Sideshow (1928)

Run Time - 65 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Columbia's The Sideshow was obviously inspired by the success of such big-top dramas as First National's The Barker. The scene is a travelling circus owned by a rather belligerent midget (Little Billy), who barks out orders with the authority of a man three times his size. Though officially the hero of the film, the midget manager takes a back seat romantically to "normal-sized" leading man Ralph Graves and leading lady Marie Prevost. The basic story deals with the efforts by a group of villains to buy out the midget through fair means or foul. A series of suspicious "accidents" leads to murder, forcing the pint-sized protagonist to play detective. Stock footage from Sideshow would later resurface in Columbia productions as diverse as the "B"-feature The Shadow and the Three Stooges 2-reeler Three Little Twirps.

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Keywords

accident, business, business-takeover, investigation, midget