Tom Thumb (1958)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Great Film overall

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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.

It's gratifying to know how much this film meant to some folks. Apparently it did what the filmmakers intended, as far as supporters of this work are concerned.For me, it was a rather tedious, limp affair, despite the vigorous performance of Russ Tamblyn. The Pal special effects seemed dated, though impressive from a historical perspective. The songs come across as fair, and the whole enterprise seemed pale and drawn out. One can see the effort (and cost) that went into this production, for it's often quite opulent and elaborate. Perhaps kids from ages 3-7 might be its best audience. There's nothing harmful here for very young children, and their parents might appreciate a film the family can watch together. In that sense, "tom thumb" has a value.

Some children's musicals have an ageless quality, both in terms of the time they were made and their ability to appeal to audiences at various points in life. Think "The Wizard Of Oz," "Gay Purr-ee," "Mary Poppins," and a slew of recent Disney films.Then there's "tom thumb." A children's movie of and for its time, "tom thumb" was a big hit when it was released in 1958 and remained a holiday offering for regional TV channels a couple of decades later. Today, however, it stands out, at least to this pair of older eyes, more as a curio, a showcase for some impressive special effects, a directorial debut for kid-film king George Pal, and Peter Sellers' first appearance in an international screen role as Antony, one of a pair of villains (alongside Terry-Thomas, who as Ivan has the bigger part here).Terry-Thomas got his only British Academy Award nomination for his work here, though neither he nor Sellers stand out especially. Sellers in particular plays his part too heavy, both in manner and in costume. The comedy in Ladislas Fodor's script is too twee, and slow-paced in an apparent effort to keep even the youngest audience member from losing the plot. It's not much of a plot, either. To the extent "tom thumb" strives to be diverting, it succeeds, but at the expense of offering more lasting entertainment.More central to the film, and to its relative merits, are Russ Tamblyn as the title character, a cheerful if gullible youngster who arrives at Acorn Cottage, home of Honest John (Bernard Miles) and his wife Anne (Jessie Matthews). The childless couple is so desperate for a little boy that they fill an empty bedroom with a myriad of expensive-looking toys while contenting themselves to dine on cabbage."I'd love him with all my heart, even if he were no bigger than my thumb," Anne says. Tom, as it turns out, is bigger than that, but only by about an inch.If "tom thumb" had been made today, there would have been more made of the boy's arrival, in terms of his adopted parents adjusting to the reality of their little treasure. But in true fairy-tale style, they take to Tom quite matter-of-factly. The film spends its first 45 minutes celebrating Tom's new place in life, centered on a long dancing sequence between Tom and his new toys, who embodying a tradition cemented by the "Toy Story" films, only spring to life when the adults are away. It's a great sequence, even if it does nothing in the way of forwarding a plot. Children today I think will still enjoy this part, anyway.The second half of the movie centers on Tom's difficulty overcoming the machinations of Antony and Ivan. He's suckered by the pair when they use his small size to burgle the village vault. Then, when his parents are blamed for the theft, Tom must uncover the real crooks and bring them to justice.The film still looks gorgeous, shot it seems on a set similar to that used in "The Wizard Of Oz." The theme song is nice, though overplayed. The rest of the songs are flat on delivery, and that goes double for the other main storyline here, a romance between Woody, a goofy musician (Alan Young), and the magical woodland creature called the Forest Queen (June Thorburn) who brought Tom to John and Anne in the first place. Whenever Woody and Queenie come on screen, you know kids of all ages will be ready to forsake the lovebirds for Angry Birds.But Tamblyn's unaffected sincerity and enthusiasm keep "tom thumb" from being a total drag. Pal's direction definitely works at striking the right balance between menace and humor, even if there's not much on screen either to be scared of or laugh at.I liked this film more for seeing Sellers try out some early physical comedy, knowing he stood here on the verge of a five-year run that would be the envy of any comedian of the sound era. It's disappointing in its limitations, but affecting in the way it encapsulates the notion of children's entertainment in a more innocent age.

The talented RUSS TAMBLYN does a superb job of singing, dancing and acting while playing the title role of the miniature boy presented as a gift to a woodsman and his wife by a woodland spirit. They treat him as their own son and the film revolves around his misadventures after his parents are wrongly accused of a crime and he must find the real culprits (TERRY-THOMAS and PETER SELLERS) in time for a happy ending.The trick photography is marvelous, the toys that come to life are inventive and fun, the interaction between Tom and all the other townspeople is well done--and this was all before the CGI effects we have today.There's a lot of charm to several musical numbers, especially one called "Yawning Man," and all of the song-and-dance numbers are done in rollicking style. Songstress Peggy Lee wrote several clever songs.Well worth watching, a family film that can be enjoyed by adults or children. Tamblyn's talents are given full reign in this one.

I remember seeing this the first time when I was attending public school in Queens in the early 1960s. It was shown as a treat to the students at an extended G.O. assembly. I had not seen it when it came out in 1958 (I was only four) but I recall seeing Disney's PETER PAN about that time, so I cannot understand missing this film.It was a fun film. The trick animation (which won an Oscar) was particularly good in the sequence when the toys came to life. It was probably influential with similar scenes in BABES IN TOYLAND in 1960. However, BABES IN TOYLAND had the benefit of the Disney studio, not to mention a wonderful Victor Herbert score. The score of tom thumb was not very memorable, except for the song that I quoted above, which had some of the silliest lyrics I can recall. The film was actually more interesting than I would have known as a child. Besides George Pal's style in the film and the trick animation, it was one of the last musical films that had a major role for Jessie Matthews as tom's mother. In the U.S. Ms Matthews is not too well recalled, but she was the leading female musical comedy star in England in the 1930s. Her husband here is Sir Bernard Miles, who is better remembered as the villain in Hitchcock's remake of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. The star was Russ Tamblyn, finally in a starring role - a step beyond his performances in THE LAST HUNT and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, and heading for his best performance in WEST SIDE STORY. The second lead, Alan Young, had already made ANDROCLES AND THE LION and AARON SLICK FROM PUNKIN CREEK, and (as he was here working with George Pal) would have his dramatically best role (or roles) in Pal's future masterwork THE TIME MACHINE. Young would also soon gain television immortality as "Wilbur Post" the friend of the talking horse MR. ED.This film was one of the pairings of Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers in a comedy. As Tony and Ivan they are the greedy thieves who use tom to rob the town treasury, only to turn on each other in a fight that enables tom to trip them up. Terry-Thomas has a sharpened nose in his makeup, which is accentuated by his sharp crowned hat. Sellers in particular had interesting make-up in this film, fattened up to look particularly threatening in a greasy sort of way, and wearing a small derby hat. He has the best line in the film. When tom (still unaware of what crooks he is with) is inside the town treasury Tony/Terry-Thomas tells him to pass over a bag of gold. Which one, asks tom. "THE BIGGEST ONE!", shouts Ivan/Peter.