If you don't want to see Freddie Bartholomew as a bad guy, stay away from Lord Jeff. He plays a small-time grifter who gets sent to the merchant marines to reform his character. He's snobby and insulting, and has a bad attitude. I prefer him when he's sweeter, but I stuck with this movie for the supporting cast.
In the batch of boys arriving with Freddie to the merchant marine training school are Terry Kilburn and a very young Peter Lawford in his second movie! Terry has the cutest character in the movie, with a missing tooth (before it gets fixed, a Cockney accent, and a hopelessly optimistic and loyal personality. Mickey Rooney also takes on an accent-Irish-as he's the experienced student who helps show everyone the ropes. Charles Coburn is the no-nonsense head of the school, and Herbert Mundin is his second-in-command. Keep an eye out for Monty Woolley and Gale Sondergaard, but don't expect too much from anyone. No one's really given very much to do, and besides Terry, no one really succeeds in making the audience like him. You're better off with Boys Town or A Yank at Eton.
In the batch of boys arriving with Freddie to the merchant marine training school are Terry Kilburn and a very young Peter Lawford in his second movie! Terry has the cutest character in the movie, with a missing tooth (before it gets fixed, a Cockney accent, and a hopelessly optimistic and loyal personality. Mickey Rooney also takes on an accent-Irish-as he's the experienced student who helps show everyone the ropes. Charles Coburn is the no-nonsense head of the school, and Herbert Mundin is his second-in-command. Keep an eye out for Monty Woolley and Gale Sondergaard, but don't expect too much from anyone. No one's really given very much to do, and besides Terry, no one really succeeds in making the audience like him. You're better off with Boys Town or A Yank at Eton.