Whilst not exactly catching the spirit of Damon Runyon, it's a good effort and a most entertaining film, with Matthau on brilliant form as cynical bookie and Sara Stimson just great as the little girl left in his charge (she was picked out of 5000 auditions; wisely she quit after this). Matthau exec produced but the film mysteriously was a flop. Supported by Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis (scarily good as the bad guy - yes this was in the cocaine era), Bob Newhart, Lee Grant (the judge), Brian Dennehy, Kenneth McMillan.
Scored by Henry Mancini, photographed by Philip Lathrop. Bernstein was one of the blacklisted Hollywood writers and wrote about that in The Front. "They should put headlights on the horse. By the time he comes in, it'll be dark."
The fact that Matthau was a gambling addict gives the film an interesting added dimension.
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