Ein Rucksack voller Ärger

With the recent passing of Tony Curtis, I'm revisiting this review of this simple and sweet film. I agree w/ other favorable reviews for this movie. I didn't expect much from a 'Curtis Productions' film, but found the story enjoyable and watchable. My first impression is that any screenplay that revolves around a precocious, lil orphaned girl has to reflect Christian values, and the film didn't disappoint. The kid is funny. However, some of the characters, while humorous, are on the periphery of the Christian-American community.Gambling is a way of practicing dishonesty. It is a form of taking what does not rightfully belong to a person. This story did not have to be set in that environment.

Equally important, and on a lighter note, the movie is a great time capsule of an era (Camelot) gone by. My fav scene is when the three leads are in the park having lunch and wearing the masks of Kennedy, Krushchev, and Castro! The one over-the-top performance is Phil Silvers who shouts and sucks the air out of the room. Overall, Lake Tahoe and Disneyland film beautifully and the supporting players are fine. To think Ms. Pleshette went from this saccharine to the subversive 'Hot Stuff' a decade later is amusing.

Here I was, clicking away on the remote control, looking for something vaguely interesting, when I come across a movie called 40 Pounds of Trouble. The title sounded cute so I watched it. It made my day. They just don't make movies like that anymore. The end of the movie at Disneyland was just hilarious and I was laughing the whole way through. Such an enjoyable movie on such a boring day.

This is the third version of Damon Runyon's story and was previously made as "Little Miss Marker" (with Shirley Temple), "Sorrowful Jones" (with Bob Hope) and now with this film. All three are enjoyable, though if I were to recommend one (and I am) it would be the original "Little Miss Marker". Still, you could do a lot worse than watching this nice Tony Curtis/Suzanne Pleshette film.

When the film begins, Steve (Curtis) is evading process servers from California once again and just beats them across the state line to the casino he manages in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He seems like a reasonably happy man...or at least successful. But when a loser leaves his cute little girl behind in his hotel room, Steve has got a problem. Oddly, instead of calling the police he and the staff grow to like the kid and keep her!! Later, the girl wants to go on an outing to Disneyland but this will mean Steve once again risking be served a summons to pay back alimony. Along for the ride is a night club singer with a heart of gold, Chris (Pleshette).

The plot is very familiar but has been rather de-Runyonized. In other words the lovable seedy characters you've seen in other Runyon productions as well as earlier versions of this story are mostly gone---cleaned up a bit and with dialog that clearly is more normal! I didn't mind this at all and everyone did fine in the film. I particularly liked seeing the footage of Disneyland circa 1962, as things have certainly changed a lot...and you do see a lot of Disney in the film. Not everything about Disney is perfect, however, as the chase scene did become a bit tedious. Still, it's a nice film that has aged well and is worth your time.

This is pretty much a redo of little miss marker, it's better than the walter matthau version although it may not beat the shirley temple one ;) Movies always seem to look better in technicolour. A good excuse for Tony Curtis to take the crew to disneyland.

Nothing of earth-shattering significance here, but Tony Curtis is an ace in his role as McCluskey (do you buy him as a chip off the old Blarney Stone? Not I), a workaholic, alimony-dodging, anal-retentive manager of a casino who seems to be frenetically sleepwalking through his life -- until the blase munchkin of a destitute gambler is left to his care. The beautiful Pleshette, who plays convincingly (albeit not as a singer) as a slumming singer and the casino owner's niece, slides conveniently into place as the mother figure of this atypical family unit.

The little girl is mildly funny and already a little world-weary in a manner only a screenwriter might make a child, thanks to her old man saddled by gambling debts and a life bouncing from one casino hotel room to the next. She seems to handle herself a little too expertly no matter what life throws her, but has a tender side that tenderizes Curtis' heart and sets up a few too many close-ups of Curtis smiling sweetly at the wee bairn. Still, she doesn't wisecrack too hard and manages a few good and funny moments on camera.

When the trio lights off to Disneyland - and to California, the epicenter of earthquakes and his mounting legal troubles - this sets up a fun series of scrambles around Uncle Walt's dreamscape to avoid arrest from a bumbling cop who strangely seems to be at the beck-and-call of McCluskey's vindictive ex-wife and her attorney.

The ending is no surprise, but, then again, that's what we all tend to like in light-hearted movies of this type and era. A nice, fun movie to rent and spend a lazy afternoon watching.