I haven't seen BOYS TOWN in many years. That said, I have little patience for those viewers who would label a movie "corny," "manipulative," or whatever simply because it was made in a different era and/or it aspires to make the viewer feel something.
I recall Mickey Rooney's crying over the little boy as being quite intense for such a young actor. I think the thing in the film that moved me most, though, was the fact that the boys were not forced to change their religions in order to stay at Boys Town. Such tolerance we think of as being more characteristic of our own time, but watching this and other "old" movies I'm often surprised at how forward-thinking many individuals back then were.
reply
share