Little Miss Marker(1934).

This is a thank you post for Monty, for all his hard work on the resent blogathon.

 Little Miss Marker(1934). Drama directed by Alexander Hall. Cast: Shirley Temple, Adolphe Menjou and Dorothy Dell.

The story begins when, Bookie Jones, holds a cute little girl as a I.O.U., for her father's bet on the horse "Dream Prince." Big Steve Halloway, who owns "Dream Prince" and the Horse Shoe Cabaret, gets his gang to bet on "Dream Prince" to lose. Steve, wants the horse to win and asks Jones to lend him ten thousand dollars to place his bet.

Later that day, Steve learns that he is under investigation and that the little girl's father committed suicide. The gang decides to make Martha Jane, owner of "Dream Prince" so they can race the horse without anyone knowing who really owns the horse.

Martha Jane, is thrilled to have a horse of her own, because it reminds her of the bedtime stories that her mother read to her before she died and she has fun naming the men after the knights of the Round Table. After, Steve leaves for Chicago to place his bets, his girl friend Bangles, orders new clothes for Martha Jane.



Bangles, hides Martha Jane when the police come looking for her. Bangles' maid informs Steve that Bangles is seeing Jones behind his back. Steve returns, to find everyone dressed as knights of the Round Table.

When Martha Jane rides "Dream Prince," Steve causes the horse to rear and it throws Martha Jane off. Jones, rushes her to the hospital and finds the best children's surgeon to operate on her. After Steve gives a life-saving blood transfusion he leaves and Jones destroys the speed ball, saving "Dream Prince".

Fun Fact:

Adolphe Menjou was having difficulty with a particular line in the script. After the prompting of others on the set, Shirley Temple turned to director Alexander Hall and asked, "Is it too late to replace Mr. Menjou on this picture?"

Shirley Temple, became a movie star in her performance in the, LITTLE MISS MARKER and became the most popular performer in Hollywood for the next five years. With her talent she would save a place for herself in film history.

Dorothy Dell (January 30, 1915 – June 8, 1934). Wanting to become a singer, she was discovered by composer Wesley Lord and signed a radio contract. She began entering and winning beauty pageants and at the age of 15 won the title of "Miss New Orleans" in 1930. That same year she attended the International Pageant of Pulchritude in Galveston, Texas, and won. She established a successful vaudeville act and decided to enter the vaudeville circuit, because she believed it would help her friend Dorothy Lamour rise to fame, a promise she had made to her friend.

One night, she sang at a benefit and was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, who arranged for her to appear on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies, and she followed this success with her role in, Tattle Tales(1933).

She moved to Hollywood in December 1933 and was signed to a contract by Paramount Pictures. Initially being contracted for bit parts, she won her first film role in, Wharf Angel (1934). The film was a success and Paramount began to consider her as a potential star. Her most important and substantial role followed in the Shirley Temple film, Little Miss Marker.

Her next film, Shoot the Works led to comparisons with Mae West and her rendition of, "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming" in the film became a hit record. Paramount scheduled her to play opposite Gary Cooper and Shirley Temple in, Now and Forever in what was to have been her first major starring role as a romantic lead.

On June 8, 1934, Dell went on a car ride to Pasadena with Dr. Carl Wagner, because he thought she needed some time for relaxation between retakes of the film, Shoot the Works. Unfortunately, the car left the highway, hit a telephone pole, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder. Dell was killed instantly. Wagner, who was driving between 50 and 70 miles an hour, died six hours later in a hospital.