After years of making films with comic routines that were worked on for years mixed with musical numbers and romantic subplots, LITTLE GIANT marks a big departure for the team, in more ways than one. It would mark the first of two experimental films where we get a straight story line that leaves out everything I just stated, even the comic routines - for the most part. The other big departure is the comic team of Bud and Lou themselves. Even though the billing states otherwise, this is for all intents and purposes a Lou Costello solo film with Bud Abbott playing a dual supporting role. In real life there was a falling out between the two, so they were not a team at the time. Lou Costello, always a Charlie Chaplin fan, lets out his desire for pathos and unfortunately, the results don’t quite measure up to his mentor.
The main problem with this film is the ineptness of Lou’s character. He easily gets suckered by being tricked into believing he’s a mind reader and he easily gets seduced by another woman to the point where he’s too naive to even realizing he’s cheating on his girl back home. Even the secretary who doesn’t have the heart to deliver the letter to Lou that he’s fired has her intentions misinterpreted by Lou, with him thinking she’s in love with him. Not a good look. His one smart moment is thinking to sell those vacuums to the lady customer’s sewing club. The theme is if you believe you’re something special (in this case, a mind reader), good things will happen. It’s not enough. I spend the majority of the film feeling sorry for the guy with very little intelligent character building comic routines to balance things out. Chaplin and Lloyd would take a story like this and show a lot more street smarts.
Speaking of Chaplin, we also get a very Chaplin like scene where Lou, at his lowest, walks alone on a dirt road, the pathos getting even thicker when Lou loses the canary he bought for his mother. At this point, the pain is agonizing to watch, making the tacked on happy ending seem that much weirder.
Still, in spite of the major flaws, I will at least say LITTLE GIANT is always interesting and does have a few good comic moments. We get a great introduction to Sidney Fields in the Bud and Lou world. Early in the film, Lou does the kind of scene he would normally do with Bud with Sidney - yet when the TV show comes around, Sidney would also do a lot of scenes with Lou in the Bud style. The way he twists every word against Lou is pure comic genius. We do get a reprise of 7 X 13 = 28. The only time in the film Bud and Lou do a routine together, and yes, it’s a rehash. A classic routine done well here, but lacking the energy it had from IN THE NAVY, this feels tacked on yet somehow still welcome. Also a delightful scene where Lou is selling a vacuum cleaner to Margaret Dumont! A brief scene, but she’s wonderful here panicking as Lou gets dirt all over her house. As far as Bud, he’s totally respectful as a character actor, but he’s Bud Freaking Abbott, deserving of much more than he was given.
The very first review I ever did, WOMAN HATERS, I stated I’m glad it exists but not the kind of thing that makes me a fan of The Three Stooges. I can say the same thing about LITTLE GIANT in relation to Abbott and Costello. Fresh in the sense it doesn’t follow the same formula we’ve seen film after film to this point, but they didn’t exactly hit a home run here either. Next week, one more Lou solo film and I have a feeling the results may be a bit better. Tune in.
