Dinky: A heavy dose of 1930s tear-jerking

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you're into those dusty, black-and-white melodramas where every line of dialogue is delivered like a matter of life and death. If you have zero patience for kids acting like little adults or 1930s morality plays, skip it. You will probably find it way too schmaltzy.

Jackie Cooper really carries the whole thing on his back. He’s got that specific kind of sad-eyed look that was basically the currency of child acting back then. There’s a scene where he’s writing a letter home, trying to keep up the charade of military school life, and it’s genuinely kind of heartbreaking. Even if the writing is a bit of a relic.

The military school setting feels like a weird, stiff backdrop for the actual story, which is really just about a kid trying to protect his mom. I couldn't help but think about how much lighter this would feel if compared to something like Les Misérables, Part 1: Jean Valjean, though they are obviously totally different beasts. One is an epic, one is just a small, sad story about a letter.

Some odd notes:

• The orphanage scenes are surprisingly bleak for a movie from this era.
• I spent a good ten minutes wondering if the military uniforms were actually comfortable or just itchy props.
• The correspondence scenes drag on, but they're the only part that really feels grounded in the character's guilt.

It’s not perfect. The pacing is a bit weird, and some of the supporting actors seem like they just walked off a different set entirely. But there’s a sincerity to it that’s missing from modern stuff. It doesn't try to be clever, it just tries to be sad.

Maybe it’s not for everyone. But for an hour or so, you might find yourself actually caring if Dinky gets caught in his lie. That counts for something, right? 📽️