It starts with a con. A big guy and a tiny girl with hair that looks like a cloud of springs. You remember that face. If you grew up in the nineties, you probably saw the Curly Sue movie trailer during a VHS preview or caught it on a grainy TV spot between Saturday morning cartoons. It promised a heart-warmer. It promised laughs. Honestly, it mostly promised another Home Alone.
But it wasn't Home Alone. Not even close.
Looking back at that 1991 trailer now, it feels like a time capsule of a version of Chicago that doesn't really exist anymore. It’s glitzy. It’s gritty. It’s got that specific John Hughes lighting where everything looks like it’s glowing from the inside. But behind the "big laughs come in small packages" tagline was a movie that would eventually mark the end of an era for one of Hollywood’s most legendary directors.
What the Curly Sue Movie Trailer Actually Showed Us
The trailer opens with Bill Dancer (Jim Belushi) and Curly Sue (Alisan Porter) running a classic scam. Bill gets "hit" by a car. Sue screams, "You killed my daddy!" It’s high drama for a seven-year-old. The mark is Grey Ellison, played by Kelly Lynch, a high-powered attorney who looks like she stepped out of a Chanel ad.
The trailer hits all the beats you'd expect from a 1991 family comedy:
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- The "Poor House to Penthouse" transformation.
- The slapstick moments—think Sue hitting Bill with a board to make the "injury" look real.
- The inevitable romance between the drifter and the lawyer.
- That iconic shot of Sue singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a giant bed.
It’s a bit of a bait-and-switch. The Curly Sue movie trailer sells a zany comedy about a pint-sized con artist. In reality, the movie is much weirder. It’s a fable about homelessness, class warfare, and a woman who realizes her corporate life is a hollow shell. People forget that this was the last movie John Hughes ever directed. He didn't go out with a teen masterpiece or a slapstick hit. He went out with a sentimental, slightly cynical story about two people living on the streets.
The Mystery of the Director’s Exit
Why did Hughes stop after this? Most people don't realize he was feuding with studios like Paramount and Universal at the time. He moved over to Warner Bros. just to get Curly Sue made. Despite the trailer being everywhere in the fall of '91, the movie didn't exactly set the world on fire. It made about $33 million on a $25 million budget. Not a disaster, but definitely not Home Alone numbers.
Some critics, like Roger Ebert, actually liked it. Others found it maudlin. They thought Bill Dancer was more of a kidnapper than a hero. Honestly, if you watch the trailer today, the ethics are... questionable. Bill basically admits they "cheat but don't steal." It’s a fine line that the 1991 marketing team had to walk very carefully.
The Stars: Where Are They Now?
Alisan Porter was a powerhouse. She wasn't just a "cute kid" hire. Casting director Janet Hirshenson was reportedly floored by her maturity. You see that in the trailer—the way she commands the screen next to a seasoned pro like Belushi.
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Funny enough, Porter didn't stay in the acting game for long. She eventually moved into music and actually won Season 10 of The Voice in 2016. It’s one of those rare child star stories that doesn't end in a tabloid mess. She just found a different stage.
As for Jim Belushi? He was at the top of his game. The trailer showcases his "lovable bear" energy, which worked perfectly as a foil to Kelly Lynch’s "ice princess" persona. And look closely at the background of the trailer’s restaurant scenes. You’ll catch a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance by a very young Steve Carell. He’s credited as "Steven Carell" and plays a waiter for about ten seconds.
Why the Movie Still Lingers
There’s a reason people still search for the Curly Sue movie trailer decades later. It’s nostalgia, sure, but it’s also the music. Georges Delerue’s score is incredibly delicate. It makes the "fable" aspect of the story feel real.
The movie deals with things that a "family comedy" wouldn't touch today.
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- Child Welfare: The scene where the villainous boyfriend (John Getz) calls the cops on them still feels like a gut punch.
- Illiteracy: Sue can't read. Bill taught her how to con people but not how to read a book. That’s heavy stuff for a movie marketed with "Big laughs come in small packages."
- Class Tension: The contrast between the "seedy" side of Chicago and the "penthouse" life is handled with more nuance than most give Hughes credit for.
It’s a strange movie. It’s a movie where a kid sneaks into a theater to see 3D Looney Tunes shorts and the audience reacts like they're seeing the birth of Christ. It’s over-the-top. It’s sentimental. It’s totally 1991.
How to Revisit the Magic
If that trailer has you feeling some type of way, you're not alone. The film has found a second life on streaming and DVD. It’s become a "comfort watch" for a generation that misses the days when movies didn't need a multi-film cinematic universe to be worth a trip to the theater.
To get the most out of a rewatch:
- Look for the Chicago landmarks. Hughes loved his city. He even had it in his contract that he wouldn't film in L.A. because he thought it was a "bad place to get a perspective on the country."
- Notice the cinematography. Jeffrey L. Kimball, who also did Top Gun, makes the city look both dangerous and magical.
- Listen to Alisan Porter's voice. Even at nine years old, her timing was impeccable.
Don't go into it expecting The Breakfast Club. Go into it expecting a weird, sweet, slightly dark fairy tale about a man and a girl who just wanted a warm bed and a decent meal.
If you're looking to watch it, the film is widely available on digital platforms like Amazon and Vudu. For the purists, you can still find those 2003 Warner Bros. DVDs on eBay for a few bucks. It’s worth the five dollars just to see John Hughes’ final bow as a director.