40 Pounds of Trouble

Tony Curtis finally scores a bull's-eye! I've lost count of all the poor movies (comedic or otherwise) that Curtis made in the 1960s, but this one and the later "The Great Race" are his winners. Here, Tony (happily animated throughout) plays a swinging casino manager who comes to love a cute little orphaned girl left in his care. He also has his hands full of Suzanne Pleshette (groomed to look like an old-fashioned movie star, but still with her deep, husky voice--as if it were being channeled from beyond). This unofficial remake of 1934's "Little Miss Marker" has an exceptional supporting cast including Phil Silvers, Kevin McCarthy, Howard Morris and Edward Andrews, slick production, a funny slapstick chase through Disneyland. A good family movie and a happy surprise for Curtis buffs. *** from ****

Here I was, clicking away on the remote control, looking for something vaguely interesting, when I come across a movie called 40 Pounds of Trouble. The title sounded cute so I watched it. It made my day. They just don't make movies like that anymore. The end of the movie at Disneyland was just hilarious and I was laughing the whole way through. Such an enjoyable movie on such a boring day.

I really enjoyed this film! Came across this just by chance and I honestly did not expect too much. This is a light, sweet little comedy featuring the stunning Suzanne Pleshette and Tony Curtis. The era and filming locations are as attractive as the two leads in the cast. It was also fun to see Disneyland in the early 1960's. I highly recommend this if you are feeling a little down, it's a nice pick me up!

While not one of the greatest of actors, Tony Curtis was always watchable and gave good performances (truly great actually in 'Some Like it Hot' and 'Sweet Smell of Success') in a fair share of good films. That '40 Pounds of Trouble' was directed by talented Norman Jewison, in his feature film debut, and had a promising cast were also good reasons to see it.

'40 Pounds of Trouble', the second of three re-workings of 'Little Miss Marker', may not be perfect or one of the all-time greats, nor did it try to be, or among the best work of those involved. Jewison especially went on to better things, such as 'Fiddler on the Roof' and 'In the Heat of the Night'. It is great fun though, with bags of charm. One of those films that doesn't try to do too much or play it too safe, knowing what it wanted to do and how to approach it, succeeding in its goal.

There is not an awful lot wrong here. It perhaps ends predictably and conveniently and occasionally loses momentum in the latter parts of the film where it could have done with more variety.

Phil Silvers overdoes it somewhat, a very enthusiastic performance that was mostly fun but at times over-eager, and could have reigned in more, had the sense that Jewison was not finding it easy to control him.

Curtis is like the film however, immensely likeable. Despite having less of the heroic, athletic quality of his early roles and more of the darker, meaty quality of others when he grew as an actor, he still manages to find the right touch of light-footed energy and charm. He shares amusing and tender chemistry with appealing, neither too cute or bratty, Claire Wilcox.

Suzanne Pleshette is a charmer in her role and Kevin McCarthy and Larry Storch have fun in theirs. Visually, '40 Pounds of Trouble' has a glossy and elegant look, while the witty and humorously light-hearted script, nostalgic Disneyland setting, generally lively pace (occasionally losing momentum in the latter parts), sparkling cast chemistry and engagingly likeable story make the film further appealing. As said, Jewison did go on to better things, for a feature debut though it is quite competent and at least seems to be in keeping with the film's light tone.

Overall, entertaining and easy to like. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is the third version of Damon Runyon's story and was previously made as "Little Miss Marker" (with Shirley Temple), "Sorrowful Jones" (with Bob Hope) and now with this film. All three are enjoyable, though if I were to recommend one (and I am) it would be the original "Little Miss Marker". Still, you could do a lot worse than watching this nice Tony Curtis/Suzanne Pleshette film.

When the film begins, Steve (Curtis) is evading process servers from California once again and just beats them across the state line to the casino he manages in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He seems like a reasonably happy man...or at least successful. But when a loser leaves his cute little girl behind in his hotel room, Steve has got a problem. Oddly, instead of calling the police he and the staff grow to like the kid and keep her!! Later, the girl wants to go on an outing to Disneyland but this will mean Steve once again risking be served a summons to pay back alimony. Along for the ride is a night club singer with a heart of gold, Chris (Pleshette).

The plot is very familiar but has been rather de-Runyonized. In other words the lovable seedy characters you've seen in other Runyon productions as well as earlier versions of this story are mostly gone---cleaned up a bit and with dialog that clearly is more normal! I didn't mind this at all and everyone did fine in the film. I particularly liked seeing the footage of Disneyland circa 1962, as things have certainly changed a lot...and you do see a lot of Disney in the film. Not everything about Disney is perfect, however, as the chase scene did become a bit tedious. Still, it's a nice film that has aged well and is worth your time.