Let me be clear that the film Men of Boys Town is well worth the watch if for no other reason than the re-matching of the two great actors Spencer Tracy who plays Father Flanagan and Mickey Rooney who plays Whitey Marsh, the Mayor of Boys Town. Mickey's role is key to the film in terms of him being portrayed as the protector of all boys who end up in a reform school. Of course there is abuse at some of these school for boys and you only have to be reminded of the Catholic Churches in Boston who eventually paid out tens of millions of dollars for their decades of abuse of young boys in their control.In this film there is one young man named Ted Martley, played by Larry Munn, who is beaten so badly by the guards at his reform school that he cannot even walk due to paralysis of the leg. Father Flanagan travels over a thousand miles to bring the young and disengaged Ted Martley to Boys Town where he encourages his greatest supporter Whitey Marsh, the so-called ordained Mayor of Boys Town, played by Mickey Rooney, to show this young man that everyone deserves a second chance and that there are people out there who truly care for the impoverished youth of society to ensure they grow up with both a spiritual and moral compass.Whitey Marsh is the epitome of believing in himself and the younger boys of Boys Town so he sets his goal to make this paralyzed youth Ted Martley recognize that he does have true friends at Boys Town. Oh, and of course the director, Norman Taurog, brings in a cute little dog who just loves to jump on Ted's lap and lick his face so much so that Ted finally comes out of his self absorbed shell and cracks his first smile while sitting up in his bed.The Men of Boys Town is aptly named as these young boys must face real challenges both in life and in death, and no one can bring these emotions to life better than Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy. This is well worth the watch even in this century some 76 years later from its initial release. Be sure to keep a box of tissues close to you though, especially late at night when your guard may be down, as mine was. Tears will flow, but joy and redemption is their main message.I give the film an 8 out of 10 rating.

Could the sequel "Men Of Boys Town" be better than "Boys Town"? Well, I thought it was possible, because as good as the original was throughout most of its story, the ending was a bit illogical -- a dedicated priest leading a bunch of children to disarm and capture three men who were guilty of armed robbery and more.And, the sequel started out well enough, although the talents of Henry Hull were sorely missing. Lee J. Cobb took his role here, and although Cobb is very likable, he doesn't provide the memorable performance that Hull did. Mickey Rooney seems more mature...and isn't overacting as much here, making his character much more likable, but unfortunately he goes a bit too far and, essentially, he becomes Andy Hardy. His slow motion fighting routine is a classic and really shows just how talented Rooney was. And, as the story begins we learn that a couple of years have passed and there have been improvements and additions to Boys Town. Then, Father Flanagan is called to a trial where a boy who is now paralyzed has murdered a guard at a reform school. All continues well. As the crippled delinquent's sour personality begins to improve, a couple comes to Boys Town to adopt, and adopts Rooney, and that leads to him to be placed in a reformatory himself, where he learns of the torture that takes place there. Rooney and Tracy straighten that out, the crippled boy walks again, and the couple get their adoptee, though not Rooney, who graduates from Boys Town at the end of the movie.There are some good supporting performances here. The performance of young Darryl Hickman here is a hoot and not to be missed. Henry O'Neill is excellent, as always, as the adopting father, and Mary Nash is good as his wife.I'm one of those few people who believes that this film IS better than the original. Tracy's acting is just as good, Rooney's is more realistic, and the story is more logical.You can get the best of both worlds here -- the current iteration of the DVD has both films for your DVD shelf.

MEN OF BOYS TOWN (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1941), directed by Norman Taurog, is a worthy offering to the highly successful BOYS TOWN (1938), that reunites its original cast consisting of Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Bobs Watson and Sidney Miller. Aside from the difference in time frame where some of the boys have now grown to become the men of Boys Town, only the Dave Morris character, originally enacted by the thin, middle-aged Henry Hull, now played by the younger yet studier Lee J. Cobb. Taken from an original screenplay by James K. McGuinness, the theory of "There's no such thing as a bad boy" continues as Father Flanagan resumes his mission through faith in miracles while helping troubled youths with the assistance of a former delinquent himself, Whitey Marsh.The sequel unfolds as Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney), newspaper editor, shortwave radio operator and mayor of Boys Town, arranges a welcoming home committee for Dave Morris (Lee J. Cobb), the pawnbroker responsible for helping Father Edward Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) financially in making Boys Town for him a reality. Being away a year, Dave finds the only thing that remains consistent is Father Flanagan's financial problems, now being heavily in debt of $200,000 for the construction of extra dormitories. Good deeds continue as Father Flanagan attends the murder trial of Ted Martley (Larry Nunn - in a sensitive performance), now paralyzed with a broken back thanks to the brutal guard he shot in the reformatory. With the prison sentence suspended by the judge (Addison Richards) Father Flanagan assumes responsibility for the troubled teen by taking him to where there are no high walls or guards to hold anyone prisoner, that being Boys Town. Due to Ted's bitter attitude, Father Flanagan's only hope by making the boy to at least smile actually comes not from the boys but from a do (belonging to the visiting Mrs. Maitland (Mary Nash), chairman of the State Parole Board, and her husband (Henry O'Neill)) given to him by Whitey. The Maitlands agree to offer the dog ("Beau Hunk" ) to Ted with the possibility of adopting a boy of their own, their selection being Whitey. Whitey leaves Boys Town on a trial basis for the high living with the Maitlands. Changes occur when Whitey, as a favor to Ted, comes to Marysports Reform School to visit with his friend, Miles Fenley. Because of his association with Flip Dwyer (Darryl Hickman), a juvenile reform school escapee he tries to help, rather than being a visitor, Whitey ends up as the reform school's inmate instead under the clutches of a corrupt cigar smoking superintendent (Ben Weldon) and brutal guard (Arthur Hohl) handy with the wooden club.Regardless of Spencer Tracy's second go-round as the kind-hearted Father Flanagan, it is Mickey Rooney, in between film roles of the "Andy Hardy" film series and Judy Garland musicals, who's honored with the most screen time. No longer the delinquent introduced in BOYS TOWN, his Whitey Marsh becomes more beneficial to Father Flanagan's cause and teachings. On the amusing side, Rooney does a "Slow Motion Wrestling Match" done in slapstick violence with cartoonish sound effects in the tradition of The Three Stooges. This particular sequence was often edited from television broadcasts in the 1960s and 70s so to fit in the commercial breaks during a two hour time slot of a 107 minute movie presentation. While the third-billed moon-faced Bobs Watson (Pee-Wee) continues the tradition by playing "find the candy in my office" game with Father Flanagan, it is Darryl Hickman's junior tough guy performance who draws most of the attention from the cast. As a juvenile delinquent who marvels in performing stick-ups, talking tough, and reading crime magazines, he goes on with his bad boy reputation at Boys Town by "taking candy from a baby," the "baby" being Pee-Wee. In a cross between humor and tear inducing sentiment, there's plenty more scene stealing antics provided by Hickman, Paaa-lenty! As much as the situations provided in the screenplay might come across as contrived, a moral message is brought out through some of its passages, mainly that "things happen for a reason, and how even the most tragic results do resolve into something positive." Although there was no third installment to Father Flanagan's story of Boys Town, RKO Radio did attempt its own similar theme of FIGHTING FATHER DUNNE (1948) featuring Pat O'Brien as the kindly priest who takes in and cares for homeless boys, one played by non-other than the teen-aged Darryl Hickman.Distributed to home video in the 1990s, MEN OF BOYS TOWN can be found on DVD as a flip side package to its predecessor, BOYS TOWN, or through occasional cable broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies. (**1/2)

Men of Boys Town (1941) *** (out of 4) Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) and Whitey (Mickey Rooney) try to save Boys Town while at the same time trying to crack down on abuse in reform schools. I actually preferred this one to the previous film, although this one suffers from trying to do too much in its story. As with the first film there's a lot of sentimental value here but there's also the darker side with the reform schools, which I really enjoyed. Tracy gives another very good performance and Rooney was a lot better here as the older, more mature kid. It was also nice seeing Lee J. Cobb in an early role.