Devout but iron-willed Father Flanagan leads a community called Boys Town, a different sort of juvenile detention facility where, instead of being treated as underage criminals, the boys are shepherded into making themselves better people. But hard-nosed petty thief and pool shark Whitey Marsh, the impulsive and violent younger brother of an imprisoned murderer, might be too much for the good father's tough-love system.
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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.
Wonderful movie based on a real man named Father Flanagan, played by Spencer Tracy, who works to help keep troubled boys from a life of crime. He establishes a place called Boys Town in rural Nebraska as an alternative to reformatories. One boy in particular, played by Mickey Rooney, is a little hooligan and Father Flanagan has to fight hard to save him.Tracy gives a wonderfully understated and likable performance. Rooney is excellent as well, though I see his more emotional scenes divide modern audiences. I thought he was great though. Henry Hull is good as Tracy's friend and Boys Town's primary benefactor. Leslie Fenton has a small but important part at the beginning of the film as a convict on death row. Probably the best performance I've ever seen from him. Bobs Watson will give you diabetes with his turn as little Pee Wee. It's a great film. The kind they don't make anymore, obviously. Inspirational, wholesome, and heartwarming.
The strength of this film is the not story itself, because at least the last fourth of the picture -- when Whitey (Mickey Rooney) leads all the boys of Boys Town to confront hardened criminals at an abandoned inn is total fiction in a movie that purports itself to be the story of the real Boys Town and Father Flanagan (which is not to say that it isn't great movie making!).No, the strength of this film is the performance by Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan. And of course, it won him an Academy Award. Highly fictionalized or not, his portrayal made him the real Father Flanagan to many people. It is a remarkable performance, in part because as usual, he plays his roles in somewhat of an understated way, which makes them seem all the more realistic. There's quite a bit about the making of this film in the new Tracy biography, and it's interesting to compare the confidence of the character he was playing here with his insecurity in playing a priest.The other star of the pic was Mickey Rooney. Interestingly, this film was made the same year he began making the Andy Hardy films. What a cocky character, and in some ways (ala the Tracy biography) he may have been pretty much the same in real life. But, despite some overacting, he plays this part memorably.Most of the other supporting actors do very nicely, but special mention should be made of Henry Hull, who does an especially nice job as Tracy's/Flanigan's crusty friend with a soft heart. And, it is a hoot watching Bobs Watson cry! Some of the scenes in the picture were filmed at Boys Town, and overall it's a nice production. While the aura of Boys Town and the basic history isn't far from the truth, the actual plot of the movie is a little far-fetched. Would the iconic Father Flanigan really lead his boys to overtaking and capturing a trio of bank robbers and murderers? But, it makes a swell story and is very entertaining. This film was interesting enough -- and over the years I've probably watched it half a dozen times -- that since I now live in Colorado, I just might make a trip out in Nebraska to visit the real Boys Town.This is one for your DVD shelf!
While Spencer Tracy won the coveted best actor Oscar here, the real acting kudos should have easily gone to Mickey Rooney, as the product of a bad environment, a potential gangster-to-be who has a heart.The picture shows the effects of the poor downtrodden youth with nothing to live for as they descend into a life of crime.Flanagan tried to put an end to this never ending misery by creating a haven for such abandoned, troubled boys.There is plenty of action, near-tragedy and redemption. This was a superior film in every respect.Rooney was never better. His defiance,and yet final redemption were both masterfully done.
