Men of Boys' Town - (US, 1941)


Figure 1.--Father Flanigan (Spencer Tracey) is pictured here with Ted Martley (Larry Nunn) in "Men of Boys' Town". Larry tragically committed suiside in real life.

Father Flanigan of Boys' Town struggles to combat juvenile delinquency.Apparently Boys' Town is in financial trouble. Mr. and Mrs. Maitland invite Whitey, a boy at Boys' Town to visit, thinking about taking him in to their home. While there, Whitey (Mickey Rooney) tries to visit a friend in the local reform school. Another boy, Flip (Darryl Hickman), is hiding in car. Flip is involved in a robbery and both boys are convicted of the crime abd sentenced to the reform school. Father Flanagan exposes the terrible conditions in the school. Many state reformitories at the time were indeed very stark and in all too many instances abusive institutions. Both Whitey and Flip are released to his custody. The Maitlands assist in raising funds needed to pay off the debts threatening Boys Town. Spencer Tracey plays Father Flanigan again. Mickey Rooney plays Whitey Marsh again. And Bobs Watson plays PeeWee again. Rooney is rather grown up and plays an older boy. The new younger, but bad boy is played by Darryl Hickman. He wears a suit if I remember right. The boys costuming shows how rapidly knickers were going out of fashion all wear long pants. This was a sequal to "Boys' Town" which won Tracey and Oscar. Boys' Town was still a relatively new undertaking. These films must have really helped with find raising.






HBC





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Created: 2:26 AM 1/29/2008
Last updated: 2:26 AM 1/29/2008