Boys Town (1938)

Fantastic!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Copyright 7 September 1938 by Loew's Inc. Presented by Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer. Dedicated to Father Edward J. Flanagan. New York opening at the Capitol, 8 September 1938. U.S. release: 9 September 1938. Australian release: 22 December 1938. 9 reels. 96 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Father Edward J. Flanagan founds a home for abandoned boys on a large tract of rural land near Omaha, Nebraska.NOTES: Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture (won by You Can't Take It With You), Best Actor, Spencer Tracy (won!), Best Director (won by Frank Capra for You Can't Take It With You), Best Original Story (won!), Best Screenplay (won by George Bernard Shaw for Pygmalion). Mickey Rooney received a Special Award for his "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth" and as a juvenile player "setting a high standard of ability and achievement"."Boys Town" rated 4th on The Film Daily annual poll of film critics. Tracy was also cited for Best Acting (along with twenty-one other players) by the National Board of Review.Donald "Red" Barry was originally cast as Joe Marsh. His scenes were re-shot with Edward Norris.A sequel, "Men of Boys Town" was released in 1941.Boys Town was originally released in sepia. A print screened on TV recently is an odd combination. The first half of the film is in black-and-white, switching to sepia right in the middle of an office scene between Tracy and Rooney.COMMENT: Did Tracy deserve his Academy Award — his second, having won the previous year for Captains Courageous — for his performance in Boys Town? He was certainly up against some formidable competition: Charles Boyer (Algiers), James Cagney (Angels With Dirty Faces), Robert Donat (The Citadel), and Leslie Howard (Pygmalion).Did Griffin and Schary deserve their Academy Award for Best Original Screen Story? They were up against Irving Berlin for Alexander's Ragtime Band, Rowland Brown's Angels With Dirty Faces (strikingly similar in many aspects of its story), Frank Wead's Test Pilot, John Howard Lawson's Blockade and Marcella Burke and Frederick Kohner's Mad About Music.I would have thought Angels with Dirty Faces a clear winner. Boys Town is as corny as a barrel of mush, as gooey as a load of molasses. It smothers the viewer in a contrived bathos and melodrama. Admittedly, Tracy plays with admirable restraint, but Rooney's embarrassingly hammy torrents of tears emphasize every maudlin cliché of an ineptly artificial script. Although the film benefits from location filming in Boys Town itself and has the further advantage of Sidney Wagner's atmospheric photography, it is something of a chore for a current audience to sit through. Aside from the impossible script and the lack of interesting players or performances (apart from Tracy's), it is further burdened by Taurog's deadly dull, heavily elephantine direction. (Originally, J. Walter Ruben was set to direct but was hospitalized with a heart attack.)I could say a lot about the morality of interpolating a real-life story with fictional hogwash. I could also comment on the way the priest is portrayed as a Hollywood humanitarian instead of as a keen adherent of Catholicism. But rather than prolong this debate, I will merely observe that despite a few genuinely moving moments, taking it all in all, "Boys Town" does not impress. It is neither honestly factual nor believably entertaining.

One point for Spencer Tracy doing what he can with a bum script. But Mickey Rooney's toweringly awful ham performance sinks the movie. Even in the thirties people must have been exchanging uncomfortable glances or staring up at the ceiling during Rooney's multiple scenes of yelling, outrageously bogus sobbing, defiant bullying and generally chewing the rug. Bar none, the worst acting ever to hit the screen.It would be nice to have a real movie about Boys Town with some other adults besides Flanagan in it, some details about the misery of street kids in those days, and perhaps a word or two about the total lack of any Girls Town back in the day, though the fate of female street kids has always been grim.

It's been some years since the story about the Catholic Church sheltering pedophile priests came to light.I do hope it's only a minority.But it's comforting to watch a movie based on this wonderful priest ,Father Flanagan (brillantly portrayed by the great Tracy)If there are saints in the universe,he must be one of them.After listening to the story of a prisoner about to be executed -a victim of fate more than a criminal-,the man of God decides he would take in all the boys standing in great danger of going to the dogs in a town he would build for them.One of Flanagan's most salutary qualities is his superb tolerance :before lunch,every boy prays his own God ,not only Jesus (they are even allowed to have no God),which was revolutionary!thirty years later,when I was in a catholic holiday camp,we had to pray and thank OUR Lord before we ate.Many viewers will praise Mickey Rooney and he is impressive as a "gangster in miniature" ,but my favorite is the adorable Pee Wee!

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.