Thursday, July 9, 2015

Have A Cigar


 
 
LITTLE CIGARS-1973-Unusual crime drama (released by AIP) with Angel Tompkins (who had just appeared in Playboy) as a floozy on the run from her crime boss former lover who hooks up with a group of “little people” (in this also referred to as “midgets”) who use a dumb show to cover up their low level crimes. Their leader Slick (Billy Curtis) and Angel become lovers and she teams up with the group to commit robberies (a movie theater, a laundry, a bank) where their diminutive size comes in handy. Later they have a violent falling out and Slick and Angel wind up hawking candy bars at an abandoned carnival site. It's very low budget, preposterous and doesn't show dwarfs in a very good light but it was nice to see little people in the lead roles with lots of dialogue and not just being patsies or evil assistants. Angelo Rossetto appears in a police line up and Michael Pataki has a small role as a mechanic.
 
This is the only feature length movie made by Chris Christenberry who was usually a second unit director. Co-screenwriter Louis Garfinkle had written I BURY THE LIVING and later provided the story for THE DEERHUNTER! Frank Ray Perilli, the other writer later wrote LASERBLAST and DRACULA'S DOG.
 
Thanks for reading!

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