Des hommes vivront

Norman Taurog directs and Spencer Tracy plays Father Flanagan in another film about the priest who walked the walk in his philosophy about their being no such thing as a bad boy.

Men of Boys Town finds Tracy burdened down with a lot of responsibility. His responsibility to each and every boy that he takes in at Boys Town and to the institution itself. Some of their stories overlap with Tracy's main concern about keeping the institution afloat.

One of those kids is Larry Nunn, a kid crippled after he killed a guard in a reformatory he was in. His story is similar to the one that was in the original Boys Town where Gene Reynolds was another kid who was crippled. Nunn is far more cynical and bitter after seeing and experiencing what he has in that other institution.

Another kid is Darryl Hickman, a young juvenile offender from that same place who sneaks out of the place with Mickey Rooney when Rooney goes to visit one of Nunn's friends. Talk about deja vu, in the original Boys Town it was Rooney who was the smart mouth who gets tamed by his experience at Boys Town. I guess the Deity and the scriptwriters have a sense of humor.

Besides Tracy and Rooney, Sidney Miller and Bobs Watson are retained from the original film. Rooney would be stealing this whole film if it weren't for Tracy. Nobody steals a scene from Spencer Tracy.

I guess since Boys Town is still here we do know that Father Flanagan did solve the problems shown in this film as well. Though it looks a whole lot like Tracy is getting stretched way to thin, in the movies and in life itself, problems sometimes do have a way working themselves out if we can only perceive the solution.

Anyway, Men of Boys Town is simply Spencer Tracy continuing his award winning role as the ever wise and patient Father Flanagan. Good enough reason to see this film.

Yes...man enough to risk breaking down in tears and crying like a baby at the aftermath of Bo Hunk's demise? When Ted Maitland...that poor kid who suffers so much pain and heartbreak...finally summons the strength to pull himself together and (literally) stand on his own, with Herbert Stothart's background music sounding as if the Heavens have opened and angel voices are cascading down from above (he actually quotes the carol "Angels We Have Heard on High" at this point).... I thought I'd never recover from this scene, which must be among the most heart wrenching in all cinema.

Of course, bear in mind that it's the Louis B. Mayer/MGM special brand of heartstring tugging, which many people regard as hopelessly old-fashioned and manipulative. But so what? That's what audiences of the day knew, living through the desperation and darkness of the Depression, where young children who were orphaned or abandoned often faced the cruelty of the world by themselves, where a saint-like character such as Father Flanagan represented both spiritual and physical salvation. "Men of Boy's Town" is certainly as maudlin and sentimental a film as you are likely to encounter, but it serves as a testament to the time in which it was made....and as such remains a valuable social document, both in terms of its subject matter and the way in which audiences of the day reacted to it.

That being said, the Darrell Hickman character---the pint-sized hood "Flip"---seems about as exaggerated and far from reality as can be imagined, but then again, what do I know? I wasn't alive back then; maybe such characters actually existed. (And yes, the "SLO-MO" comedy act that the boys perform to cheer up Ted in his hospital room goes on AT LEAST 3 times as long as it should have).

Still, first-rate performances all around.

It's a pity that this film is practically un-noticeable as a bonus on the same DVD along with "Boy's Town", so little attention is it given; I at first thought it was a short documentary or something of that sort; but no, it is a full-length, and very substantial sequel to the fine original film.

Mickey Rooney's performance is what makes this film terrific. I'm always amazed at the talent of Mickey Rooney. In my opinion he is a much underrated performer. He could do it all.Make you laugh, make you cry, make you jump for job. Mickey Rooney is the star of this movie, Men Of Boys Town. His performance is tops. He ease and dramatic and comedy talents are well on display here. In my opinion, he far outshines Spencer Tracy in both Boys Town and Men Of Boys Town. Mickey should have one the Oscar for this one. If you want to see more great acting by Mickey Rooney check out Young Tom Edison, Drive A Crooked Road, Huckleberry Finn etc. You wil be glad you did. Mickey Rooney, forever may he shine. He was and is the tops. The King Of Hollywood!

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.

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)