MovieChat Forums > Follow Me, Boys! (1966) Discussion > Surprisingly modern.

Surprisingly modern.

posted 7 years ago by Drmccormack (743)
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There is a wonderfully sensitive treatment of alcoholism in this movie. One of the main characters is a boy named Whitey( Kurt Russell), his father is an alcoholic but the dad is not mean. He's more of a sad drunk. Whitey adores his dad despite this. The adults in this movie treat the boy and the dad with respect because they know he can't help it. I am shocked because I think of this idea as more 2017 than 1966, the year the movie was made. I think it was a very unusual for the time, to recognize the dad's inability to remain sober but still show him compassion.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (1561) 7 years ago

The main scene I found unforgettably disturbing was when Whitey's father shows up drunk demanding to collect him and Lem LETS WHITEY GET IN THE CAR WITH HIM and then just STANDS THERE AND WATCHES THEM DRIVE OFF! Of course, it must be considered that the scene was supposed to be taking place in 1932. Lem had no legal right to detain Whitey and to do so might perhaps have constituted kidnapping, but to let a 13-year-old child climb into a motor vehicle with an intoxicated drunk, and then turn the drunk loose on the public roads to commit murder and mayhem without immediately notifying law enforcement, must constitute child endangerment and disregard for public safety on a level out of line even for the 1930s. Certainly by the time the movie was made it should have been considered unacceptable. It was a shame this scene appeared in the film.