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
Marthy Jane aka 'Marky'
Adolphe Menjou
Sorrowful Jones
Charles Bickford
Big Steve Halloway
Dorothy Dell
Bangles Carson
Warren Hymer
Sore Toe
Lynne Overman
Regret
Sam Hardy
Bennie the Gouge
John Kelly
Canvas Back
