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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Kid Millions remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have an hour and a half to spare and want to see what made people laugh back in 1934, Kid Millions is actually a pretty fun time. Anyone who loves old-school physical comedy and massive, weird musical numbers will dig this, but if you can't stand old-fashioned stage humor or offensive minstrel bits, you should probably skip it. 🍿
Eddie Cantor plays Eddie Wilson, a kid from Brooklyn who finds out his archaeologist dad left him a massive treasure hidden in Egypt. But of course, he has to actually go to Egypt to get it, which leads to a lot of silly boat shenanigans and fake sheiks.
The plot is really just a clothesline to hang a bunch of random comedy sketches on. Some of them work great, while others just sort of sit there.
I love Ethel Merman in this. She plays a fake mother figure trying to con Eddie, and every time she opens her mouth to sing, she practically blows the dust off the screen. 😮
There is this one scene where Eddie is trying to escape some angry locals on a camel. The puppet camel they used looks so bad it’s hilarious, you can literally see the neck bending in ways that no living creature ever should.
Then we have the Nicholas Brothers. They show up for just one dance number, but wow.
They are so young here, yet they completely steal the movie for those three minutes. Honestly, they make some of the other dance scenes look like they are moving in slow motion.
Like, some of the Goldwyn Girls numbers feel like they go on forever. You can almost feel the movie trying to stretch its runtime.
Also, we have to talk about the blackface number. It is unbelievably awkward to watch today and really halts the fun.
I almost wanted to fast-forward through that whole segment on the ship. It just ruins the goofy mood.
If you can get past that, the movie does something crazy at the very end. It suddenly switches from black-and-white to full, bright Technicolor! 🌈
It is this bizarre fantasy sequence where Eddie runs a giant ice cream factory for kids. There are literal rivers of ice cream and kids eating giant spoonfuls of mush.
It looks beautiful but also slightly nightmare-inducing. The kids look like they are about to throw up from sugar overloads.
Still, it’s a fascinating relic of old Hollywood. It's much wilder than something like The Purple Highway, which feels way more grounded.
It’s not a masterpiece, but it has that weird, chaotic energy that modern movies just don't have anymore. Just be ready to cringe a few times.
IMDb —
1926
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