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At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.Remarkable. Film in era of The Great Depression.Two sidewalk con artists, obviously uneducated. I keep harping on that. They can't earn a living, much less their hotel rent.Into their lives appear a little darling, akin to screen mini-goddess S. Temple. This is the typical orphan story. The child can sing, act and dance, earning money to put the crooks out of their misery.Little big shot. Little sure shot. Little Miss Marker. Damon Runyon tales.Stupid crook says the cops are coming (Horton). Should have spoken in code. Dumb idiot. Horton keeps hesitating in his speech, like a cheap version of Frank Morgan. Did you see Horton as the Wizard of Oz? No, you did not. I remember Horton from old Fred Astaire movies.Jason thrown under the bus for S. Temple, who got tons more publicity. Temple got thrown under the bus for J. Garland (again, Wizard of Oz). Temple's career took a nosedive, after The Little Princess, in which Jason got lower billing as a slimy little slavey character. Also, another of Temple's swan song attempts was the half-hearted fairyland wannabe film (of Wizard of Oz) The Blue Bird, in which Jason got a supporting role of the sick child.J. Garland was used up by Hollywood, and then conveniently thrown under the bus due to her "ill health", vis a vis at the same time the all of a sudden disappearance of LB Mayer. Sad, eh what? Temple got too old, married way too young, film career dying on the vine.I never knew Jason starred in any film, but in Little Big Shot I am so surprised -- and in a good way. She sings. She dances. There is no S. Temple hogging the camera.I study the Great Depression. I am a degreed historian, film critic and movie reviewer. I love song and dance films. I hate black and white, however.

A routine, if somewhat violent gangster melodrama, filmed on a moderate budget with worthy players struggling to bring some life into a routine array of the usual stock characters (which were still going strong when Abbott and Costello re-made the first scenes of the movie far more amusingly as Buck Privates in 1941). Admittedly, as said, some of the players try hard (too hard in the case of Edward Everett Horton, whose efforts serve to highlight the lack of inspiration in the writing of his lines and business), and Miss Jason is most definitely a worthy find. Unfortunately, despite her evident talents and her precocious maturity, there were several moppets ahead of her in the Hollywood pecking order, including box office giant, Shirley Temple. All told, by the high standards (script, budget, players) we'd come to expect of a Michael Curtiz movie at this stage (his previous film was Front Page Woman; his next, Captain Blood), Little Big Shot must be rated a big disappointment.

Two smalltime con artists find themselves in possession of their dead friend's infant daughter. Soon, the LITTLE BIG SHOT has the gents wrapped around her tiny fingers.Here is the sort of cinematic fluff which Warner Bros. did so well in the 1930's: a little crime, some comedy & a dash of romance. Well-produced & entertaining, Depression Era audiences flocked to these pictures to forget about the real worries of the day.South African Sybil Jason, all of 6-years old, steals the viewers' hearts right away. With her dainty accent & huge, luminous eyes, she is a real charmer and worthy of the top star billing she receives here. Today she is perhaps best remembered as Shirley Temple's servant girl sidekick in THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1939).Robert Armstrong is first-rate as the tough, street smart peddler who protects the tiny tot. Outside of playing KONG's captor, the majority of his starring roles are quite obscure now. So, it is great fun here to see him play a fast-talking flimflam artist who melts at a child's broken heart, yet can duke it out with crooks like a house on fire. Blonde, brassy Glenda Farrell is perfect as a no-nonsense dame who sees through Armstrong's cynical facade. Farrell was a lady always worth watching, capable of slinging dialogue with the best of them, yet warmhearted & tender when need be. Gaunt, nervous, Edward Everett Horton is wonderful as Armstrong's partner-in-crime. In a variety of cheap, goofy disguises, he is nothing less than hilarious as he attempts to fleece sidewalk crowds into buying worthless watches. He leads a small parade of character actors - Jack La Rue, J. Carrol Naish, Tammany Young, Ward Bond & slow-burn Edgar Kennedy - who, even in small roles, never fail to provide full entertainment value.

Adorable Sybil Jason tugs on the heartstrings of everyone save the most hard-boiled gangsters in this obvious attempt by Warners to come up with their own Shirley Temple. It almost works! Sybil plays an abandoned little girl whose innocence wins over a small-time con man (Armstrong) and his partner-in-petty crime (Edward Everett Horton). Indeed, Horton's presence here lends some humanity to the big lug that Armstrong plays--anyone with well-meaning bumbler Horton as his best pal can't be all bad. The gang warfare that underlies the plot makes for an uneasy ride for the little girl and the audience, however. Sybil is both charming and heart-rending as "The Countess", and the highlight is her rendition of the title song on the street to make some money for her new-found adopted father figures. But when the plot explodes in a burst of gunfire in a deadly police raid at movie's end it is clear why this movie failed at building a Shirley Temple-like franchise for Warners: falling back on their tried-and-true gangster formula, they mixed a bit too much death and danger into this story to make it a winner with family audiences. It's a shame, too, because Sybil Jason was definitely star material and could have given Temple a run for her money. (Jason later got to serve at the feet of the prototype herself (literally!) when she winningly played a Cockney chargirl to "The Little Princess" in 1939.)