Half a Hero (1930) is a weird little fever dream from the early sound era

Is this worth watching today? Only if you have a weird obsession with early talkies or you really like seeing child actors do stuff they probably shouldn't have been doing. You'll probably hate it if you want a plot that makes any sense at all.

It’s only about ten minutes long, which is lucky. My brain couldn't have handled much more of the screechy 1930s audio.

Billy Barty is the main draw here. He’s just a little kid, maybe five or six, but he’s dressed up like a little man. 🎩

The movie starts and suddenly there is just... noise. Early sound films always have that hissing sound in the background that makes you feel like you're standing next to a radiator.

Billy is running around and the camera can barely keep up with him. It feels like the cameraman was falling asleep or maybe just confused by how small the lead actor was.

There is this one scene where he’s at a desk. He looks so serious, like he’s actually trying to calculate taxes or something. 💼

I kept thinking about The Royal Rider while watching this. That movie had a bit more of a budget, I think.

This one feels like it was filmed in someone’s backyard during a lunch break. The walls in the background look like they are made of cardboard. 📦

The "Plot" Such as It Is

I use the word plot very loosely here. It’s mostly just Billy getting into situations and people reacting with exaggerated faces.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Half a Hero (1930) through its definitive frames.

There is a lot of falling down. People in 1930 really loved watching people fall down. 🤸

One guy does a double take that lasts so long I thought the film had actually skipped. It was just a very, very long stare.

It’s kind of like Alice Cuts the Ice in that it relies on that specific brand of slapstick that feels a bit painful now. You can see the actors hitting the ground hard.

The humor is... well, it's old. It’s not "haha" funny, it’s more "oh, so that's what they thought was funny" funny.

"He's just a little guy!" - Me, shouting at my laptop screen.

• The lighting is really inconsistent. One second it's bright, the next it looks like a cave.
• Billy Barty has more energy than any ten people I know.
• The hats. Everyone is wearing a hat. Even the people who probably shouldn't be.
• There’s a dog that looks very bored with the whole production. 🐶

I wonder if the writers actually wrote anything down. Or did they just say "Billy, go over there and look frustrated"?

It reminds me of The Naughty Flirt but with way less flirting and more toddlers. Thank god for that, honestly.

The music is this bouncy, tinny piano stuff that never stops. It gets inside your skull and stays there for hours afterward. 🎹

I noticed a shadow on the wall that definitely belonged to a crew member. Nobody bothered to edit that out. Or maybe they couldn't back then?

There's a moment where Billy tries to lift something heavy. His face turns bright red. I actually felt a bit worried for him. 🎈

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Half a Hero (1930) through its definitive frames.

It’s way shorter than The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which is a blessing. I don't think I could watch two hours of this.

The ending just kind of... happens. It doesn't wrap up. It just stops.

Like the director just ran out of film and said "Alright, that's enough, let's go get sandwiches." 🥪

Is it art? Probably not. Is it a weird time capsule? Definitely.

I found myself looking at the background more than the actors. You can see how people lived back then. The furniture is all chunky and weird.

The movie gets slightly better when you realize it’s basically just a vibe check for 1930. It’s not trying to be Parizhskiy sapozhnik or anything deep.

It’s just a kid in a suit. Sometimes that's all you get. 🤷

I’m glad I watched it, I guess. But I’m never watching it again.

If you like oddities, give it a go. If you like your movies to have things like "character arcs" or "audible dialogue," maybe skip it.

It’s a bit like looking at a blurry old photograph of a relative you never met. You’re interested for a second, then you just want to put it back in the box. 📦

Also, the sound of the car horn in one scene is incredibly loud. It scared my cat. 🐱

Final thought: Billy Barty was a pro even when he was a foot tall. The rest of the movie? Not so much.