Damon Runyon—at his best

Press, 1 September 1980, Page 12

Damon Runyon —at his best

AT THE CINEMA

Hans Petrovic

“Little Miss Marker.” Directed and written by Walter Bernstein

What does a confirmed bachelor, do when he finds that a six-year-old girl who has been fobbed on to him turns out to be as attractive arid appealing as the head on his glass of beer? Walter Matthau, at his dishevelled best; finds out in “Little . Miss . Marker” (Savoy), which turns out to be a delightful comedy during which I and much of the audience actually found ourselves laughing out loud. It is a pity that films such as this can sneak into - town with no pre-publicity and then disappear again as silently as they arrived. * However, as most people should know by now, any comedy with Matthau can’t be all bad. L Going back a good 20 years, I used to associate him with lanky, dour crooks;

but since then, Matthau’ has developed himself into possibly the funniest comic actor that the United States has to offer. With ■ a bulbous nose, jowly cheeks, squinty eyes and an ungainly walk like that, how could he fail. Anyway, back to the story: “Little Miss Marker” refers to the “Kid” (Sara Stimson), who is left with Sorrowful Jones (Matthau), a bookie, who accepts her as a “marker” for a $lO gambling loan from a man who ends up committing suicide. She fellows Matthau’s long-striding step home with her own cute, tripping style of perambulism, and after a couple of knocks on his door, Sorrowful relents and lets her in.

. This is followed by a very funny meal for. the Kid of dry corn flakes (“crunch, crunch”) and a donut (“This is a donut? You could play hockey with it”), slightly reminiscent of the first

French toast breakfast between father and son in “Kramer vs Kramer." Poor old Sorrowful has never undressed a girl so young for bed before either, and the following disagreement about who sleeps where is equally funny, the issue being settled by the Kid, to Matthau’s discomfort. The film does have its touching moments between the two: “Will my dad come back?” “Sure he will. Why shouldn’t he come back?” “My mommy went

away and she didn’t come back.”

There is a sub-plot involving Blackie (Tony Curtis), who involves Sorrowful in investing in a gambling casino; with a final showdown by the river to see who can throw the other in.

Julie Andrews seems much more at ease in this film than she did in her previous one, “10.” However, 1 believe she only appeared in “10” because it happened to be produced by her husband, Blake Edwards.

Adding the necessary romantic interest, she coasts through this one, although she still seemed out of place to me. Possibly, with her beautifully-elocuted English, she does not quite fit with my idea of an American socialite, no matter how well spoken she may be. To the delight of the Kid, Miss Andrews is also interested in horses, even if they have the knack of running

spectacularly last. This all ends in probably the funniest and certainly the most ridiculous horse race I have seen.

The colourful criminal characters of the film have a Runyonesque air about them and no wonder, for the film is based on a Damon Runyon story. In fact, this is the fourth time that “Little Miss Marker” has been made into a film.

I was surprised at how many people remember the original 1934 version, starring (yes, you guessed it) Shirley Temple and Adolphe Menjou. This was followed in 1949 by “Sorrowful Jones,” starring Bob Hope; and in 1963 by “40 Pounds of Trouble,” with Tony Curtis again, but this time as Sorrowful himself. “Little Miss Marker” has been digested and regurgitated many times but how could this one fail with Matthau and little Sara Stimson.