Father Flannigan is tired of going to hear the confessions of young men about to be executed or sent away for long prison sentences. They all have similar stories - no or negligent parents, no work, and falling into crime as a result of it all. During the Depression, this was especially true. So Flannigan decides to start a community for homeless boys that will be self governed, giving the kids an education, a home, and responsibilities at the same time. It is great watching Tracy play it pious and fatherly as a priest, but he can still be the hard relentless salesman when dealing with the money men that finance his home or with the local newspaper editor that thinks his philosophy is so much rubbish.Then along comes an odd request. A young man in for a long stretch in prison wants his kid brother taken off the road he is on and to go straight. He even has money put away for the brother's support. Of course the brother, Whitey Marsh, is played by dynamo Mickey Rooney. Whitey makes the mistake from their first meeting that because Flannigan is a priest that he thinks he can pull the wool over his eyes. So he is dragged away from a poker game literally kicking and screaming by Flannigan and into Boy's Town. It's very much an MGM film in the MGM tradition, but Tracy and Rooney make it special. Mickey Rooney drew me into the heart of this story, revealing enough about his character a little bit at a time that you gradually see what makes him tick. He carries himself boldly in his energetic physical presence while delivering a confident even aggressive performance and showing a wide range of emotion in his voice. He is already a mature actor at age 17, with an impressive talent level for that age. This whole film had me wondering - did we really go forward when we dropped the old orphanage system for foster parenting? The idea was that kids would be part of a family when so many of them actually are shuffled from home to home and thus don't get any stability. At least in the old orphanage system there was consistency of companionship - the other kids - and a consistency of routine. At any rate, highly recommended. MGM was still rich enough at the time that they could even fill up the supporting roles with fine actors, right down to Bob Watson, who played the little moppet Pee Wee who manages to soften even Whitey's heart.

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.

"Boys Town" is pure formula by today's standards but is still entertaining to watch. The movie's weakness is that it portrays just about everyone as a bit too saintly, even the criminals in the story. Mickey Rooney's acting is almost continually over the top and is in jarring contrast to the other boys. Meanwhile, Spencer Tracy's portrayal of Father Flanagan is that he's a man seemingly without flaw. You like Flanagan but it's sometimes hard to identify with a man who seems to be impossibly saintly. Still, Flanagan in this movie just doesn't talk the talk, he walks the walk. There are virtually no movies today about Christians living out their values and changing the world around them.A side note about Tracy's Oscar for this movie. After he won it, a flack for the Academy announced that Tracy was donating it to Boys Town. Except no one had asked Tracy if he was doing so. Tracy would've looked terrible for refusing to do so after it had been announced so a compromise was struck---Boys Town got the Oscar to display and Tracy was given a duplicate for his mantle. Some other actors have donated their Oscars---Shelly Winters gave her Oscar for "The Diary of Anne Frank" to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Bing Crosby donated his Oscar to his alma mater, Gonzaga University.

A success in its day, "Boys Town" is the story of how a Priest saves his "Home for Juvenile Delinquent Boys". He takes in boys that society can't manage, and operates under the motto: "There is No Bad Boy." Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney star as Priest and head Bad Boy.I was interested in seeing two great stars, Mr. Tracy and Mr. Rooney, work together. They don't. Norman Taurog directs. Rooney fails from going over-the-top, and Tracy sometimes look bored. They each have some moments. You can't fault Rooney for playing a part with the enthusiasm of "Strike Up the Band!" when they give him scenes like the "black face" bit in "Boys Town". Tracy doesn't get to wear any "black face", so he comes off better. It looks like the only Black face in "Boys Town" is the one painted on "Whitey".I like the "candy scenes" scenes. I liked the tribute to FDR by Tracy and Gene Reynolds (as "Tony"). I didn't think the film was as good as its "message"; the ingredients put in to the film do not mix well. It doesn't have to be, but it isn't very realistic, either. A too sentimental presentation (of a worthy message) with some famous performances. ***** Boys Town (9/8/38) Norman Taurog ~ Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Gene Reynolds