ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

This is the OTHER movie Robert Armstrong made in 1933, a comedy that has some of the wittiest dialog I've ever heard in a movie. Good Lord, who knew that "Carl Denham" could be just as funny as his sidekick, Edward Everett Horton, in this fast paced comedy, directed by famed director Michael Curtiz!

I watched it on TCM today, and I was going to write a review, but the one below by an IMDB user says it all, and quite well besides. One thing the review doesn't mention is that the story turns deadly serious about halfway through, and Robert Armstrong's performance in the dramatic second half is as impressive as it is the comedic first half!
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10/10 Stars!

Tiny Sybil Jason Scores Big In Comedy Caper
17 June 2001 | by Ron Oliver

Two smalltime con artists find themselves in possession of their dead friend's infant daughter. Soon, the LITTLE BIG SHOT has the gents wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Here is the sort of cinematic fluff which Warner Bros. did so well in the 1930's: a little crime, some comedy & a dash of romance. Well-produced & entertaining, Depression Era audiences flocked to these pictures to forget about the real worries of the day.

South African Sybil Jason, all of 6-years old, steals the viewers' hearts right away. With her dainty accent & huge, luminous eyes, she is a real charmer and worthy of the top star billing she receives here. Today she is perhaps best remembered as Shirley Temple's servant girl sidekick in THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1939).





Robert Armstrong is first-rate as the tough, street smart peddler who protects the tiny tot. Outside of playing KONG's captor, the majority of his starring roles are quite obscure now. So, it is great fun here to see him play a fast-talking flimflam artist who melts at a child's broken heart, yet can duke it out with crooks like a house on fire.





Blonde, brassy Glenda Farrell is perfect as a no-nonsense dame who sees through Armstrong's cynical facade. Farrell was a lady always worth watching, capable of slinging dialogue with the best of them, yet warmhearted & tender when need be.





Gaunt, nervous, Edward Everett Horton is wonderful as Armstrong's partner-in-crime. In a variety of cheap, goofy disguises, he is nothing less than hilarious as he attempts to fleece sidewalk crowds into buying worthless watches.





He leads a small parade of character actors - Jack La Rue, Olin Howland, J. Carrol Naish, Tammany Young, Ward Bond & slow-burn Edgar Kennedy - who, even in small roles, never fail to provide full entertainment value.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)