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40 Pounds of Trouble is a 1962 comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and starring Tony Curtis, Suzanne Pleshette, Larry Storch and Phil Silvers. It is a retelling of Damon Runyon's 1932 short story Little Miss Marker.[2]

40 Pounds of Trouble
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Norman Jewison
Written by	Marion Hargrove
Based on	Little Miss Marker by Damon Runyon
Produced by	Stan Margulies
Starring	Tony Curtis Suzanne Pleshette Larry Storch
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Edited by	Marjorie Fowler
Music by	Mort Lindsey
Production company	Curtis Enterprises
Distributed by	Universal-International Pictures
Release date	31 December 1962 (US)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2,750,000 (US/ Canada)[1]

It marks Jewison's feature film directorial debut, after several years as a television director;[3] it also marks Stanley Margulies' feature film producer debut, after having been executive producer on the television series Tales of the Vikings for Brynaprod.[4][5] The film was shot on location at Disneyland and at Harrah's Club in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.[6][7] It was the first motion picture ever to receive permission from Walt Disney to film at the amusement park.[8][9][10] Producers Curtis and Stanley Margulies sent Disney a copy of the script and were surprised when the noted figure phoned them three days later to give his approval, with only a minor alteration to the script.[9] It was the only released film completed by Curtis and Margulies' film production company Curtis Enterprises, as the pair would form a new company, Reynard Productions, shortly afterwards.

40 Pounds of Trouble had a limited one-day-only New Years Eve screening at select theaters across the United States, on the night of December 31, 1962.[11][12] Theaters showed the film from one to three times that night in celebration of the oncoming new year.[13] The film had its official world premiere on January 18, 1963 at the Carib-Miami-Miracle Theaters in Miami, Florida,[14] and the next day at Harrah's Club's South Shore Room in Lake Tahoe, Nevada which Curtis and his wife Christine Kaufmann attended.[15][16] The film then opened to the rest of the United States during the last week of January and first week of February 1963. It was a success and the film was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award for Top Comedy and Curtis was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award for Top Male Comedy Performance.

Plot

A casino manager (played by Tony Curtis) and his club singer, Chris Lockwood (played by Suzanne Pleshette), find their hands full when they agree to take in a troublesome young girl named Penny Piper (played by Claire Wilcox), left behind in the casino by her gambling father. The little girl hinders the manager's plans to keep his gaming licence. Penny thinks that Steve needs to get married and settle down, so she starts trying to match make, trying to set him up with Chris. Steve is still reeling from his failed first marriage and is apprehensive about another trip to the altar. The movie's culmination involves a slapstick pursuit through Disneyland.[17][18][19][20]

Principal cast

Actor	Role
Tony Curtis	Steve McCluskey
Suzanne Pleshette	Chris Lockwood
Larry Storch	Floyd
Howard Morris	Julius
Edward Andrews	Herman
Stubby Kaye	Cranston
Warren Stevens	Swing
Kevin McCarthy	Louie Blanchard
Phil Silvers	Bernie "the Butcher" Friedman
Claire Wilcox	Penelope "Penny" Piper
Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)	Witch Vocals in Snow White's Adventures

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times summed up the film:

40 Pounds of Trouble is witless remake of a Runyon Story... Blunt promotion, thin humor fill script... The trouble with 40 Pounds of Trouble is that it is just too hackneyed and dull.[2]

Wilcox has been especially praised in her scene in the courthouse.[21]

Trivia

One of the first films to be shot at Disneyland.[22]

See also

• List of American films of 1962

References

External links

• 40 Pounds of Trouble at IMDb
• 40 Pounds of Trouble at the TCM Movie Database
• 40 Pounds of Trouble at AllMovie

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