyon |
| Produced by | Jennings Lang Walter Matthau |
| Starring | Walter Matthau Julie Andrews Tony Curtis Bob Newhart Lee Grant Sara Stimson |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Edited by | Eve Newman |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| 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 of the same name starring Shirley Temple and Adolphe Menjou.
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 commits suicide, 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 into financing 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.
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]
Earlier remakes of Little Miss Marker included 1949 Paramount's Sorrowful Jones with Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, followed in 1962 by 40 Pounds of Trouble, which also featured Tony Curtis in a modified Sorrowful Jones role.
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Damon Runyon's "Little Miss Marker"
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