Little Big Shot
Brief Synopsis
Small-time hoods turn nursemaid when a gangster's daughter is orphaned.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Michael Curtiz
Director
Sybil Jason
Gloria [Gibbs]
Glenda Farrell
Jean
Robert Armstrong
Steve [Craig]
Edward Everett Horton
Mortimer [Thompson]
Jack La Rue
[Jack] Doré
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Comedy
Crime
Release Date
Sep
7,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
The Vitaphone Corp.; Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 18m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Steve Craig and Mortimer Thompson are a pair of sidewalk confidence men working Broadway one step ahead of the police. Broke, they arrange to have dinner with an old friend, Gibbs, and his small daughter Gloria. Each believes the other has money. Actually, Gibbs is hiding from some gangsters, who kill him when he walks out of the restaurant, leaving Gloria with Steve and Mortimer. The men try to place Gloria in an orphanage, and when that fails, they decide to take care of her themselves with the help of Jean, a hat check girl at their hotel. Unexpectedly, Gloria's talents at impressions, singing and dancing improve their sidewalk business. Despite Jean's disapproval, things go well until gangster Jack Doré refuses to pay Steve the money he has won in a crap game. Embarrassed to seem weak in front of Gloria, Steve threatens to kill Doré, and when he is later found dead, Steve is the prime suspect. Believing that the hotel is not the right environment for Gloria, Jean has her placed in an orphanage. Another gang, however, kidnaps Gloria to force Steve out of hiding. Steve talks the criminals into releasing Gloria, and just as they are about to kill him, the police, tipped off by Mortimer and Jean, arrive at the hideout. His name cleared, Steve marries Jean, and they adopt Glora and with Mortimer, open a roadside cafe.
Director
Michael Curtiz
Director
Cast
Sybil Jason
Gloria [Gibbs]
Glenda Farrell
Jean
Robert Armstrong
Steve [Craig]
Edward Everett Horton
Mortimer [Thompson]
Jack La Rue
[Jack] Doré
Arthur Vinton
Kell [Norton]
J. Carroll Naish
Bert
Edgar Kennedy
Onderdonk
Addison Richards
Gibbs
Emma Dunn
Matron
Tammany Young
Rajah Louis
Joseph Sauers
Henchman
Eddie Shubert
Henchman
Ward Bond
Henchman
Murray Alper
Henchman
Marc Lawrence
Henchman
Guy Usher
Lieutenant Adams
Mary Foy
Second matron
Jackie Saunders
Maggie
George Humbert
Head waiter
Gene Morgan
First man
Ernest Wood
Second man
Don Downen
Page boy
Jesse Scott
Black child
Arvert Pott
Black child
Stuart Holmes
Customer
Burr Caruth
Customer
Gloria Fisher
Little girl
Joseph Crehan
Banker
Kernan Cripps
First policeman
Lee Prather
Second policeman
Lee Shumway
Announcer
Dell Henderson
Detective
Howard C. Hickman
Judge
Milton Kibbee
Chauffeur
Richard Powell
Wine waiter
Georgia O'dell
Claudia Coleman
Dorothy Gray
Crew
Robert Andrews
Screenwriter
Sam Bischoff
Producer
Frank Dixon
Composer
Julius J. Epstein
Screenwriter
Leo F. Forbstein
Music Director
Tony Gaudio
Photography
Byron Haskins
Photography
Harrison Jacobs
Story
Jack Killifer
Editing
Frank Macdonald
Dialogue Director
Hugh Reticker
Art Director
Sherry Shourds
Assistant Director
Jerry Wald
Screenwriter
Allie Wrubel
Composer
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Comedy
Crime
Release Date
Sep
7,
1935
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
The Vitaphone Corp.; Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 18m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Little Big Shot
Small-time hoods turn nursemaid when a gangster's daughter is orphaned.
Little Big Shot
Small-time hoods turn nursemaid when a gangster's daughter is orphaned.
Marc Lawrence (1910-2005)
Born Max Goldsmith on February 17, 1910, in the Bronx, Lawrence had his heart set on a career in drama right out of high school. He enrolled at City College of New York to study theatre, and in 1930, he worked under famed stage actress Eva Le Gallienne. Anxious for a career in movies, Lawrence moved to Hollywood in 1932 and found work immediately as a contract player with Warner Bros. (an ideal studio for the actor since they specialized in crime dramas). He was cast as a heavy in his first film, If I Had a Million (1932). Although his first few parts were uncredited, Lawrence's roles grew more prominent: a sinister henchman in the Paul Muni vehicle in Dr. Socrates (1935); a conniving convict aiding Pat O'Brien in San Quentin (1937); a menacing thug stalking Dorothy Lamour in Johnny Apollo (1940); the shrewdly observant chauffeur in Alan Ladd's breakthrough hit This Gun For Hire (1942); and one of his most memorable roles as Ziggy, a fedora wearing mobster in the Bogart-Bacall noir classic Key Largo (1948).
Lawrence, when given the opportunity, could play against type: as the prosecuting attorney challenging Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (1940); a noble aristocrat in the Greer Garson-Walter Pidgeon period opus Blossoms in the Dust; and most impressively, as a deaf mute simpleton in the rustic drama The Shepherd of the Hills (both 1941). Better still was Lawrence's skill at comedy, where his deadpan toughness worked terrifically as a straight man against the likes of Joe E. Brown in Beware Spooks (1939); Abbott and Costello in Hit the Ice (1943); Penny Singleton in Life with Blondie (1945); and Bob Hope in My Favorite Spy (1951).
After that, Lawrence's career took a turn downward spin when he was labeled a communist sympathizer during the Hollywood witch hunts of the early '50s. He was exiled in Europe for a spell (1951-59), and when he came back, the film industry turned a blind eye to him, but television overcompensated for that. Here he played effective villains (what else?) in a series of crime caper programs: Peter Gunn, Johnny Staccato, The Untouchables, Richard Diamond, Private Detective; and eventually made a welcome return to the big screen as a returning exiled gangster in William Asher's underrated mob thriller Johnny Cool (1963).
It wasn't long before Lawrence found himself back in the fray playing in some big box-office hits over the next two decades: Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Marathon Man (1976), Foul Play (1978); and The Big Easy (1987). Sure he was cast as a gangster, but nobody could play a rough and tumble mob boss with more style or conviction.
Interestingly, one of his finest performances in recent years was in television, as a severely ill old man unwilling to accept his fate in a fourth season episode of ER (1997-98). His last screen role was just two years ago, as a nimble minded VP in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).
In 1991, Lawrence published a memoir about his venerable career, Long Time No See: Confessions of a Hollywood Gangster that received much critical acclaim. He has also developed a cult following due to his appearances in such offbeat items as From Dusk to Dawn and Pigs aka Daddy's Deadly Darling, the 1972 horror film he directed and starred in with his daughter Toni. He is survived by his wife, Alicia; two children from a previous marriage, Toni and Michael; and a stepdaughter Marina.
by Michael T. Toole
Marc Lawrence (1910-2005)
With his sharp glare, pockmarked cheeks, clipped speech pattern and menacing air, Marc Lawrence had certainly carved a reputation for himself as one of the screen's finest character actors for villainous
roles. Lawrence, whose career was harmed by the
Hollywood blacklist in the '50s, died of natural causes on November 27 at his home in Palm Springs. He was 95.
Born Max Goldsmith on February 17, 1910, in the Bronx, Lawrence had his heart set on a career in drama right out of high school. He enrolled at City College of New York to study theatre, and in 1930, he worked under famed stage actress Eva Le Gallienne. Anxious for a career in movies, Lawrence moved to Hollywood in
1932 and found work immediately as a contract player with Warner Bros. (an ideal studio for the actor since they specialized in crime dramas). He was cast as a heavy in his first film, If I Had a Million (1932). Although his first few parts were uncredited, Lawrence's roles grew more prominent: a sinister henchman in the Paul Muni vehicle in Dr.
Socrates (1935); a conniving convict aiding Pat O'Brien in San Quentin (1937); a menacing thug stalking Dorothy Lamour in Johnny Apollo (1940); the shrewdly observant chauffeur in Alan Ladd's breakthrough hit This Gun For Hire (1942); and one of his most memorable roles as Ziggy, a fedora wearing mobster in the Bogart-Bacall noir classic Key Largo (1948).
Lawrence, when given the opportunity, could play against type: as the prosecuting attorney challenging Tyrone Power in Brigham Young (1940); a noble aristocrat in the Greer Garson-Walter Pidgeon period opus Blossoms in the Dust; and most impressively, as a deaf mute simpleton in the rustic drama The Shepherd of the Hills (both 1941).
Better still was Lawrence's skill at comedy, where his deadpan toughness worked terrifically as a straight man against the likes of Joe E. Brown in Beware Spooks (1939); Abbott and Costello in Hit the Ice (1943); Penny Singleton in Life with Blondie (1945); and Bob Hope in My Favorite Spy (1951).
After that, Lawrence's career took a turn downward spin when he was labeled a communist sympathizer during the Hollywood witch hunts of the early '50s.
He was exiled in Europe for a spell (1951-59), and when he came back, the film industry turned a blind eye to him, but television overcompensated for that. Here he played effective villains (what else?) in a series of crime caper programs: Peter Gunn, Johnny Staccato, The Untouchables, Richard Diamond, Private Detective; and eventually made a welcome return to the big screen as a returning exiled gangster in William Asher's underrated mob thriller Johnny Cool (1963).
It wasn't long before Lawrence found himself back in the fray playing in some big box-office hits over the next two decades: Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Marathon Man (1976), Foul Play (1978); and The Big Easy (1987). Sure he was cast as a gangster, but nobody could play a rough and tumble mob boss with more style or conviction.
Interestingly, one of his finest performances in recent years was in television, as a severely ill old man unwilling to accept his fate in a fourth season episode of ER (1997-98). His last screen role was just two years ago, as a nimble minded VP in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003).
In 1991, Lawrence published a memoir about his venerable career, Long Time No See: Confessions of a Hollywood Gangster that received much critical acclaim. He has also developed a cult following due to his appearances in such offbeat items as From Dusk to Dawn and Pigs aka Daddy's Deadly Darling, the 1972 horror film he directed and starred in with his daughter Toni. He is survived by his wife, Alicia; two children from a previous marriage, Toni and Michael; and a stepdaughter Marina.
by Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Byron Haskin took over as director of photography when 'Gaudio, Tony' started work on Dr. Socrates (1935).
Notes
Variety notes that this was the American screen debut of five-year-old South African Sybil Jason. She was hired by Warner Bros. to compete with Shirley Temple and Variety mentions this film's similarity to Paramount's Little Miss Marker. In the film, Jason does imitations of Greta Garbo, Mae West and Jimmy Durante. A news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that Byron Haskins finished the photography when Tony Gaudio moved on to Dr. Socrates, but only Gaudio received screen credit.
