Des ennuis à la pelle

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.

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.

Tony Curtis finally scores a bull's-eye! I've lost count of all the poor movies (comedic or otherwise) that Curtis made in the 1960s, but this one and the later "The Great Race" are his winners. Here, Tony (happily animated throughout) plays a swinging casino manager who comes to love a cute little orphaned girl left in his care. He also has his hands full of Suzanne Pleshette (groomed to look like an old-fashioned movie star, but still with her deep, husky voice--as if it were being channeled from beyond). This unofficial remake of 1934's "Little Miss Marker" has an exceptional supporting cast including Phil Silvers, Kevin McCarthy, Howard Morris and Edward Andrews, slick production, a funny slapstick chase through Disneyland. A good family movie and a happy surprise for Curtis buffs. *** from ****

The film is very typical of the 60's-70's comedy romance films where the handsome and rich (divorced) playboy this time starring Tony Curtis as Casino Manager Steve McCluskey shows disdain for the casino owners inferred girlfriend played by Suzanne Pleshette as night club singer Chris Lockwood. In reality Chris Lockwood is in fact not the casino owners' girlfriend but is really just his niece as always claimed of the casino owner leaving the door open for McCluskey to consider entering in to a romantic relationship with Chris Lockwood.

The story begins with a lifetime gambler who over extends his credit limit at the casino that Steve McCluskey (Tony Curtis) runs, so the gambler takes off to find some cash leaving behind his 7 year old daughter Penny Piper (Claire Wilcox) at the casino in his hotel room. Of course the gambling father intends to come right back to the casino as soon as he gets some more cash. But as circumstances would have it, he is tragically killed in an auto accident leaving the casino manager Steve McCluskey and his new night club singer Chris Lockwood (Suzanne Pleshette) to figure out a way to break the news to cute little 7 year old Penny that her deadbeat gambling dad has left his little girl all alone in the world.

What to do? Oh what to do? Why not ask Penny what she always wanted to do? So the question is posed to 7 year old Penny and she says she wants to go to Disneyland. As if McCluskey doesn't have enough to worry about with running a casino, he also has private detectives and his ex-wife's lawyer chasing him to pay up on alimony so he needs to disguise himself to leave the casino to even get to Disneyland where the classic chase around Disneyland ensues played alongside some classical musical score.

A good time is had by all at Disneyland, romance continues to bloom between McCluskey and Lockwood as they care for little Penny who is having the time of her life with her chaperone's in an effort to distract her from the sudden death of her gambling daddy. Eventually McCluskey is nabbed and ends up in court where little Penny is put on the stand and questioned as to how she was treated while in the care of McCluskey at his casino. This is where 7 year old Penny wins over her audience and the judge as she bestows all the credit for her loving care and attentiveness on casino manager McCluskey for making sure she was treated like the little angel that she is. Tears will start to flow from most women's eyes as Penny indirectly tells us how much she loves McCluskey.

Incidentally, 7 year old Penny (played by Claire Wilcox) was born in Toronto, Ontario the same Canadian city that Grade 1 director Norman Jewison is from. Ms. Wilcox went on to appear in various television series as a guest star for the next several years as a young teenager and then stopped acting completely. Her whereabouts are currently unknown? Ms. Wilcox what are you doing now? You stole the big screen from Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette. I give the film a 6 out of 10 and Ms. Wilcox a perfect 10 out of 10 for her heart felt performance.

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.