Little Cigars (1973)** (out of 4) Mildly entertaining, if 100% bizarre, film from AIP has a gangster's moll (Angel Tompkins) leaving his controlling arms and hooking up with a gang of midgets. The midgets are involved in a small circus but the woman turns them into bigger criminals with a string of robberies. LITTLE CIGARS will probably entertain those who like off the wall material but there's no question that the overall film is incredibly uneven. The film never seems to know if it wants to be kid friendly fun stuff or if it wants to be a tad bit darker and aimed for adults. The strange mix just makes for an uneven film and this here is what really kills things. The kinder side of the picture is innocent enough as the robberies are all done in good taste and none of them feature anything too graphic to the point where you couldn't show the film to kids. However, the darker side of the picture deals with a lot of sexual innuendo between the moll and the midgets, which is somewhat strange to watch. There's also a twist at the end, which leads to an ending that I won't spoil but this too is a lot darker than the rest of the film. These two elements just keep going back and forth and I really wish the filmmakers had selected one and just went all out with it. Still, there are some good things here that make the film worth viewing. The biggest is the performance of Tompkins who really comes off well here. The sexuality of her character is something the actress pulls off with no problems and there wasn't a single time where I didn't believe her in the part. Billy Curtis is also good as the leader of the midgets and I really enjoyed the fire and passion he brought to the character. The rest of the midget actors all fit their roles just fine and certainly help keep the film moving.

When this movie was released, I was in the USAF, and Angel Tomkins came to our base for it's release there. She had been on some T.V. episodes, including a Bonanza that my wife and I liked in which she portrayed a pyromaniac. We were anxious to see the 'fire lady' and to see her act in something else.I got to speak to her in person, and got a nice close-up photograph of other men fawning over her.This move was so ridiculous in its ludicrous story, its shoddy production and sexual exploitation that we walked out! It may be the only film I ever walked out on.You should watch this only if you want to feel creepy and as if you've wasted precious time.

This movie doesn't fit neatly into any category. It has elements of comedy, including slapstick, puns, sexual innuendo, and "witty" lines, but also contains foul language, brutal murders, robberies and assaults. Added to this lack of focus is terrible pacing. Some of this is the fault of the editor as he holds to long on a close-up of a character who has just said a "funny" line, but those extended pauses for laughs are present even when the scene does not cut away. I suppose the humor of the movie was supposed to derive from the surprise of seeing little people who are as nasty and cruel as everyone else. Even in 1972, this would not have surprised many people. This would probably have been a lot funnier if made a few years after the Wizard of Oz. The plot is nothing more than a series of "capers" that demonstrate the many clever ways you can smuggle a bunch of midgets into an establishment you are planning to rob. There's no indication of how or why this group of con artists suddenly become brutal armed robbers. There is nothing of the con artist subtlety in their later capers. What dramatic tension there is comes from trying to decide if Cleo (Angel Tompkins) really cares for Slick, or is just stringing him along. Since neither of these characters is sympathetic, it's hard to care to much about this.

The little people in this movie are pretty funny, especially when they fight. The lead man (Curtis) is a self proclaimed Pimp of tall women.The best part of this movie is the Hot blonde,anyway a movie with a band of thieving little people and hot chicks is gonna be great no matter how u look at it. Now if your the serious type it's not all that great....but then again why would you be watching a movie with a band of midgets charming hot babes and on a crime spree across the country. The fight scene in the bar when Curtis goes to get his babe back from the tall men is really funny and that little dude is tough probably cause he was pumped up EO bars.