History Film / CurlySue

* CallingParentsByTheirName: When Grey asks Curly Sue why she calls her father Bill, Sue initially explains: "Well...If I'm in a crowded place and I yell...'Dad!' 50 guys would turn around. If I yell 'Bill!' maybe two will turn around. It's a timesaver, really." [[spoiler: It's later revealed that Bill is not actually Sue's father]].

* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: The social worker who apprehends Curly Sue gives the impression of being cold and methodical, bluntly telling Grey that it's "irrelevant" that she loves Curly Sue, as opposed to the destitute but fatherly Bill; the home she is placed in appears to be a similarly cold, emotionless place and they also cut Sue's hair there, which deeply upsets her.
* DisappearedDad: [[spoiler: Curly Sue's biological father is never seen nor mentioned]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After dumping her selfish boyfriend, Grey bails Bill out of jail and manages to get custody of Curly Sue. Bill recovers Sue's mother's ring and decides to stay with Curly Sue even after she is finally given a proper home. Grey and Bill start a relationship and Curly Sue is finally able to go to school and have a normal, happy childhood.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: Bill scams people for a living but disapproves of stealing money and forbids Curly Sue from doing so.

* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler: Grey manages to get custody of Curly Sue and her and Bill officially become Curly Sue's adoptive parents.]]
* HateSink: Walker [=McCormick=] is an outright snobby businessman with zero redeeming qualities. He jealously looks down upon the homeless Bill Dancer and Bill's surrogate daughter Curly Sue for being cared for by his fiancé Grey Ellison and ends up getting Bill arrested and Curly Sue sent into welfare to try to get rid of them. Both the loathing and remorseless traits Walker exudes only seals how detestable he is and makes Bill and Curly Sue all the more likable.
* HereditaryHairstyle: Curly Sue's mother had thick curly hair just like her daughter.
* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler: According to Curly Sue, Bill's plan was to find her a foster family and leave and the way Bill stared at a passing train could be interpreted as him considering this as well but Bill, having grown to love Sue as his own child, decides to stay with her.]]

* LikeASonToMe: [[spoiler: Bill loves Curly Sue as if she were his own biological daughter.]]
* LittleMissBadass: Curly Sue is very tough and brave despite all the hardships she and Bill went through such losing her mother, home and even her late mother's ring. [[spoiler: She only loses her composture when she is taken to a foster home and when she believes Bill is going to leave her with Grey.]]

* MamaBear: Immediately after Grey takes in Bill and Curly Sue she takes it upon herself to take care of Sue, making sure she is fed, clean and clothed as well as having her to do chores instead of doing nothing but watch TV all day. Grey at one point tells Bill to leave Sue with her to make sure she is well taken care of (he doesn't).
* MissingMom: Curly Sue's mother is mentioned to be "dead and buried in Florida", which apparently happened when Curly Sue was still a baby or a toddler.
* OddNameOut: Curly Sue told Grey that she wanted to have seven kids and would name them Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Bill after her surrogate father.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: The ring which belonged to Curly Sue's mother serves as an interesting variant of this trope. Sue and Bill are homeless, and the ring is stolen by another homeless man early in the film. Later, when Bill is missing, she is unconcerned, asking whether he left a note or a ring; as he left neither, she knows he'll be back, since he won't leave her without first recovering her mother's ring. [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie, he does leave both the ring and a note and she's heartbroken...until she learns that the note says he is in the next room.]]
* PapaWolf: Bill will go to great lenghts to protect Curly Sue from anyone who does her wrong in any way or tries to take her away from him.
* ParentalSubstitute: [[spoiler: Bill is this for Curly Sue and so is Grey at the end of the film when she adopts Curly Sue.]]
* ProperTightsWithASkirt: Curly Sue is forced to wear those as well as a dress shirt and a blazer when Grey takes her and Bill to a nice restaurant and wears them again for her first day of school, albeit combined with more tomboyish clothes that make Sue more comfortable.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Subverted. Both Sue and Bill look nice when dressed nicely but Sue appears out of character and uncomfortable in the cute clothes Grey buys her. Bill also feels out of place in his new suit. [[spoiler: They get better by the end of the movie when they both wear better clothes that suit their personalities better like the jean jacket and simple white shirt Sue wears for school along with the skirt, slacks and nice shoes (and her mother's ring, of course).]]

* StagedPedestrianAccident: Bill tries to pull this on Grey, with Curly Sue playing the concerned bystander ("You've killed him!"). Then Grey accidentally hits him for real ("Now you've ''really'' killed him!").
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Curly Sue claims that she hates anything feminine but owns several pink necklaces and bracelets and always wears a woman's ring. After Grey takes her in Curly Sue wears more feminine clothes.
* TookALevelInKindness: Curly Sue wasn't exactly mean but she had poor manners and becomes more polite after Grey takes her in.
* TragicKeepsake: Curly Sue always wears a tin ring that belonged to her late mother until it gets stolen and pawned by one of their roommates at a shelter. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Bill manages to get it back and Curly Sue wears it on her first day of school]]. Among the many trinkets Curly Sue has in her traveling bag there is an old candy tin box with a vintage paper doll Valentine's Day card, dried flowers and a tattered picture of a woman presumed to be Curly Sue's mother inside.

* PoorHungry: Alisan Porter (accidentally) hits Jim Belushi in the face with a wooden plank then Kelly Lynch's bumper in order to guilt trip her into buying them a slap up meal.

* BastardBoyfriend: Grey's boyfriend Walker. He is rude to both Bill and Curly Sue and looks down on them for being homeless. [[spoiler: When he finds out about Bill and Curly Sue being con artists and that Bill isn't Curly Sue's father he calls the police and has Bill arrested and Curly Sue placed in foster care just to get Bill away from Grey.]]