Monday, Dec 2024
Director: Sam Newfield
Screenwriters: Fred Myton
Length: 63 mins.
Released: 1938 B & W

the terror of tiny town film posterA small-budget Western featuring an all-midget cast, all members of "Jed Buell's Midgets." Mr. Buell, an entrepreneur evidently just short of a circus geek-show promoter, also produced. The opening credits inform us that this is a "rollickin', rootin', shootin' drama of the great outdoors..." Most of the Western elements are present here, though in abbreviated form. The traditional story itself doesn't come up short, but the direction and production certainly leave more than a little to be desired. However, this is probably worth a view as selected members of the cast manage to rise to the occasion in more than one scene. They are all here: Good little cowboys and bad little cowboys, galloping about on spirited Shetland ponies. It is often difficult to understand the high pitch of the cast's voices, so you are advised to keep your ear to the ground. This is a classic tale of a battle between two opposing cattle ranches, and as one tiny cowboy observes: "A range war is like rolling a rock down a mountain: easy to start, but mighty hard to stop..." Likewise, once you start this peculiar viewer, you won't be able to stop. The novelty doesn't try our patience as fortunately the duration of this film is as brief as its cast.

--Ned

Cast:

  • Billy Curtis ... Buck Lawson
  • Yvonne Moray ... Nancy Preston
  • 'Little Billy' Rhodes ... Bat Haines
  • Billy Platt ... Jim 'Tex' Preston
  • John T. Bambury ... Pop Lawson
  • Joseph Herbst ... Sheriff
  • Charles Becker ... Otto
  • Nita Krebs ... Nita
  • George Ministeri ... Armstrong
  • Karl 'Karchy' Kosiczky ... Sammy
  • Fern Formica ... Diamond Dolly
  • William H. O'Docharty ... Junior Pickle
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