Boys Town (1938)

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.

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.

A movie that still captivates from 1938. That is what a story line and excellent acting will do. From the excellent portrayal of Spencer Tracey as Fr. Flanagan to Henry Hull as Dave; it is a shame he did not reprise his role as Dave in Men of Boys Town. The camaraderie between these two alone is what acting and this movie is all about. Then comes Mickey Rooney in the role of a character who thinks he is all things; and has so very much to learn. All of the supporting actors in this movie help to round out the performance; there is no shortage of acting depth in this movie. This type of movie shows the value of sacrifice, loyalty, and the meaning of friendship. If your emotions are not stirred while watching this movie, you have not been paying attention.

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.