View source for Boys Town

{{short description|1938 film by Norman Taurog}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Boys Town
| image          = Boys_town.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Norman Taurog]]
| producer       = [[John W. Considine Jr.]]
| screenplay     = [[John Meehan (screenwriter)|John Meehan]]<br>[[Dore Schary]]
| story          = Dore Schary<br>Eleanore Griffin
| based on       = [[Personal life|Life]] of [[Edward J. Flanagan|Father Edward J. Flanagan]] and [[Boys Town (organization)|"Boys Town"]]
| starring       = [[Spencer Tracy]]<br>[[Mickey Rooney]]
| cinematography = Sidney Wagner
| music          = [[Edward Ward (composer)|Edward Ward]]
| editing        = [[Elmo Veron]]
| studio         = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
| distributor    = [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's Inc.]]
| release date       = {{Film date|1938|9|9}}
| runtime        = 93 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $772,000<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>
| gross          = $4,058,000<ref name="Mannix"/>
}}
'''''Boys Town''''' is a 1938 [[biographical film|biographical]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] based on [[Edward J. Flanagan|Father Edward J. Flanagan]]'s work with a group of underprivileged boys in a home/educational complex that he founded and named [[Boys Town (organization)|"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 (screenwriter)|John Meehan]], and was directed by [[Norman Taurog]]. Tracy won the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for his performance.

Legendary [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] Studio head [[Louis B. Mayer]], who was a [[Ukrainians|Belorussian-Canadian]]-American [[Jews|Jew]] known for his respect for the [[Catholic Church]], later called this his favorite film of his long tenure at MGM.<ref name="Clooney205" /><ref>{{cite web|title=The Religious Affiliation of Movie Producer Louis B. Mayer|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pm/Louis_Mayer.html|access-date=October 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090942/http://www.adherents.com/people/pm/Louis_Mayer.html|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Although the story is largely fictional, it is based upon a real man and a real place. [[Boys Town (organization)|Boys Town]] is a community outside [[Omaha, Nebraska]].<ref name=Clooney205>{{cite book |last1=Clooney |first1=Nick |authorlink1=Nick Clooney |title=The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen |date=November 2002 |publisher=Atria Books, a trademark of Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-7434-1043-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/moviesthatchange00cloo/page/205 205] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/moviesthatchange00cloo/page/205 }}</ref> In 1941, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] made a [[sequel]], ''[[Men of Boys Town]]'', with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney reprising their roles from the earlier film.

==Plot==
[[File:Boys-Town-Tracy-Group.jpg|thumb|left|[[Spencer Tracy]] (center) as Father Flanagan in ''Boys Town'']]
A convicted murderer asks to make his confession on the day of his execution. He is visited by an old friend, [[Edward J. Flanagan|Father Flanagan]] ([[Spencer Tracy]]) who runs a home for indigent men in Omaha, Nebraska. When the prison officials suggest that the condemned man owes the state a debt, Father Flanagan witnesses the condemned man's diatribe to prison officials and a reporter that describes his awful plight as a homeless and friendless boy who was a ward in state institutions. After the convicted man asks the officials to leave, Father Flanagan provides some comfort and wisdom. On the train back to Omaha, Father Flanagan is transformed in his humanitarian mission by revelations (echoed in the words) imparted by the condemned man's litany of hardships suffered as a child, without friends or family, and a ward of the state.

Father Flanagan believes there is no such thing as a bad boy and spends his life attempting to prove it. He battles indifference, the legal system, and often even the boys, to build a sanctuary that he calls Boys Town. The boys have their own government, make their own rules, and dish out their own punishment. One boy, Whitey Marsh ([[Mickey Rooney]]), is as much as anyone can handle. Whitey's elder brother Joe, in prison for murder, asks Father Flanagan to take Whitey—a poolroom shark and tough talking hoodlum—to Boys Town. Joe escapes custody during transfer to federal prison.  Whitey stays, though, and runs for mayor of Boys Town, determined to win with his "don't be a sucker" campaign slogan.

Winning the election for mayor is Tony Ponessa ([[Gene Reynolds]]), a disabled boy. Whitey has an  outburst after finding out the results. This nearly causes a fistfight between Whitey and outgoing mayor Freddie Fuller ([[Frankie Thomas]]). Since Whitey's arrival at Boys Town, him and Freddie did not get along too well. To settle their differences once and for all, a boxing match is held. Freddie defeats Whitey with Father Flanagan and all of the boys watching.

Whitey leaves Boys Town after getting defeated in the boxing match. Pee Wee ([[Bobs Watson]]), the Boys Town mascot, catches up with him and pulls on his sleeve, pleading, "We're going to be pals, ain't we?" Whitey, nearly in tears, refuses and pushes the child to the ground and tells him to go back. He storms across the highway and Pee Wee follows him. Pee Wee is suddenly hit by a car; Whitey leaves, feeling guilty and hurt. During an aimless walk in downtown Omaha, Whitey runs into his brother Joe, who mistakenly shoots him in the leg. Joe takes Whitey to a church and calls Flanagan anonymously, after which Whitey is taken back to Boys Town. The sheriff comes to get Whitey, but Flanagan offers to take full responsibility for the boy.

Whitey refuses to tell Flanagan about the robbery, because he has promised Joe not to inform on him. But when he realizes that his silence could result in the end of Boys Town, he goes to Joe's hideout. Joe, realizing with Whitey that Boys Town is more important than they, releases his brother from his promise. Joe protects him until Flanagan and some boys arrive at their hideout. The criminals are recaptured and Boys Town's reward is a flood of donations. Whitey is elected the new mayor of Boys Town by acclamation and Dave{{clarify|date=February 2020}} resigns himself to go into more debt as Flanagan tells him of his new ideas for expanding the facility.

==Cast==
* [[Spencer Tracy]] as [[Edward J. Flanagan|Father Flanagan]] 
* [[Mickey Rooney]] as Whitey Marsh 
* [[Henry Hull]] as Dave Morris 
* [[Leslie Fenton]] as Dan Farrow 
* [[Gene Reynolds]] as Tony Ponessa 
* [[Edward Norris]] as Joe Marsh 
* [[Addison Richards]] as The Judge 
* [[Minor Watson]] as The Bishop 
* [[Jonathan Hale]] as John Hargraves 
* [[Bobs Watson]] as Pee Wee 
* [[Martin Spellman]] as Skinny 
* Mickey Rentschler as Tommy Anderson 
* [[Frankie Thomas]] as Freddie Fuller 
* [[Jimmy Butler (actor)|Jimmy Butler]] as Paul Ferguson 
* [[Sidney Miller (actor)|Sidney Miller]] as Mo Kahn
* [[Gladden James]] as Doctor
* [[Everett Brown]] as Barky
* [[Robert Gleckler]] as Mr. Reynolds
* [[Stanley Blystone]] as Guard (uncredited) 
* [[Kent Rogers]] as Tailor (uncredited)

==Reception==
''Boys Town'' was a box office success, becoming [[1938 in film|the highest-grossing film of 1938]] and earning MGM over $2 million in profit.<ref name="tracy">James Curtis, ''Spencer Tracy: A Biography'', Alfred Knopf, 2011 p. 370</ref> According to MGM records, the film earned $2,828,000 in the United States and Canada, and $1,230,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $2,112,000.<ref name="Mannix"/>

On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a score of 90% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.20/10.<ref>{{Citation |title=Boys Town |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/boys_town |language=en |access-date=2022-05-17}}</ref>

==Awards==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Academy Award !! Result !! Winner
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Production]] || {{nom}} || [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (John W. Considine Jr, Producer) <br /> <small>Winner was [[Frank Capra]] ([[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]])&nbsp;— ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It With You]]''</small>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] || {{nom}} || [[Norman Taurog]] <br /> <small>Winner was [[Frank Capra]]&nbsp;— ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It With You]]''</small>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] || {{won}} || [[Spencer Tracy]]
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Screenplay]] || {{nom}} || [[John Meehan (screenwriter)|John Meehan]] and [[Dore Schary]] <br /> <small>Winner was [[Ian Dalrymple]], [[Cecil Arthur Lewis]], [[W. P. Lipscomb]], [[George Bernard Shaw]] – ''[[Pygmalion (1938 film)|Pygmalion]]''</small>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Story|Best Writing, Original Story]] || {{won}} || [[Eleanore Griffin]] and [[Dore Schary]]
|-
|}

In February 1939, when he accepted his [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for the role, Spencer Tracy talked about Father Flanagan in his acceptance speech. "If you have seen him through me, then I thank you." An MGM publicity representative mistakenly announced that Tracy was donating his Oscar to Flanagan, not having confirmed it with Tracy. Tracy said: "I earned the&nbsp;... thing. I want it." The [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|Academy]] hastily struck another inscription, Tracy kept his statuette, and Boys Town got one, too. It read: "To Father Flanagan, whose great humanity, kindly simplicity, and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort. Spencer Tracy."<ref>Clooney, pp. 212–213</ref>

==Home media==
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
''Boys Town'' was released on [[VHS]] by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] on March 29, 1993, and re-released on VHS on March 7, 2000. On November 8, 2005, it was released on [[DVD]] as a part of the "Warner Brothers Classic Holiday Collection", a three-DVD set which also contains ''[[Christmas in Connecticut]]'' and the 1938 version of ''[[A Christmas Carol (1938 film)|A Christmas Carol]]'', and as an individual disc. The DVD release also includes the 1941 sequel ''[[Men of Boys Town]]'' as an extra feature.

==Sequel==
{{Main|Men of Boys Town}}
Released in April 1941, ''[[Men of Boys Town]]'' takes a darker view of the issue of homeless and troubled youth. Tracy and Rooney reprise their characters as Father Flanagan and Whitey Marsh as they expose the conditions in a boys reform school. This movie was released on VHS on December 23, 1993, but is now available only as an extra feature on ''Boys Town'' DVD.

==Popular culture==
In the ''[[Northern Exposure]]'' television series 1991 episode "The Big Kiss", orphan [[List of Northern Exposure characters#Ed Chigliak|Ed Chigliak]] watches ''Boys Town'' and is inspired to find out who his real parents are. He mentions the film reference to several other characters.

[[Newt Gingrich]], the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1994, referred to the film to argue that philanthropists would be able to help those people and organizations affected by government cuts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/30/obituaries/eleanore-griffin-91-screenwriter-shared-boys-town-oscar.html|title=Eleanore Griffin, 91; Screenwriter Shared 'Boys Town' Oscar|date=1995-07-30|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-03-22}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Boys Town (film)}}
* [http://www.boystownmovie.org/ www.boystownmovie.org]&nbsp;— official site
* {{IMDb title|0029942|Boys Town}}
* {{AllMovie title|6879|Boys Town}}
* {{Tcmdb title|69546|Boys Town}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|boys_town|Boys Town}}
* {{AFI film|id=3559|title=Boys Town}}

{{Norman Taurog}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys Town}}
[[Category:1938 films]]
[[Category:1930s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:American biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films about Catholicism]]
[[Category:Films about Catholic priests]]
[[Category:Films about Christianity]]
[[Category:Films set in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Norman Taurog]]
[[Category:1938 drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Edward Ward (composer)]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:Articles with red links]]
[[Category:Articles in need of a picture]]