"Boys Town"
Based on the true story of the founding of the Boys Town organization in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1917, the film follows Father Edward Flanagan (Spencer Tracy), who recognizes the need for a way to help troubled boys with nowhere to belong. When he visits an inmate on death row, the judge declares that the prisoner must admit his debt to the state. The convicted man says that if he’d had only one friend when he was 12, he might not be facing execution today.
Based on the true story of the founding of the Boys Town organization in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1917, the film follows Father Edward Flanagan (Spencer Tracy), who recognizes the need for a way to help troubled boys with nowhere to belong. When he visits an inmate on death row, the judge declares that the prisoner must admit his debt to the state. The convicted man says that if he’d had only one friend when he was 12, he might not be facing execution today.
Soon after, Father Flanagan witnesses a group of boys sliding into delinquency and decides to try something new. With the help and support of donors and his community, he sets out to create a home built on one foundational belief: There is no such thing as a bad boy. His answer is simple: give them structure, belonging, and love while there is still time.
It seems like a solid plan until Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney) comes in. He is swaggering, smart-mouthed, selfish, and threatens to undermine the entire mission. If any boy can prove that boys can be “bad,” it’s Whitey. Crime runs in his family, and he wears arrogance like armor.
But Father Flanagan does not meet defiance with force. Other reformatories might elicit a show of good behavior but breed resentment. Real transformation must be internal, not a performance. Trust, believes Flanagan, rehabilitates better than punishment. That is why Boys Town is structured as a small-scale republic: a democratic society self-governed by the boys themselves. Here, the boys learn to be responsible citizens and to hold each other accountable. Give a boy agency and a sense of belonging, and he becomes a man capable of giving himself away.
Behind the scenes, MGM Studio head Louis B. Mayer initially doubted the project, believing its lack of sex appeal would bore audiences. Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney personally met with Mayer and convinced him to release the film. It went on to become a major box office success. Tracy, who had shadowed the real Father Flanagan for weeks before the production, won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the film also won the Oscar for Best Original Story.
The writing and acting are superb. The story is gripping, humorous, heartfelt, and quietly profound. “Boys Town” sees troubled boys not as problems to be fixed, but as human beings who — rather than owing a debt to the state — will one day enrich it. It is well worth your time.
Run time: 1h 47m
1938, black and white.
Drama/melodrama
Rating: NR (Suggested for ages 8+)