Plot.
Poster of Boys Town

Boys Town

1938 · Film · 96 min

  • Drama

Plot

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.

About Boys Town

Boys Town is a 1938 American biographical drama film based on Father Edward J. Flanagan's work with a group of underprivileged boys in a home/educational complex that he founded and named "Boys Town" in Nebraska. It stars Spencer Tracy as Father Edward J. Flanagan, and Mickey Rooney with Henry Hull, Leslie Fenton, and Gene Reynolds. The film was written by Dore Schary, Eleanore Griffin, and John Meehan, and was directed by Norman Taurog. Tracy won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio head Louis B. Mayer, who was a Belarusian-Canadian-American Jew known for his respect for the Catholic Church, later called this his favorite film of his long tenure at MGM. Although the story is largely fictional, it is based upon a real man and a real place. Boys Town is a community outside Omaha, Nebraska. In 1941, MGM made a sequel, Men of Boys Town, with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney reprising their roles from the earlier film.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cast

  • Spencer TracyFather Flanagan
  • Mickey RooneyWhitey Marsh
  • Henry HullDave Morris
  • Leslie FentonDan Farrow
  • Gene ReynoldsTony Ponessa
  • Edward NorrisJoe Marsh
  • Addison RichardsJudge
  • Minor WatsonBishop
Images