Boys Town (1938) User Reviews

Did he ever have a false moment?

[dbillick-35631 · 7/10 · 14 December 2022]

It doesn't matter what movie you're talking about, the guy just never had an inauthentic moment on film.

He could be playing priests, professors, attorneys, soldiers, homeless guys, doesn't make a difference. He was always believable and interesting to watch. I cherish these actors because they're rare. It's interesting to me that he was with Katherine Hepburn because she's another like him. Completely authentic in everything she did.

Meryl Streep is another one. Montgomery Clift. Jimmy Stewart. Kathy Bates. Henry Fonda. They're rare. The only modern one I can think of who is pretty consistent and not retired yet is Denzel Washington. Definitely Morgan Freeman but not sure if he's retired. Michael Caine just retired.

An Old-Fashioned Feel-Good Film

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 11 March 2006]

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.

"There's no such thing in the world as a bad boy."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 30 October 2004]

Spencer Tracy earned a second Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Father Flanagan, the inspirational founder of Boys Town, a haven for troubled youth on the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska. Flanagan was spurred to action by the execution of a prison inmate whose life paralleled many of the boys that Flanagan has come to know in his own home town. With a shoestring budget, and the aid of practical but good hearted businessman Dave Morris (Henry Hull), Flanagan begins the task of building a home and a legacy for hundreds of troubled young men.

Flanagan soon meets Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney), a street wise punk who is about to follow in the footsteps of his criminal brother; but it was big brother Joe (Edward Norris) who asks Flanagan to befriend Whitey. At first, Whitey wants none of it, but there always seems to be something holding Whitey back, whether the thought of a good meal, the effort to make an impression on the other boys, or just the friendship of another young boy Pee Wee (Bobs Watson) who looks up to Whitey. Rooney gives an incredibly fine performance here, portraying a wide range of character and emotions. His near breakdown when Pee Wee is injured and the thought that he was responsible is enough to cause a tear jerk reaction.

The film does get a bit simplistic at times, and some of the situations seem contrived to keep the story moving. But it's anchored by a sense of faith and hope in Father Flanagan's crusade to make the world just a little bit better for one boy at a time. In that, the film has a timeless appeal, and resonates as strongly today as it must have in the late 1930's.

Hokey and yet likable despite a smothering of sentiment...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 23 November 2010]

SPENCER TRACY underplays the role of Father Flanagan who was the man behind the creation of BOYS TOWN and yet Hollywood thought his performance deserved an Oscar in 1938. The film looks very dated now and the sentiment is laid on a bit thick. The delinquent boys seem more like stereotyped cardboard characters dreamed up by the scriptwriter with only occasional glimmers of truth in the acting.

Best among the supporting cast are GENE REYNOLDS (always a fine child actor who later turned his talents to directing) and little BOBS WATSON, who does a remarkably convincing job of playing the little boy who worships "Whitey," played by MICKEY ROONEY. Rooney's performance is a bit too blustery but there are moments when his acting nails the truth.

Still, it's hard to know how much "truth" there is in the story told here, since so much of the script seems to depend on contrivances that make one suspect it's a purely fictionalized account of the actual story behind the development of Flanagan's Boys Town. Anyone with a fondness for Tracy and Rooney will find it easy enough to sit through, but I don't think it's the finest work of either star.

Tribute To A Remarkable Man & Place

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 18 June 2002]

Father Flanagan courageously fights against all odds to see his dream of BOYS TOWN become a reality.

Pulsing with real life, here is a family film which not only entertains but informs - bringing back to our attention one of the most vibrant personalities of the 20th Century, Father Edward Flanagan. Excellent production values - with outdoor filming that actually appears to have taken place on location at the authentic Boys Town - help tremendously with the viewer's enjoyment.

Earning his second Oscar in two years, Spencer Tracy is magnificent as the good Father. He gives us a hero of patience & grace, one who values prayer & faith, but one who is also quite ready to land a few powerful punches for a good cause. Tracy's own private life was anything but tranquil, which only makes his performance here all the more impressive.

Admirably cast as a nasty little punk, young Mickey Rooney breezes through an important role which would help propel him into becoming Hollywood's top star within a couple of years. Like a junior version of Tracy himself, the two are wonderful together, striking several dramatic sparks off their characters' personalities. While Tracy plays his role with quiet humor & dignity, Rooney hams it up magnificently.

Henry Hull offers good support as Tracy's pawnbroker friend who nervously gets to worry about all of Boys Town's financial woes. Little Bobs Watson as Pee Wee, the Town's youngest resident, is cute without being too cloying.

*************************

After an education in Rome, Irish-born Edward Joseph Flanagan (1886-1948) came to America in 1904. Ordained a priest in 1912, Father Flanagan was sent to Omaha, Nebraska, where he established the Workingmen's Hotel for derelict men in 1914.

Soon, however, his great calling and the purpose for his life's ministry became clear - the work with abandoned & abused boys. In 1917 Father Flanagan opened the Home for Homeless Boys in a large old house. Outgrowing their facilities, in 1921 Father Flanagan moved his young charges to a farm site 10 miles from Omaha, capable of housing hundreds of youths. Quickly becoming more of a living community than just a school, the boys voted in 1926 to rename the place Boys Town.

Eventually covering some 1300 acres of farmland, dormitories, workshops, classrooms & playing fields, Boys Town incorporated itself as a sovereign township in 1936. Largely governed by the young men themselves, the institution is open to boys of all religions, colors & creeds and strives to provide healing for all manner of emotional & physical abuses.

Girls were first brought into the program in 1979.

A fine story of one man's love for the forlorn and another's discovery of humility

[shankar_k · 21 March 2001]

A classic tale of one man's belief in the inherent goodness in every human being. Spencer Tracey, in one of his finest performances, essays the role of Father Flanagan who, in spite of mounting pressure from society, champions the cause of juvenile delinquents and gives them a shelter and some much-needed care. But the order in Boys Town is marred by the reluctant entry of Whitey Marsh (played effortlessly by Mickey Rooney), a cocky street-smart urchin who loathes having to adjust his ways to suit the others. However, as the events unwind, Whitey slowly starts loving Boys Town so much so that he stakes his life for it. What impressed me about the movie most was the brilliant performance from Spencer Tracey - a delicate balance of charm, wit, care and enormous willpower.

Warms Your Heart.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 12 August 2016]

"There's no such thing as a bad boy," proclaims Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan. He believes it too. Tracy founds Boy's Town a few miles from Omaha, Nebraska, to house orphans and problem boys who would otherwise be roaming the streets and getting into trouble.

There is much tribulation. Hardly anyone wants to help, preferring punishment to an attempt at rehabilitation. The first home is a tumble down shack bought on credit from a reluctant backer, Henry Hull. For Christmas dinner they have fried mush. The kids live a life style that would make a Spartan look like Kim Kardashian.

The situation improves somewhat, thanks to Tracy's smooth and thoroughly guilt-inducing pitch to the wealthy and powerful. Serious trouble comes in the form of Mickey Rooney, a tough delinquent. In those days they still had "delinquents." But never mind. At the end, a band plays, the boys caper on the lawns, and the social reform movement reaches it apotheosis.

In the turbulent 1960s I was visited in Philadelphia by a young black man who was soliciting for Boy's Town. After his credentials were established we discussed the racial problems of the period and then the life style of Boy's Town, where he had grown up. Some of the gung ho quality seen in this movie still exists. He was terribly proud of Boy's Town and thoroughly committed to its mission. It was a little like talking to an ex Marine or a graduate of Harvard. Good for him. Good for Boy's Town.

Giving the kids a break

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 31 October 2005]

Boys Town is not the actual story of the founding of the famous orphanage in Nebraska for homeless male youth. True some of the problems that Father Edward J. Flanagan had in making his dream come true are dealt with here. But about a third of the way through the story line changes and it deals with the problems of one of the youths Boys Town takes in.

The youth is Mickey Rooney and Father Flanagan is played by Spencer Tracy. They are some contrast in acting styles. It's a tribute to Director Norman Taurog in that he was able to reign in Rooney, who's performance some times goes a little over the top.

Tracy however beautifully underplays against Rooney. San Francisco two years before was a milestone film for Tracy. Previous to San Francisco, Tracy had played mostly roughewn types on either side of the law. No pun intended, but as the priest there, Spencer Tracy became the wise paternal figure so beloved in so many films.

There's a lot of Father Tim Mullin continued on in Tracy's Father Flanagan. No new ground was broken, but the ground was carefully cultivated by Tracy in Boys Town, earning him a second Oscar in a row. That Oscar resides at Girls and Boys Town today, the place did go co-ed in the Seventies.

Tracy was under a lot of pressure in this part because Father Flanagan was still alive. Rumor hath it that he enjoyed Tracy's portrayal very much.

Well if my life story was ever important enough to bring to the screen, I couldn't ask for anyone better than Spencer Tracy to play me.

A righteous and interesting portrayal of Father Flanagan and the creation of Boys Town .

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 17 July 2021]

Oscarized film about Father Flanagan who founded a home for orphan young boys . This true-ish story contains heart-warming drama , love , friendship , a blazingly effective sentiment and focusing on a lasting bond between Catholic Father Tracy and teen Rooney. This is the story of Father Flanagan and the City for boys that he built in Nebraska . There is such a place as Boys Town . There is a such a man as father Flanagan . This picture is dedicated to him and his splendid work for homeless , abandones boys , regardless of race , creed or color. When a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child , Father Edward Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) decides to begin a home for young boys . Father Flanagan eventually establishes Boys Town on 200 acres of land 10 miles outside of Omaha , Nebraska. There Flanagan creates a home for juvenile soon-to-be-delinquents . Much of the movie takes Flanagan's tryings to influence one youngster called Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney) , who will become a crook if he doesn't change his ways . When Whitey is implicated in a bank robbery, it puts all of Boys Town at risk. BOYS' TOWN IS Real! Greater than the imagination of the best writers! NOMINATED FOR THE "TEN BEST HEART-DRAMAS OF ALL TIME!" . Not since "Captains Courageous"...such a heart-winning drama. The life story of a boy who was "born to be hung"! .The greatest heart drama of the year.

This is a sensitive , good feeling and nostalgic , including emotion , love , coming-of-age stories and enjoyable relationship between Flanagan and his protected boys . This quintaessential orphan, waif kiddies saga dealing with boyfriendship and religious protection , as the familiar elements of the genre are all strongly and gratingly in place . Being based on facts , with an attractive and charming screenplay . Said to have been producer Louis B. Mayer's favourite movie . Stars Spencer Tracy winning his second consecutive academy award , this time as the priest who founded a sanctuary for wayward boys . He and Michael Rooney were among the world's most popular stars at the time and the public flocked to watch the picture . But Spencer Tracy decided that the Oscar he had won really belonged to the real-life Flanagan . He sent it along the priest that a new inscription which read ¨To father Edward J Flanagan , whose great human qualities , kindly simplicity and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort : Spencer Tracy¨. A follow-up to the Oscar Winning film, ¨Boys Town¨ (1938) is followed , being titled ¨Men of Boys Town¨1941 by Norman Taurog stars again Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy return in an acceptable sequel , this time the school faces financial trouble as Flanagan attempts to help every little boy he meets , then the good Father Flanagan discovers a reform school that has neither reforming nor schooling.

The motion picture was competently directed by Norman Taurog , though it has some corny , dated and extremely sentimental scenes . Taurog was a good Hollywood professional , a fine craftsman who made a lot of movies of all kinds of genres with penchant for children films , comedies and musicals , directing Elvis Presley in various movies , such as : Adventures of Tom Sawyer , Birds and the Bees , Bundle of Joy , Broadway Melody 1940 , World and Music , Blue Hawaii , Girls Girls Girls , GI Blues, Double Trouble , Tickle Me , Speedway , Problem, Presenting Lily Mars , Toast of New Orleans, among others . The picture will appeal to Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney fans .

Worth watching over and over.

[Sushifreak · 10/10 · 18 November 2003]

Very touching story about a man who knows the right thing to do and is selfless in giving the boys a chance at life with no regard to how it might affect his own life. I think that viewing this should be manditory for some of the people who have lost touch of what matters most in this life and it's not money.

Wonderful Hollywood hokum

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 27 February 2006]

Oh what a silly and contrived film,...but somehow it still works. Yes the film features Spencer Tracy as a priest yet again. Mickey Rooney plays a know-it-all jerk that you just KNOW will redeem himself in the end. And, Yes, you kind of figure that Pee Wee is going to buy the farm since he idolizes the dumb jerk played by Rooney. So with all this schmaltz, how does this STILL end up being a decent film? Well, it gets the "full MGM treatment"--excellent direction, music and acting all combined to pull at your heart and make even curmudgeons smile--just a little. Give it a try, but if you ARE a curmudgeon (like me), see it alone--you'd hate for it to get out that you can enjoy this sappy fare. But you will enjoy it!

Makes you think long and hard about what is important

[benjamin_380xd · 10/10 · 26 February 2006]

"No race that does not take care of its young can hope to survive—or deserves to survive." -Father Flanagan I've seen this movie several times and each time it leaves me humbled. All too often we are caught up in the gotta haves of today without realizing what the true gotta haves are. And that is children who are loved and nurtured. Father Flanagan performed a wonderful service during his 62 years on earth and we should be grateful for that self sacrifice. Thanks to Father Flanagan, the world is a better place and children are cared for in the way that they deserve. Because without well adjusted children, how can we expect to be surrounded by well adjusted adults? Bottom line, this movie will make you think and perhaps re evaluate what is truly important in life.

Don't Cry Little Fishy

[caspian1978 · 7/10 · 27 April 2005]

Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney star in the 1938 classic, Boys Town. Based in a real-life Home for Boys in Nebraska, Spencer Tracy would win Best Actor at the Acadmey Awards for his performance. Mickey Rooney, at the age of 18 wins the audience over, although it is Spencer Tracy that is hailed the lead actor as the noble and always wise Priest. Rooney plays the tough guy / teenage hell-raiser who ends up becoming a nice boy. His addition to Boys Town is followed by a series of knocks and explosions. The family atmosphere of Boy's Town is the true winner of the movie. Watching Rooney slowly become of the family of forgotten boys wins your heart. Spencer Tracy is only the star of the movie, it is Rooney who is the movie.

A little too saintly to be entertaining

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 5/10 · 28 February 2002]

The film takes a long time to get going - I almost gave up on it after the first half-hour. But mercifully, after the documentary-style and resolutely non-judgmental opening, "Boys Town" acquires a plot - and some sense of direction. The trigger for this is the introduction of the first character in the entire film who is allowed to be flawed. So far, everyone else has been shown to be either a curmudgeon with a heart of gold, a rascal with a heart of gold, or an unashamed saint; but Joe Marsh is a flashy and unrepentant young criminal.

He is not entirely beyond redemption, however. He loves his younger brother, who hero-worships him in turn and longs to emulate him; and it is doubtless a sad reflection on human nature that it is only with the arrival of strife in the Eden of Boys Town, in the shape of Joe and Whitey Marsh, that the film manages to become at all interesting.

What follows is a story that has been told many times before, from Louisa May Alcott's "Jo's Boys" onwards. This is the story of a rough boy who rebels against unaccustomed gentle surroundings and tries to corrupt his new world to match the one he knows, and whose ultimate saving grace is his protective love for a younger child.

The main problem for this film is the role of Father Flanagan, a thankless part for any actor. The man has - literally - no weaknesses, no human flaws, not even any self-doubt. His charm can apparently melt the hardest heart and conjure water out of a stone - or out of a hard-headed pawnbroker, which according to the script comes to the same thing. The man is too likeable to be 'insufferable'; but it was surely not the intention of the director that the audience should end up by willing Whitey to resist the priest's moral pressure, to shield his brother even at his own expense and that of his adopted community - and to be so pleased when the boy attempts to do so.

To be honest, I don't see that this part deserved to win an Oscar for Spencer Tracy - not because the actor played badly, but because the character as written simply doesn't present him with enough challenging material to demonstrate his craft. It is the child actors who play the various boys who deserved the real praise in this film. Ultimately I suspect Tracy's Oscar was an award aimed at rewarding the efforts of the *real* Father Flanagan rather than at his performance in this film.

There is no such thing as a bad boy - Father Flanegan

[thursdays · 8 June 2004]

The "true story" of Father Flanagan, an Catholic Priest in early 1900's Nebraska, whose motto "There is no such thing as a bad boy" lead him to open a large orphanage for boys nobody wanted. With love and the insistance that there is always hope, the man "gets through" to even the toughest kids anyone else would have called "hopeless".

Spencer Tracy won his second consecutive Best Actor Oscar as the long suffering Flannegan. Mickey Rooney is great as Flannegan's "toughest challenge", and many of the orphans give genuine performances in this Hollywood Classic. The movie "Boys Town" was a major boost to the real-life orphanage, eventually catapulting it to a successful multi-million dollar organization, helping boys (and girls) throughout the US!

"Boy's Town" gives hope to all of the "orphans" among us. Whether without parents, or from unhappy homes. There are always caring individuals whose life goal it is to "leave no child behind". Where there is life, there is hope!*****

Pedantic & Puerile

[telegonus · 6/10 · 14 November 2001]

This is a pedantic and puerile attempt at telling the story of the remarkable Father Flanagan and his admirable little community of Boys Town. As the good father, Spencer Tracy is one-dimensional, though warmer in his quieter scenes than was usually the case. As his toughest charge, Mickey Rooney is way over the top, and continually irritating. Half-way through the movie I was sincerely hoping he'd get bumped off. The few virtues this film possesses have to do with its intention, which is to tell us about Father Flanagan, which it does proficiently. Production values are outstanding, also, but the acting of the Young Ones leaves much to be desired, and one wishes the Dead End Kids, who had debuted in films the previous year, had turned up at some point and rocked the boat a little, showing us just how tough young deprived and neglected youngsters can be, and how much mischief they can make. I have no doubt that the father would have been more than up to the task, as he dealt with such things in real life all the time.

great movie

[dlcowfan · 9/10 · 18 December 2005]

some silly acting and Mickey gets TOO emotional at times, but inspirational and a near tear jerker at times.....can serve as a model for some of the problems with our youth today....will watch it every time it comes on.....i hope you do, too...have your kids watch it every time it comes on....from beginning to end....and then sit down and have a talk with them about responsibility, dignity, truthfulness, and honesty....make a copy and every time your kid tells a lie or doesn't something dishonest, have him/her watch it again and again...its worth it....one of Mickey Rooney's best and definitely one of his best on the NONcomedy/musical side...

A sugary saccharine confection

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 17 September 2008]

Spencer Tracy won the Academy Award for Most Sincere Priest of 1938 for this one. He drifts through a range of emotions here from pious sincerity to pious righteousness to pious tolerance via pious determination and resourcefulness – all of it smothered in a sickly dose of pious non-sexual love for his ever growing brood of ankle-biters. In real life Tracy is one of the cussing-est, hard-drinking womanisers in Hollywood and it must have amused him no end to have received an Oscar for his portrayal of the saintly Father Flanagan.

The film takes a left turn halfway through, as if it has grown tired of watching the rather dull father, to concentrate on the problems endured by Whitey Marsh, played by an 18-year-old Mickey Rooney. Rooney clearly thinks he's in a comedy. Just look at the way he struts around as the mayor of Boys Town shows him around the town; he lifts each leg as if he has glue on the soles of his shoes and twitches his head this way and that like a particularly alert sparrow. Later, when things go particularly bad for his character, Rooney overacts outrageously, determined to tug at the heartstrings of all those mothers who had made him one of America's favourite teens.

Of course, this being a Hollywood product of the thirties, everything works out OK in the end. Father Flanagan saves the boys' home from closure, Whitey becomes accepted and liked by his peers, all of whom are wonderfully likable young tykes ('there's no such thing as a bad boy,' Tracy repeatedly intones), and little Pee Wee, inspired by Tracy, goes on to become a real-life Methodist minister.

This one's so sugary you're going to want to brush your teeth after watching it.

By far, one of the best biographies ever made

[Elizabeth-328 · 10/10 · 15 December 1999]

I absolutely adore this film. Spencer Tracy is simply magnificent in his Oscar-winning role of Father Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town. But I think the guy who really steals the show is Mickey Rooney. He was only 18, but he was so talented! In this, he really shows the audience what an incredible actor he is. I think he should have won an Oscar too!

My favorite part of "Boys Town" is when Pee Wee gets hit by a car, and Whitey really shows his emotions for the first time. This part really just rips my heart out, to see a tough kid like Whitey just fall apart. Pee Wee was the only boy who stood by Whitey right from the start: his only true friend. But thank goodness Pee Wee lives!~

"Boys Town" is a movie that really defines the Golden Era of Hollywood by displaying a wonderful cast and a beautiful story. So I give it a 10, hoping that it brings up the IMDb score of a low 7.2. It deserves much better than that!!

Mickey Rooney saves the day

[mik-19 · 7/10 · 16 October 2004]

A lot of especially younger people today are going to despise 'Boys Town' for its unashamed sentimentality, and the objection is hard to contradict. Even the director Lasse Hallström who doesn't shy away from overt emotion in his movies would, I hope, steer away from some of the grosser clichés of this picture.

Having said that, I found 'Boys Town' truly engrossing. It is, of course, about Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) who sets up a self-governed community for wayward, homeless boys in Nebraska, a sort of humanitarian answer to the often brutal and authoritarian reformatories. Flanagan's biggest challenge proves to be Whitey (Mickey Rooney), tough and self-serving kid brother of a convicted felon. Though Flanagan repeatedly claims 'I only know one thing, There's no such thing as a bad boy", Whitey's surely testing his patience and ends up endangering the whole future of the enterprise.

Actually, and that came as a shock to me, Rooney's Whitey was the surprise of the movie. Whereas Tracy is going through the motions as the archetypal priest with a heart of gold, and whereas too many of the boys are acted with the sort of saccharine sweetness that must have been grating even in the mid- or late 1930s, Rooney is perfect. I myself never gave him credit for his versatility, his instinct and his willingness to take risks. From his initial streetwise swagger (when told that "On a clear day you can see all the way to Omaha", he retorts, "Yeah? THEN whadda ya got?") he gradually, so gradually as to be believable, evolves into a decent young chap. The scene in which he falls apart, because he believes he has caused the death of a hero-worshiping little boy, rings very true in its sobbing and crying earnestness. The director, alas, ends up destroying the honesty of the scene by applying scores of boys kneeling in fervent prayer, with a soprano soaring above them all.

All in all, 'Boys Town' ought to have been a whole lot better. Another director would have helped. It's a nice touch, though, to have the scrawny destitute kid hitch for a week to get to Boys Town only the night before it is destined to foreclose.

So, watch it for Rooney and the occasional touching ensemble scene.

Super Duper Movie....Mickey Rooney at his very best

[muffinheuer2003 · 10/10 · 10 January 2005]

This movie was so great. In my opinion Mickey Rooney simply steals the show as Whitey Marsh. Mickey Rooney made my cry in this movie over and over again. I let my little 12 year old sister watch it and she cried when Pee Wee gets ran over by and car and Mickey sobs. Mickey Rooney's talents are so UNDERRATED IT'S DISGUSTING. Not only that people make fun of him today and that simple upsets me.

There is not ONE star today that comes close to having the talent that Rooney possessed in his baby finger. Mickey, you are the best and you will always be in my eyes. You still shine bright. This is a great movie and Men Of Boys Town was equally as great. 10 STARS.

Decent

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 2 August 2016]

Against all odds Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) starts "Boys' Town" after hearing a convict's story. Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney) comes there, but frequently tries to run away.

Although the story is largely fictional, it is based upon a real man and a real place. Boys Town is a community outside of Omaha, Nebraska that was really founded by Father Flanagan. The film was a commercial success, and won Spencer Tracy an Oscar.

I think the movie in general is good, and I'm glad it earned Tracy an award and brought more attention to the real Boys Town. However, I feel that Mickey Rooney was just awful in this film and overly exaggerated and hammy. He comes across more like a cheap James Cagney knockoff.

A Classic

[reversal68 · 10/10 · 1 January 2001]

I have enjoyed this movie since I was a child. I saw it for the first time when I was about ten-years-old and have watched it many times since. While parts of it may seem "hokey" by today's standards, the performances of Tracey and Rooney are memorable. The tensions between the "tough-love" priest and the wise-mouthed swaggering delinquent make for timeless drama. I have to admit though, that every time I watch this movie, there is a part of me that wants Whitey Marsh to stay bad, remain a delinquent and fail to succumb to the straight-laced rules of Boys Town. (Perhaps, that is the rebellious residue of a Catholic education.) In any event, I agree with the sentiments reflected by a prior poster, that when Pee Wee gets hit by the car, and Whitey starts sobbing, well, it is hard not to sob along with him.

Spenser Tracy terrific

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 6 December 2014]

Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) visits a condemned convict who he helped before. Upon hearing his story, Flanagan decides to start Boys Town to give boys kindness and stability. He has a way of convincing local businessman Dave Morris to help and even newspaperman John Hargraves who disagrees with him. He brings in disruptive juvenile delinquent Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney) for the sake of his older brother Joe. Spenser Tracy is terrific in this although I think Rooney overacts a lot of the time. It's a very compelling melodrama. I do think the plot goes off on a tangent in the last act. I rather it doesn't do that.

Boys Town Gang

[Lejink · 4/10 · 4 October 2019]

Normally I'm a big fan of social commentary features from vintage Hollywood. Often including priests in the cast as some sort of moral compass or bell-weather for troubled individuals to tap into or rub up against as appropriate, depending on how their characterisations are handled, they can either add to or subtract from the bigger picture. I've just lately watched two old contemporary features featuring sub-plots with prominent priest parts where both see the Father mentoring rebellious youths, one the classic James Cagney / Pat O'Brien gangster film "Angels With Dirty Faces", the other, "San Francisco" in fact co-starring Spencer Tracy in what looks like a dry-run for his extended part here.

In this film though, it's all about the Father and his adopted sons, the homeless, sometimes delinquent youths who come to populate the self-reliant and sufficient community he builds for them called "Boys Town" (wonder what happened to the girls, or the black kids come to that?). While I appreciate the story is based on the real life Father Flanagan, I'm afraid I found this movie just too sentimental and cloying to appreciate.

I see that Tracy won the Oscar for leading actor in this part, just as he had for the supporting actor role in the near-identical part mentioned above in "San Francisco" but really other than mostly look alternately beatific and pious, I'm not sure he's working too hard here. Mickey Rooney is the bad boy who becomes the Father's big test subject, sent to Boys Town by his too-far-gone older gangster brother to stop him going down the same rocky road as him. Mickey, as was his wont in his early roles, it has to be said works way too hard in his part. There's also a Tiny Tim child character who will either have you reaching or retching into your handkerchief, for me I'm afraid it's the latter.

A huge commercial hit on initial release and as stated, recognised by the Academy into the bargain, it's rare for such a film to miss with old sentimental me but I really found it toe-curlingly cliched and difficult to swallow.

Forgive me Father, if in so doing, I have sinned.