Boys Town (film)

Boys Town is a 1938 biographical drama film based on Father Edward J. Flanagan's work with a group of underprivileged and delinquent boys in a home that he founded and named "Boys Town". 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, and was directed by Norman Taurog.

Legendary MGM Studio head Louis B. Mayer, who was a Ukrainian-American Jew known for his respect for the Catholic Church, later called this his favorite film of his tenure at MGM.

Although the story is largely fictional, it is based upon a real man and a real place. Boys Town is a community outside of Omaha, Nebraska.

In 1941, MGM made a sequel, Men of Boys Town (see below), with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney reprising their roles from the earlier film.

Plot

The story opens when a convicted murderer asks to make his confession on the day of his execution. The condemned man is visited by an old friend, 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 experienced as a child without friends or family as a ward of the state.

Boys Town

Boys Town or Boystown may refer to:

Places

Schools

Sports

Media

Dunlea Centre

Dunlea Centre, formerly known as Boys' Town Engadine an Australian residential secondary school for adolescent young people and their families, is focused on working with young people where there are identified behavioural issues. Boys' Town Engadine - Dunlea Centre helps children, young people and their families to overcome the most severe disadvantages - problems such as abuse, homelessness, long term unemployment, mental health issues and the challenges of disability. The school is located in the Sydney suburb of Engadine, New South Wales and is run by the Roman Catholic Salesians, a religious order of priests, in conjunction with specialist teachers and social workers.

Boys' Town Engadine - Dunlea Centre provides a voluntary service for families at risk of family breakdown, who are committed to improving their relationships. Boys' Town Engadine - Dunlea Centre provides intensive life skills, therapeutic and educational services in an out of home care setting.

History

A parish priest of Sutherland Shire, in 1934 Fr Thomas Dunlea was requested by a dying woman to look after her son. After the woman's death, Dunlea took the boy to the parish presbytery. Over the ensuing years, a number of young boys were entrusted to his care during the Great Depression. The boys were moved to a bigger house, but after Sutherland Shire Council forced them onto the road, they set up tents in nearby Royal National Park . On 1 August 1939, Dunlea officially opened the school with seven boys in his care. The purpose of the school was to help disadvantaged young males. His inspiration was the 1938 movie Boystown, about Fr Edward J. Flanagan, who founded the original Boystown in Nebraska, USA.

Boys Town (organization)

Boys Town, formerly Girls and Boys Town and Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, is a non-profit organization dedicated to caring for its children and families, with national headquarters in the village of Boys Town, Nebraska. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1985.

The first Boys Town was founded as a boys' orphanage in December 1917 by Edward J. Flanagan, a Roman Catholic priest working in Omaha. The "City of Little Men" pioneered development of new juvenile care methods in 20th-century America, emphasizing social preparation as a model for public boys' homes worldwide.

In 1943 Boys Town adopted as its image and logo a picture of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, captioned "He ain't heavy, Father ... he's m' brother!" They felt it epitomized the importance of their residents caring for each other and having someone care about them. The saying inspired a song and album by The Hollies.