It stars Shirley Temple, Adolphe Menjou and Dorothy Dell in a story about a young girl held as collateral by gangsters.

However, being around the gang has a somewhat bad influence on Marky, and she begins to develop a cynical nature and a wide vocabulary of gambling terminology and slang.

Worried that her acquired bad-girl attitude means she will not get adopted by a "good family", Bangles and Sorrowful put on a party with gangsters dressed up as knights of the Round Table, to rekindle her former sweetness.

Big Steve goes there to pay back Sorrowful for trying to steal Bangles but is roped into giving Marky the direct blood transfusion she needs for her life-saving operation.

[5] In 1998, Little Miss Marker was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Scott Ellis and David Thompson are working on a musical adaptation of the film to feature songs by Harold Arlen as its score.

[1] The plot and title of the film are referenced by the book Little Myth Marker, part of Robert Asprin's MythAdventures series.