Boys Town (1938)

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

John Meehan (screenplay) and
Dore Schary (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 September 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

The life story of a boy who was "born to be hung"!

Plot:

Against all odds Father Flanagan starts "Boys' Town" after hearing a convict's story. Whitey Marsh comes there...

Plot Keywords:

Irish American | Prayer | Nun | Boxing Match | Boxing

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Father Flanagan
Mickey Rooney	...	Whitey Marsh
Henry Hull	...	Dave Morris
Leslie Fenton	...	Dan Farrow
Gene Reynolds	...	Tony Ponessa
Edward Norris	...	Joe Marsh
Addison Richards	...	The Judge
Minor Watson	...	The Bishop
Jonathan Hale	...	John Hargraves
Bobs Watson	...	Pee Wee
Martin Spellman	...	Skinny
Mickey Rentschler	...	Tommy Anderson
Frankie Thomas	...	Freddie Fuller
Jimmy Butler	...	Paul Ferguson
Sidney Miller	...	Mo Kahn

Runtime:

96 min | 93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #4528) | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:S | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Boys Town, Nebraska, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The famous line, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother" comes from this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The blackface Whitey wipes off in line doesn't match when he arrives back at the barber.

Quotes:

Tony Ponessa: If you're a Catholic or a Protestant, you can go right on being one.
Whitey Marsh: Well, I'm nothin'.
Tony Ponessa: Then, you can go right on being nothin', and nobody cares.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Hobbies (1939)

An Old-Fashioned Feel-Good Film

This is a pretty famous movie, one of those old-fashioned feel-good films that bring a tear or two to the eye of the sensitive individual.

It's very dated, yes, but part of that "dated" means mostly nice kids, not brats and more nice role models, instead of extremely-flawed heroes. It seems, as film fans, we normally got one of the extremes thrown at us: overly good or overly bad. This is overly good.....but I'm fine with that.

Mickey Rooney really livens the film up with his appearance. He and most of the characters represent an America that is long gone, people and ideas that are way too "corny" for today's audience. Sometimes it's sappy but sometimes it's refreshing to see, too.

The "bad" kids in this film seem pretty nice and tame to today's bad kids, believe me. "There are no bad boys," as Father Flanagan put it, and one would wonder if that still applied today. Flanagan is nicely portrayed by Spencer Tracy. The priest is shown to be one who had a real heart for wayward boys.

Spencer and Rooney are the obvious stars of this sentimental story but little "Pee Wee," played by Bobs Watson, is the most endearing character in the movie.

Corny but a remembrance of a much more innocent America.