The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)

An evil gunslinging midget comes to terrorize the good little people of Tiny Town. The townspeople organize to defeat him, and zany antics ensue.

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writers:

Fred Myton (original screenplay), Clarence Marks (added dialogue)

Stars:

Billy Curtis, Yvonne Moray, 'Little Billy' Rhodes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Billy Curtis	...	The Hero (Buck Lawson)
Yvonne Moray	...	The Girl (Nancy Preston)
'Little Billy' Rhodes	...	The Villain (Bat Haines) (as Little Billy)
Billy Platt	...	The Rich Uncle (Jim 'Tex' Preston) (as Bill Platt)
John T. Bambury	...	The Ranch Owner (Pop Lawson) (as John Bambury)
Joseph Herbst	...	The Sheriff
Charles Becker	...	The Cook (Otto)
Nita Krebs	...	The Vampire (Nita, the dance hall girl)
George Ministeri	...	The Blacksmith (Armstrong)
Karl 'Karchy' Kosiczky	...	The Barber (Sammy) (as Karl Casitzky)
Fern Formica	...	Diamond Dolly (as Johnnie Fern)
William H. O'Docharty	...	The Old Soak (as W.H. O'Docharty)
Jed Buell's Midgets	...	Cast

Storyline

An evil gunslinging midget comes to terrorize the good little people of Tiny Town. The townspeople organize to defeat him, and zany antics ensue

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | b western | double feature film | poverty row film | low budget film | 

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Taglines:

HALF-PINTS IN TEN GALLON HATS!...a hundred happy Tom Thumbs go to Town! (print ad - Lubbock Morning Avalanche - Lindsey Theatre - Lubbock, Texas - July 4, 1939)

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Genres:

Action | Music | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The earliest documented telecast of this film took place in Detroit Tuesday 12 July 1949 on WJBK (Channel 2).

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Goofs

When Haines arrives at Preston's ranch, he ties his horse securely to the hitching rail. When he leaves a minute later, he mounts his untied horse.

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Quotes

The Sheriff: I'm warnin' you, Tex. Don't start no trouble in town.
The Rich Uncle (Jim 'Tex' Preston): I don't want trouble. But I won't run away from it, either!

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Connections

Referenced in M*A*S*H: Morale Victory (1980)

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Soundtracks

Tex and Mex From Old Bar X
Written by Walter G. Samuels and Charles Newman

User Reviews

Despite its bad reputation, I rather enjoyed The Terror of Tiny Town

Okay, so I just watched this all-Midget (sorry, Little People) Western. Now, while I laughed at some of the way their sizes were exploited like when one fell carrying some boxes that blocked his face or when a townsperson drank a giant glass of beer (I think Jerry Maren played the latter by the way), overall I don't think this deserves the moniker of one of "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time" as implied in the book of that name. In fact, for the most part I was quite excited at the way the whole thing was filmed and liked many of the performances especially Billy Curtis as the Hero, Buck Lawson, and "Little Billy" Rhodes as the Villain, Bat Haines. They have a great fight scene at the climax. Yvonne Moray as the Heroine, Nancy Preston, and Nita Krabs as the Dance Hall Girl, Nita, who loves Bat are also good in their roles. And then there's Charles Becker as the Comic Relief, Otto the Cook, who has a pretty intentionally funny scene with a duck he's trying to kill as he tries to sweet talk him. The singing is wonderful, too, though hearing an obviously taller male voice coming out of Curtis' mouth was pretty strange especially in contrast to Ms. Murray's natural warbling voice after that. By the way, the only actual tall person that appears is in the beginning when an announcer steps from behind the curtain to introduce the Hero and Villain (with the requisite "boos" and "hiss"!) before the opening credits. So on that note, I'd recommend The Terror of Tiny Town to anyone who likes a good-old fashioned musical western starring talented little people.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 December 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cücelerin Korkunç Şehri

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jed Buell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1