A young girl endears herself to her caretakers after her father is murdered by mobsters.A young girl endears herself to her caretakers after her father is murdered by mobsters.A young girl endears herself to her caretakers after her father is murdered by mobsters.
Jack La Rue
- Doré
- (as Jack LaRue)
J. Carrol Naish
- Bert
- (as J. Carroll Naish)
Joe Sawyer
- Doré's Henchman
- (as Joseph Sauers)
Max Barwyn
- Waiter with Message
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSybil Jason stated in her autobiography that director Michael Curtiz filmed some scenes at a real Hollywood orphanage, and (in the interest of realism) cast real orphans as extras. Among them, Jason remembered, was a young Marilyn Monroe, long before her first "recognized" role. This has not yet been confirmed by film historians and Monroe biographers.
- GoofsAt 00:14:42 when Steve and Mortimer go up the stairs to talk to the waiter the boom mic shadow moves on the upper wall above the waiter.
- SoundtracksI'm a Little Big Shot Now
(1935) (uncredited)
Music by Allie Wrubel
Lyrics by Mort Dixon
Played during the opening credits and as background music often
Sung and danced to by Sybil Jason
Reprised by Sybil Jason and Glenda Farrell
Featured review
Warners' Answer to Shirley Temple
Adorable Sybil Jason tugs on the heartstrings of everyone save the most hard-boiled gangsters in this obvious attempt by Warners to come up with their own Shirley Temple. It almost works! Sybil plays an abandoned little girl whose innocence wins over a small-time con man (Armstrong) and his partner-in-petty crime (Edward Everett Horton). Indeed, Horton's presence here lends some humanity to the big lug that Armstrong plays--anyone with well-meaning bumbler Horton as his best pal can't be all bad. The gang warfare that underlies the plot makes for an uneasy ride for the little girl and the audience, however. Sybil is both charming and heart-rending as "The Countess", and the highlight is her rendition of the title song on the street to make some money for her new-found adopted father figures. But when the plot explodes in a burst of gunfire in a deadly police raid at movie's end it is clear why this movie failed at building a Shirley Temple-like franchise for Warners: falling back on their tried-and-true gangster formula, they mixed a bit too much death and danger into this story to make it a winner with family audiences. It's a shame, too, because Sybil Jason was definitely star material and could have given Temple a run for her money. (Jason later got to serve at the feet of the prototype herself (literally!) when she winningly played a Cockney chargirl to "The Little Princess" in 1939.)
helpful•130
- wireshock
- Jun 15, 2001
Details
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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