John Chard@John Chard
Rock-a-bye Baby at Pimlico.
Damon Runyon's Little Miss Marker had already been filmed in 1934 as a Shirley Temple starrer, this remake changes the title and brings in the star power of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, with great results.
Story has Hope as sly bookie Sorrowful Jones, who after accepting a five year old girl as a betting marker, gets lumbered with the child when her father is wasted by gangster Big Steve Holloway (Bruce Cabot). Initially a fish out of water with the kid, Sorrowful strikes up a loving relationship with her and aided by his ex-girlfriend, Gladys O'Neill (Ball), fights to keep the child out of an orphanage.
It's not - as some of the posters proclaim - funnier than Paleface (either of them since the sequel is better), in fact it's not close to the funny heights achieved by Hope's next Runyon adapted picture, The Lemon Drop Kid. However, Sorrowful Jones is funny, Hope gets to deliver some absolute corking lines that are guaranteed to at the least put a big grin on your face, but there's a semi-seriousness to it all which thankfully works a treat alongside the quips and wonderfully strange situations that Jones finds himself in. With a weighty support cast that also features William Demarest and Thomas Gomez helping things along, and young Mary Jane Saunders adorable beyond compare, this is a little cracker of a picture to brighten your day. 7/10