40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Damon Runyon (story)
Marion Hargrove (writer)

Release Date:

31 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Hilarity ensues when a casino manager spends a day at Disneyland with a cute but troublesome little girl. |

Plot Keywords:

Casino | Disneyland | Horse Racing | Ex Wife | Adoption

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Steve McCluskey
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Chris Lockwood
Larry Storch	...	Floyd
Howard Morris	...	Julius
Edward Andrews	...	Herman
Stubby Kaye	...	Cranston
Warren Stevens	...	Swing
Mary Murphy	...	Liz McCluskey
Kevin McCarthy	...	Blanchard
Karen Steele	...	Bambi
Tom Reese	...	Bassett / Uncle Norman
Steve Gravers	...	Daytime
Paul Comi	...	Cavanaugh
Ford Rainey	...	Judge
Gregg Palmer	...	Piper

Also Known As:

Forty Pounds of Trouble (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:11 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort - 1600 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

Curtis Enterprises

Goofs:

Continuity: Steve makes a phone call from a booth located on the path between Tomorrowland and Main Street. In the scene where the detective chases Steve through the same area, the phone booth is not there.

Quotes:

Bernie Friedman: [at custody hearing] Well Judge, you can pass the buck up and down and back and forth, but when it gets to Bernie the butcher it don't go not further.
Judge: Is that what they call you? Bernie the butcher? Why?
Bernie Friedman: 37 years in the meat packing business, what're they gonna call me, Bernie the baker?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Private Screenings: Norman Jewison" (2007)

Soundtrack:

What's the Scene

Just a fun little movie

Nothing of earth-shattering significance here, but Tony Curtis is an ace in his role as McCluskey (do you buy him as a chip off the old Blarney Stone? Not I), a workaholic, alimony-dodging, anal-retentive manager of a casino who seems to be frenetically sleepwalking through his life -- until the blase munchkin of a destitute gambler is left to his care. The beautiful Pleshette, who plays convincingly (albeit not as a singer) as a slumming singer and the casino owner's niece, slides conveniently into place as the mother figure of this atypical family unit.

The little girl is mildly funny and already a little world-weary in a manner only a screenwriter might make a child, thanks to her old man saddled by gambling debts and a life bouncing from one casino hotel room to the next. She seems to handle herself a little too expertly no matter what life throws her, but has a tender side that tenderizes Curtis' heart and sets up a few too many close-ups of Curtis smiling sweetly at the wee bairn. Still, she doesn't wisecrack too hard and manages a few good and funny moments on camera.

When the trio lights off to Disneyland - and to California, the epicenter of earthquakes and his mounting legal troubles - this sets up a fun series of scrambles around Uncle Walt's dreamscape to avoid arrest from a bumbling cop who strangely seems to be at the beck-and-call of McCluskey's vindictive ex-wife and her attorney.

The ending is no surprise, but, then again, that's what we all tend to like in light-hearted movies of this type and era. A nice, fun movie to rent and spend a lazy afternoon watching.