Sorrowful Jones Movie

Sorrowful Jones
Rating:
Run Time: 88 min
MPAA Rating:
Released: 1949
Directors: Sidney Lanfield
Genre/Type: Comedy
Producers: Robert L. Welch
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
This second of four film adaptations of Damon Runyon's Little Miss Marker is tailored to the talents of Bob Hope. A shifty Broadway bookie, Sorrowful Jones (Hope) becomes a reluctant foster parent when an anxious gambler leaves behind his little girl Martha Jane (Mary Jane Saunders) as a "marker," or IOU. When the father is killed by mobster Big Steve Holloway (Bruce Cabot), Sorrowful decides to hide Martha Jane from the authorities, lest the poor girl get tossed in an orphanage. Lucille Ball co-stars as Sorrowful's erstwhile girlfriend Gladys, who along with Mary Jane is instrumental in "reforming" the cynical Jones. The climactic scenes, wherein Sorrowful tries to smuggle a horse into a hospital in order to bring the little girl out of a coma, deftly combines slapstick with pathos. A remake of 1934's Little Miss Marker, which starred Shirley Temple in the title role, Sorrowful Jones was itself remade in 1962 as the Tony Curtis vehicle Who's Got the Action; it was filmed again in 1980, once more as Little Miss Marker, with Curtis as the villain and Walter Matthau in the Bob Hope role.

Videos of Sorrowful Jones

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Cast

Actors Character Born
Bob Hope Humphrey "Sorrowful" Jones May 29, 1903 in Standiforth Court, Eltham, England
Lucille Ball Gladys O'Neill Aug 6, 1911 in Celeron, NY
William Demarest Regret Feb 27, 1892 in St. Paul, MN
Mary Jane Saunders Martha Jane Smith Oct 12, 1943 in Pasadena, CA
Bruce Cabot Big Steve Holloway Apr 20, 1904 in Carlsbad, NM
Thomas Gomez Reardon Jul 10, 1905 in Long Island, NY
Tom Pedi Once Over Sam Sep 14, 1913 in Brooklyn, NY
Paul Lees Orville Smith
Houseley Stevenson, Sr. Doc Chesley Jul 30, 1879
Ben Welden Big Steve's Bodyguard Jun 12, 1901 in Toledo, OH
Emmett Vogan Psychiatrist Sep 27, 1893
Claire Carleton Agnes "Happy Hips" Noonan
Pat Lane
Selmar Jackson Doctor May 7, 1888 in Iowa
Billy Snyder
Sid Tomack Waiter at Steve's Place
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Back to the topReview

Review by Craig Butler
Sorrowful Jones is not a "don't miss" movie, but it is notable for providing Bob Hope with the chance to play a real character, rather than a thin variation on the Bob hope persona. This is not to say that Sorrowful Jones has nothing in common with Hope; there are quite a few quips that were definitely written for the actor, not the character. Still, Hope is definitely creating a character here and not doing a half-bad job at it either. The problem is that neither the star nor the writers are willing to fully commit to the character (and, by extension, the story, the dialogue, and the milieu), with the result that the best Sorrowful can do is place, rather than win or show. The film does benefit from a fine non-cloying performance from little Mary Jane Saunders, who manages to stay on the right side of cute. Lucille Ball is unusually subdued; those who are looking for her zany television character will be disappointed, but if viewers can divorce themselves from those preconceptions, they'll be surprised at the warmth and vulnerability with which she laces her sometimes severe character. There's also fine support from William Demarest and Ben Welden and purposeful direction from Sidney Lanfield, adding up to a decent, if unremarkable, time for all.
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