Big Steve Halloway, gambler and proprietor of New York's Horseshoe Cabaret, is in desperate need of money. He arranges for his fellow bookies, especially Sorrowful Jones, to each pay him $1,000 for his racehorse, Dream Prince, to lose. With all bets being placed at the window, Sorrowful encounters a gambler, having lost $500, wanting to place his bet but unable to come up with $20. Instead, he places his little girl, Marthy Jane, as security, or in bookie's terms a "marker". "Marky", as she comes to be known, winds up under the care of Sorrowful Jones and his lady friend, singer Bangles Carson.

Shirley Temple
as Marthy Jane aka 'Marky'

Adolphe Menjou
as Sorrowful Jones

Charles Bickford
as Big Steve Halloway

Dorothy Dell
as Bangles Carson

Warren Hymer
as Sore Toe

Lynne Overman
as Regret

Sam Hardy
as Bennie the Gouge

John Kelly
as Canvas Back

Frank McGlynn Sr.
as Doc Chesley

John Sheehan
as Sun Rise
Kandarr
This movie really threw Shirley Temple into the spotlight, and for good reason. She hits every note perfectly, and showed that she had what it took to move beyond shorts and into feature films. The problems that Little Miss Marker suffers from are mostly caused by the times. The sound is pretty bad ...