The ice cream parlor shown in the film is probably:
Old Time Soda Fountain & Luncheonette, (Market St.?), Apalachicola, FL 32320, (904) 653-2000
Is it significant that Elizabeth is wearing heart-shaped sunglasses? Such sunglasses were worn by Lolita in the classic 1962 Stanley Kubrick film "Lolita" and now the glasses and the word "Lolita" itself are symbols of precocious young girls. There are other such neotephilic undertones throughout the film, as well.
There are some minor discrepencies in the film when the girls make various claims:
Elizabeth's statement exactly contradicts what Robert just told the girls: that he & Dorothea are not spies, just reporters. She had another contradiction earlier, too: She told Thelma that Robert was nice because he bought Thelma a Coke, when in fact he only offered Thelma a Coke. Thelma had a similar contradiction earlier: She claimed Robert said he wouldn't call her "kid," when in fact he made no such promise.
In the book the two girls have a picnic; the food that Thelma brings is lemonade and a cream cheese sandwich on crumbly bread. [p. 78] In the film this picnic scene is reduced to Thelma drinking a bottle of (presumably) lemonade and Elizabeth eating some candy-like objects from a baggie, when the girls pause for a break on the beach pavilion.
There exists a Lanier Pharmacy in downtown Apalachicola:
Lanier Pharmacy, 45 Ave. D, Apalachicola, FL 32320, (904) 653-8825 or (904) 653-8350.
However, the wall illustrations on this building do not match the wall illustration in the film where the girls walk. Most likely it is the same place, but renovated since the film.
This seagull is probably not there by accident. A common photography trick is to throw some crackers near your subject to attract gulls and other birds into the picture. It looks as if some food was dropped behind the girls in order to get a seagull into the scene to make it more interesting and sea-like.
On the refrigerator door are seen various decorative magnets: three balloons (red, yellow, and blue) and a Busch beer can (identifiable by the blue and white mountain illustration).
In the book, Dorothea drinks Cognac, Scotch whisky, and Courvoisier brandy. In the film the bottle shown has the centered black logo above red text on a white label characteristic of Courvoisier.
St. George Island and surrounding communities are indeed in Franklin County. If you'd like some tourist information on this scenic area of Florida, you can try the links below:
Franklin County
The Prudential Resort Realty of St. George Island
I thought it curious that no community or business from the film currently acknowledges their presence in the film "Little Sweetheart"; one would think such a distinction would be a unique marketing plus. Long's Video in downtown Apalachicola did not even carry the video of "Little Sweetheart." Recently another film was made on St. George Island: "Ulee's Gold" (1987).
These brick walls still exist in downtown Apalachicola, and they look the same as they did in the movie.
The sign THE GRILL RESTAURANT is seen in the background--the place
where Robert Burger waited to try to see who picked up his blackmail money.
That restaurant no longer exists in Apalachicola by that name, if it ever
did exist.
In real life there is no way Thelma could have gotten to the tip of St. George Island from downtown Apalachicola without her ice cream having melted, even if she'd been driven.
This ending, although interesting and satisfying, is rather far-fetched. Elizabeth would have had to swim with a fresh bullet wound in her arm in the ocean without being seen by Thelma, and yet somehow have been noticed by a passing boat. Furthermore, the boat shown passing by when the shots were fired could not have been reached by a swimmer before it had passed.
Although the ending credits list "MR MANNY" there is no mention of this name in either the film or the book. Most likely he is the man in the film who sells ice cream to Thelma from the downtown store, who is equivalent to Pierre, the baker and boulangerie owner in the book. I assume this because he is the only person that has any dialog in the film other than the obvious characters that are credited.
"Pat" Jackson is Patricia Jackson, who was kind enough to e-mail me after finding her name on the credits page of this site. She was the driver for John Hurt during the filming of this film in the "wild coast" part of Florida's panhandle, during the summer of 1988. Sheila Klink was the driver for Karen Young, after Karen Young's first driver went to the grip department.
Other than the song by Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin, which is on the 1988 "Copycats" album (which is out of print), I have been unable to find a single one of these recordings or artists even listed as having existed, possibly because they originated in England. If you have any access to any of these recordings, please let me know.
Additional information from Spec's music data base on the "Copycats" album:
Record company: Restless, 72326
Guest artists: Chrissie Hynde, Bob Andrews, Nick Evans, John Perry, Billy Rath, Jayne County
Time: 39 minutes, 22 seconds
BACK to "Little Sweetheart" page
File: lsnotes.htm
Updated: November 18, 1998
Get your own Free Home Page