The Terror of Tiny Town

[Dave]

This is like clint eastwood meets willow...is it just me or is that barmaid lookin hot?

[Randy]

Often opined as the worst movie, I must disagree (that honor still belongs to Plan 9). Just look, the sets, costumes,et al were top drawer for their day. And if the actors weren't up against full size sets you'd (almost) not realize that they were midgets. If the Academy Awards ever come out with a 'Tongue in cheek award', this one would win.

[jim j bullock]

This film not only aroused me but it also changed my life
the midget western genre shall live on in me until I leave this
cruel mudball we call earth. God bless the little ones god bless their tiny souls........

[Mike]

I think I figured out how the penguin got into this movie.The little fellow is the choreographer.How else can the little cowboys learn to strut, put their hands in their pockets and look like real tough hombres.They needed an example and the penguin is perfect.Besides, the genius behind this movie is not going to list a penguin in the credits as a choreographer."HIT LEATHER MEN!"

[Swamprat]

Degrading by todays politically correct standards, but then again, what before 1980 isn't? This film was work for a lot of little people who had a VERY difficult time finding work. Actors in those days where not the high powered money grubbing bullies they are today. Actors where cattle for the high powered money grubbing studio heads who ran things. And little people of those by gone days had a choice...be a freak living on charity...or be your self and get paid for it. Billy Curtis and Billy Barty, both inparticular, were fine actors. As no doubt were many others who's names we'll never know. Like Todd Browning's FREAKS, this film was a novelty, but in no way was making mean spirited fun of anyone. It's just a typical B-western formula story with a twist in the casting. Like all B movie westerns of its day the story sucks big time, and if it wasn't for the fact that the screen is crawling with midgets riding ponies hell-bent-for-leather, and chucking dynamite at each other, there wouldn't be anything to watch. I can't call this a "Bad" movie...it's a...it's a...it's a...well...it's got midgets drinking beer from mugs bigger than their own heads in it...and there's dance hall midgets, and school marm type midgets and...oh yeah...some big assed guns...well...everythings kinda big assed 'cause they're all midgets...see? How can you describe this movie? Gotta see it to believe it. Enjoyable? For the most part. Fascinating? You bet! Do I laugh at the midgets? No...I laugh with them...and I'm glad they were able to pay their rent that month, and get their kids teeth fixed, and were able to afford Christmas that year. Life can be a b***h, if you have a short coming and are able to use it to your advantage...more power to you, little brother.

[Hank]

Midgets rule!    Midgets equal funny! Whens the sequal? Where can I get my own pet/helper midget? I love the midget! Midgets are sexy b***hes! Where can I get my own midget b***h! I want to be the center of a midget sandwhich...mmmmmm! Is that a midget in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Where's the midget porn? They just don't make classics like they used to, sigh!

[Zaleska]

This movie is a classic! You would NEVER see something like this made now a days. I had taped it in the early 80's and would put it on for my nephew who loved it and would sit there and want to watch it over & over. I love this film. I've been looking for it on DVD for a long time. Does anyone know where I can purchase it on DVD? I had seen in a magazine that it was with another DVD, but there was no info as to where I could buy it. If anyone knows, please email me!

[Richard]

Didnt they do another movie called "Trouble in Tinytown" ??
I remember seeing these movies before cable, on the 11:30 pm
or midnight movies.

[Dianne]

I have loved this film ever since I saw it 20 years agoon late night TV.  The next time it was on, I taped it.  I have shown it to numerous dis-beliving friends. Needless to say, the tape was wearing out. Discovering your site make me aware of the existance of a commercial tape!  I am so happy!

[Jack]

What can I say? If I owned a couple dozen midgets, I'd put 'em in a movie too! Truly bad flick, but it seems to keep a lot of little folks busy! Exploitation? Nah. They look like they had fun. Seems better with sound off - make up your own dialogue! Everything a cheezy western should have, and a penguin (???), too!

[Joe Blevins]

Help!  Can anyone figure out the words to the "Tiny Town" theme song?  Here's my best guess:

  Laugh your troubles away and HA HA HA HA HA
  Then you're well on your way and HA HA HA HA HA
  Don't make life a national drama
  Smash away your blues with your big hammer

--Joe--

[Swamprat]

Did anyone else notice...the penguin was actually taller than a couple of the extras? I think that penguin was the same one that would end up stuffed and sitting on the "tele" in a classic Monty Python skit made some 35 years later...I only know of two penguins with Actor's Guild cards...and one of them has been living with his daughter in retirement since 1958 in Argentina. The other went to Britain for a series of British Airways Ads in 1964. Then disappeared. Fowl play? I have my own theories. I am sure the penguin on the "tele" was wearing the same suit as the one in this film...that little black tux was this particular bird's trademark shtick. Were they two different birds who, by coincidence, used the same Beverly Hills tailor? Or...do John Cleese and the rest of those curry swilling Limeys have a nasty little skeleton in the closet? Terry Gilliam, the only American in the Python troop was known to harbor ill feeling towards the little feathered thespian in question. During a college lecture the bird gave, he reportedly bit Gilliam while a Freshman in writing classes. I uncovered this infomation from a very reliable source. I also found evidence, in the form of a handwritten reciept, that Gilliam had placed a want ad for an ad agency asking for penguins with experiance to come to London. It promised above scale pay and all the free herring one could eat. One of the actors in Terror of Tiny Town, had remained a life long friend with the penguin and had this to say..."Ol' Jake was a fine bird, damn good at his craft too! Bad breath though, I mean, REAL BAD!...I told him not to go over there to England...Whole thing smelled fishy to me...next thing I know, I see him some years later on PBS...sitting kinda still-like on a T.V. set in England with two of them there Python guys in drag making fun of him...it was kinda eerie...He didn't have no kin that I knew of...just makes me and all his friend kinda sad. I wrote a letter to the British Foriegn Office about that just last week...I'll let you know what I hear back." Sadly, just two weeks after this actor...(who shall remain nameless)...gave me this information...he was found dead in his retirement home apartment. He had somehow gotten his head stuck in his toilet and drowned. Police said they suspected no fowl play...but the apartment did have a faint smell of ginger beer and blood pudding. Another Hollywood Mystery? Who knows? I have my theories...

[Swamprat]

...Yes, Mr. Buell did "own" his midgets. He was breeding them on a Ranch just outside of Santa Anna California. He also owned all the ponies and sheep. I'm told he was very fond of the sheep in particular. He made a Hollywood killing renting them out to the studios over the years. It's been rumored he made some fifty thousand dollars on the Wizard of Oz shoot alone. Big bucks for those days. Of course he had to pay to keep the little buggers fed and for straw to bed them down with...he had to pay to take care of the ponies and sheep too. His overhead costs finally broke him...then the midgets went Union and revolted. I understand that Mr. Buell's body was never found, just one cowboy boot and a cigar stub with teeth marks on it. Some time afterwards several of the "head" midgets went on to set up  a colony on an island somewhere in the South Pacific where their decendants live to this day. I have a friend who worked for the CIA for years. He says the midgets have been working on a plan to control the world for several decades now, but all their attempts have failed due to the one basic problem that has stymied them for centuries...their inability to reach doorknobs.

[Clawhammer]

I can't believe so many people have seen this movie!  I taped it from TV ("Night Flight" on the USA Network) back in the mid-80s.  Periodically, when the family gets together and we want to watch a movie, I'll suggest "Terror of Tiny Town".  The reaction from the kids is always the same: "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"  But I like it.  I've played it often for my own benefit.  I often wondered, since it's an all-midget cast with Shetland ponies, why the saloon doors were mounted so high that people going through them almost knock their hats off.  Also, the crates in front of the bar and the enormous leap up to the sidewalks these people had to do.  I guess it's true that they had to keep all the props "real" sized; otherwise, you'd never know you were watching a movie with midgets!  A classic.  As for the comments about it "exploiting" these little folks, I liked the comments about how this movie allowed them to pay the rent.  Exactly!!  Amen!

[Paul Mcntire]

Jeez, you guys gave it 4 stars!!! It sucked badly!!! I rented this piece of crap and it was very disappointing. Waht a piece of grub!!! The plot sucks, the character suckes, the midgets suck, everything sucks... It shouldn't be considered a b movie but a S movie for sucka duck.