Overrated and overhyped

Better Late Then Never

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

More "Boys Town" fun from director Norman Taurog and company; including Spencer Tracy as the good Priest, and Mickey Rooney as Bad Boy (turned good). Mr. Tracy continues to fight for his homes for "Delinquent Boys"; Mr. Rooney begins to fight for wayward boys, too, proving the Priest's theories work. Again, Tracy makes a good case for nurture over nature. Again, the film suffers through mugging slapstick, and oversentimentality. It's difficult to take the movie seriously after the slow-motion fight scene. Larry Nunn steals the film, with a more consistent performance than Spencer Tracy! Mickey Rooney! and Bobs Watson! If you must take another trip to "Boys Town", watch Larry Nunn as "Ted" turn in a fine performance amid all the overacting and underplaying. ***** Men of Boys Town (4/10/41) Norman Taurog ~ Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Larry Nunn, Bobs Watson

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.

This isn't as good of a film as Boys Town, but then most sequels don't live up to the original. Mickey Rooney gives a refreshingly toned-down portrayal of an older, more mature Whitey Marsh, and of course Spencer Tracy fits right back into the role of Father Flanagan. A bit idealistic and old-fashioned, but perhaps that is exactly what draws me to films like these? Any fan of classic movies, Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, or all of the above will have a nice time watching this movie.