Movie Music

In my last two posts I mentioned the importance of music in movies.  In the Hitchcock Blogathon, I wrote about Bernard Herrmann who added atmosphere to many of Hitch's movies.  In the Laurel and Hardy post, I mentioned T. Marvin Hatley and Leroy Shields, and the use of their music by Hal Roach.

I remember owning a long playing record of the soundtrack to King of Kings (1961) with the music of Miklos Rozsa (1907 - 1995).  I loved that record and played it often.  The movie came out when I was eleven, so I probably got the LP shortly after seeing the movie at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA.

Rozsa started as a musician and composer in Leipzig, and worked in Paris and London before moving to the USA to be nearer the movie industry.  He composed for many films, but his works were also used as stock music in many others. 

Perhaps his best known score was for Spellbound (1945).  And apparently Hitchcock didn't like it very much.  He said it got in the way of his directing.  I liked it.  I actually had a recording of "Spellbound" on a 78 rpm record, which was probably directed by the composer.

But don't stop there.  I was amazed when I looked at Rozsa's work.  He was well known for his music during the Film Noir era.  Films such as Double Indemnity (1944) and Lady on a Train (1945).  He then went into historical dramas like Quo Vadis (1951), King of Kings and El Cid (1961), and the exciting fantasy The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1974, produced by Ray Harryhausen (b. 1920).

He wasn't afraid to be inovative and used the newfangled electronic instrument known as the Theremin.  His final original music was written for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) starring Steve Martin.  And it doesn't end there.

Some of his compositions were used as stock music for the TV show "Superman" in the 1950s, and he wrote "Dum-De-Dum-Dum" long before "Dragnet" was on television.  The "Dragnet" theme is still being used.

His music can also be heard in Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), Francis Covers the Big Town (1953), Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), Ben-Hur (1959) and The Dirty Dozen (1967).

I believe Mikos Rozsa touched many more lives of movies fans than most would imagine.  His music could do wonderful things for a movie, and he is right up there with Dimitri Tiomken, Bernard Herrmann, and John Williams. 

Interestingly, I remember his name being misspelled on that old LP.  It was listed on one side of the cover correctly, and on the back as Rosza.

A Perfect Day to be Blotto

After Blogging my heart out on Hitchcock, a return to my roots is in order.  Turner Classic Movies is running Hal Roach movies and TV shows all this month.  Here are two Laurel and Hardy shorts that were on last week.

Perfect Day (1929) - Only Laurel and Hardy can turn a Sunday picnic into a disaster movie.  Uncle Edgar, played by Edgar Kennedy (1890 - 1948), is suffering from the gout in his foot, so it is well wrapped.  L&H start a ruckus in the house and Kennedy's foot keeps getting bumped.  Even the dog grabs it and won't let go.  After destroying all the sandwiches while packing the food, the boys and their wives, plus Uncle Edgar and the dog, all pile into the car.

Trouble with the car, including two flat tires with Stan trying to use a car jack, keeps them stuck.  Then there is an altercation with a neighbor and bricks start flying.  Back in the car, and it won't start.  Ollie is cranking and Stan flips the spark advance lever to cause a huge explosion.  Ollie tells Stan to throw out the clutch, so he rips out the pedal.  You get the picture.  When they finally get moving, there is a big puddle to drive through.  You can guess what happens.

Blotto (1930) - I hesitate to say this is one of my favorites because where will it end?  I have too many favorites as it is.  Stan and his wife, played by Anita Garvin (1906 - 1994) (whom I have had the pleasure to know personally), are at home.  Anita is playing solitaire and Stan wants to go out with his friend, Ollie.  She forbids it so the boys work up a scheme to go to the Rainbow Club.

Anita has a hidden bottle of liquor and the boys plot to take it with them.  She finds out and replaces the contents with cold tea and Tabasco.  At the club, the boys order their two cents plain and pour in the booze.  Amidst some wonderful entertainment at the club, they get blasted and have a great time.  Then they see Anita at another table, with her new double barrel shotgun.

Blotto includes Tiny Sanford (1894 - 1961) as one of the waiters, in a non-speaking role.  Tiny made over 130 films, and over 50 Hal Roach films, and can be seen in many of Charlie Chaplin's classics.  The singer at the club is played by Frank Holliday (1912 - 1948) who was also in It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).

The best part of Blotto is watching the emotional reaction of the boys to the booze, the singing, and finally the realization that they got blotto on cold tea.  Stan goes through crying fits and then laughing fits, and I dare you to keep a straight face whilst watching.

Copyright 1979 Allen Hefner

One other item to mention as you watch the Hal Roach movies this month.  Listen to the music.  Roach used the same music in many Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase and other movies of the time.  Most of it was written by T. Marvin Hatley (1905 - 1986) and Leroy Shield (1893 - 1962).  My guess is that the same tunes made it less expensive to make so many movies, but there is also a continuity created.  You know you are watching a Hal Roach comedy.

There is still time to catch some of today's movies on TCM.  You can see some of the Thelma Todd (1906 - 1935) shorts this afternoon.  Todd had a tragically short life, but she did shine in her films.  Starting on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 8:00 p.m., make sure to catch the Hal Roach features, beginning with the best of the best, Sons of the Desert (1933) starring L&H.

Please respect the photographs I have taken.  If you want to use them, please ask first.  It's probably OK, I just want to know and maybe receive credit under the pic!

CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon: The Trouble with Harry

I had written about the Bit Actors in this movie a few months ago and I was going to expand on that post for the Blogathon.  It turned out to be much more fun to write a new post instead.  This one may wind up being a bit longer than my usual offering.

Let’s start with the trivia.  Quick…what was Shirley MacLaine’s (b. 1934) film debut?  This is an Alfred Hitchcock Blogathon so that should give you a hint.  (Oh yeah, the answer may be found somewhere in my title.)  The Trouble with Harry from 1955 was MacLaine’s first film, made when she was just 21 years old, and it was the fifth film for young Jerry Mathers (b. 1948, and not as the Beav) who was only seven.

This was also the first pairing of Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) and composer Bernard Herrmann (1911 – 1975), who went on to a long relationship, making seven films together.  I think that Psycho (1960) would not be the same without Herrmann’s wonderful score.  

The Trouble with Harry is Hitchcock’s favorite Hitchcock film and Herrmann’s score for it was his favorite as well, according to the all-knowing trivia page on IMDb.

This was Edmund Gwenn’s (1877 – 1959) last of four Hitchcock films.  And finally, Philip Truex (1911 – 2008) played Harry, who was dead through the entire film.  This was Truex’s second and final big screen film.  The other was This is the Army (1943) with Ronald Reagan.  And poor Harry gets exhumed four times in the movie.

Alfred Hitchcock didn’t make many comedies, and this one was actually an experiment on his part, to see how a more British style of comedy, made with relatively unknown actors, would fare in America.  Apparently it didn’t fare very well, and was a box office disappointment.  Hitch bought the rights back and held the film out of circulation for about 30 years.  It was re-released in 1984, thank goodness!

I would imagine that die-hard Hitchcock fans may not appreciate Harry.  It does not contain the gripping suspense of most of his other work.  In fact it is more comedy than mystery.  But it contains a lot of Hitchcock.  The way the shots are framed in the camera is unmistakable.  The excellent direction of many newcomers to film, which may have been instrumental to their future success, came only from Hitch.  And the Bernard Herrmann score adds to the feel of the movie.

In short, the story is about a dead man found by a small boy.  Several of the town residents are convinced they caused Harry's demise.  And then there is the problem of the what the law would say, and how to dispose of the body.  After Harry is identified and it is thought he would not be missed, a simple burial in the field seems the best solution.  But Hitchcock adds twists and turns to complicate things.

The cast in Harry is short, only 14 strong, including Hitchcock's trademark walk-on.  The major Bit Actors are:

Royal Dano (1922 - 1994), the deputy sheriff, was a character actor who did a lot of westerns, including a bit part in Cahill US Marshal(1973) with The Duke, and a bigger part in The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976 with Clint Eastwood.

Mildred Natwick ( 1905 - 1994) had over 80 roles in film and on TV.  She plays Mrs. Gravely (!) who befriends Edmund Gwenn.  Perhaps her most famous film was her last, Dangerous Liaisons in 1988 with Glenn Close.

Mildred Dunnock (1901 - 1991) is the shop owner, Mrs. Wiggs.  She has played in over 70 parts, including BUtterfield 8 in 1960 with Elizabeth Taylor.

I don’t want to give away the entire plot by going into the rest of the story.  Since this is an unusual film for Hitchcock, you may not have seen it, so I don’t want to ruin the ending for you.  Let me say that it is definitely worth seeking out.  The beautiful, scenic, outdoor shots of New England in glorious Technicolor are quite a dichotomy to the story of a dead body found on a beautiful fall day.  And Hitchcock uses it to weave a fun, almost believable story, with a cast that works well together.

I hope you enjoy the entire Classic Movie Blog Association Hitchcock Blogathon.  As of this writing there are twenty of us participating.  Its good today is a holiday!  Here is the entire list of Blogathon entries.  If any of the links don't work, just click on the link to the CMBA site, just above here.  Have fun!

1. The Birds – Classic Film & TV Café http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/

2. Dial M for Murder – True Classics: The ABCs of Film http://trueclassics.wordpress.com/

3. The Lady Vanishes – MacGuffin Movies http://macguffinmovies.wordpress.com/

4. Lifeboat – Classicfilmboy’s Movie Paradise http://www.classicfilmboy.com/

5. The Man Who Knew Too Much – Reel Revival http://reelrevival.blogspot.com/

6. Marnie – My Love of Old Hollywood http://myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.com/

7. Mr. and Mrs. Smith – Carole & Co. http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/

8. North By Northwest – Bette’s Classic Movie Blog http://bettesmovieblog.blogspot.com/

9. Notorious – Twenty Four Frames http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/

10. The Pleasure Garden – Thrilling Days of Yesteryear http://www.thrillingdaysofyesteryear.blogspot.com

11. Rear Window – Java’s Journey http://javabeanrush.blogspot.com/

12. Rebecca – ClassicBecky’s Film and Literary Review http://www.classicbeckybrainfood.blogspot.com/

13. Rope – Kevin’s Movie Corner http://kevinsmoviecorner.blogspot.com/

14. Shadow of a Doubt - Great Entertainers Media Archive http://greatentertainersarchives.blogspot.com/

15. The 39 Steps – Garbo Laughs http://garbolaughs.wordpress.com/

16. Three Classic Hitchcock Killers – The Lady Eve’s Reel Life http://eves-reel-life.blogspot.com/

17. Torn Curtain - Via Margutta 51 http://www.via-51.blogspot.com/

18. The Trouble with Harry – Bit Part Actors (That's me!)

19. Vertigo – Noir and Chick Flicks http://dawnschickflicks.blogspot.com/

20. The Wrong Man – The Movie Projector http://movieprojector.blogspot.com/

CMBA Hitchcock Blogathon Coming Soon to an Internet Near You!

On Monday, January 17, 2011, the Classic Movie Blog Association will have its second Blogathon.  The topic for members to write about will be Alfred Hitchcock, and I am sure you will see quite a variety of movies, topics and opinions covered.  The members of CMBA are quite wide spread, ranging from a 12 year old classic movie buff in England, to a young woman in Chile, and everything in between.

I have been a member of the CMBA since WAAAAY back in 2010, and I have found the members and their blogs to be very informative and entertaining.  This is the place to be for talk about movies.  I have even fostered some new friendships here, although I may never meet those new friends.  Such is the Internet.

This will be my very first Blogathon, and I will cover Hitch's 1955 sleeper, The Trouble With Harry. 

I will post a list of the CMBA Blogathon entries on Monday in my post, so make sure you check out ALL of the other posts about Hitch and his work.  There WILL be a quiz!

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Or, Star Trek IV: The Search for Whales.  Released in 1986, this was the fourth Star Trek journey to the big screen.  It starred the original TV series cast.  There is no need to go into any more discussion about the stars.

My impression of this movie is that they were saving money by using time travel to go back to the 1980s, which allowed location shooting rather than expensive, futuristic sets, makeup and costumes.  "Star Trek" on television did this a lot in the early days.  But the story still works, if you are a Star Trek fan.  It has all of the normal interactions between the characters, and it adds some new faces. 

As far as some of the old, but not very regular faces, we again see Mark Lenard (1924 - 1999) as Spock's father, and Jane Wyatt (1910 - 2006) as his mother. 

Jane Wyatt has 93 titles listed on IMDb, from 1934 to 1992.  Her early successes include Lost Horizon (1937) which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, and won two others. 

The advent of television seemed to be a good thing for Wyatt.  Her most famous role (at least for us baby boomers) was as Jane Anderson on "Father Knows Best."  In 1967 she is cast as Spock's mother, Amanda in an episode of "Star Trek."  The Voyage Home was her last motion picture.

Mark Lenard has 57 titles listed.  He did more work in the Star Trek franchise than Wyatt.  Not only was he Spock's father, Sarek, but he also played several other aliens.  His first appearance was as a Romulan captain, and he also played a Klingon.  Everybody knows he is really Vulcan.

Lenard started acting on TV in "Search for Tomorrow" around 1959.  His first movie was The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) directed by George Stevens (1904 - 1975) and starring Max von Sydow (b. 1929).  I saw that one at the Keswick Theatre!

Catherine Hicks (b. 1951) is the present day scientist who helps bring the whales back to the future.  (That sounds weird.)  Hicks also started on TV and had regular parts on "Ryan's Hope" and "The Bad News Bears."  She played Marilyn Monroe in the 1980 TV movie, "Marilyn: The Untold Story."  She was in some other good movies as well.  Look for her in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Child's Play (1988).

One other interesting Bit Actor in this film was Brock Peters (1927 - 2005) who plays Star Fleet Admiral Cartwright.  Peters has 121 roles listed to his credit, starting in 1954.  Peters was also a singer, and was in the 1959 screen version of Porgy and Bess, starring Sidney Poiter (b. 1927), Dorothy Dandridge (1922 - 1965), Sammy Davis Jr., and Pearl Bailey. 

Peters then appears in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) with Gregory Peck.  He continues to work on TV and in movies, and does some voice-over as well.  In the 1990s he shows up in a regular role on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." 

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home may not be a perfect movie, but it is entertaining, and when you look at the Bit Actors involved, it becomes a good voyage.

Movies That Should Not Be Missed...TONIGHT!

Yesterday I received a Facebook invitation to participate in the Laurel and Hardy Marathon that begins this afternoon at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Turner Classic Movies.  You don't have to ask me twice!

The full schedule can be found on the TCM web site by clicking on the schedule link near the top of the home page.  Then scroll to 8 p.m. and the first movie is Thicker Than Water (1935).  It ends tomorrow at 8 p.m., after running The Bohemian Girl (1936), starting at 6:45.
Here are my suggestions for the movies that you should not miss. Since this is an all night thing, get your DVR or VCR ready.

Jan 11  9:45 p.m. - The Live Ghost (1934) - The boys find themselves working on a haunted ship with Captain Walter Long (1879 - 1952).  Don't miss Mae Busch (1891 - 1946), Charlie Hall (1899 - 1959) and Arthur Housman (1889 - 1942).  Watch how things get turned around at the end.

Jan 11  10:00 p.m. - Them Thar Hills (1934) - Another with Mae and Charlie.  This one adds Billy Gilbert (1894 - 1971) as the doctor.

Jan 11  11:30 p.m. - Dirty Work (1930) - Finds the pair as chimney sweeps for a mad scientist.  Lucien Littlefield (1895 - 1960) is the scientist who amazes Stan and Ollie with his demonstration.

Jan 12  1:00 a.m. - Me and My Pal (1933) - Ollie's getting married but a jigsaw puzzle keeps everyone occupied.  James Finlayson (1887 - 1953) is the father of the bride.

Jan 12  2:00 a.m. - Towed in a Hole (1932) - One of my favorites.  The boys have almost the entire film to themselves, with Billy Gilbert making an appearance.  Listen to Ollie's golden tenor voice singing the call to buy fish, and don't miss Stan's explanation of how to improve their business.  Not to be missed!

Jan 12  3:30 a.m. - County Hospital (1932) - Ollie's in the hospital, and what does Stan bring him?  Hard boiled eggs and nuts, of course!

Jan 12  4;:30 a.m. - The Music Box (1932) - Stan and Ollie's only Academy Award winning film.  Billy Gilbert as the musicologist, and a set of steps that defy the piano.  Another one that should not be missed. 

Jan 12  5:00 a.m. - Helpmates (1932) - Watch the boys clean house as only they can.

Jan 12  7:15 a.m. - Laughing Gravy (1931) - Laughing Gravy is the name of the dog, of course.  And Charlie Hall is the landlord with the "no pets" policy.  A few years later, Gravy appears in Roamin' Holiday (1937) with Our Gang.

Jan 12  10:00 a.m. - Hog Wild (1930) - Watch the boys install a radio antenna.  It must have been an important task in 1930.

Jan 12  11:30 a.m. - Blotto (1930) - Anita Garvin (1906 - 1994) plays Stan's wife, but the boys steal her liquor to have a night out.  Anita told me that the gun she used in the final scene was so heavy she could hardly lift it.  #3 that should NOT be missed!

Jan 12  1:30 p.m. - Perfect Day (1929) - A perfect day for a picnic, if you can get Edgar Kennedy's (1890 - 1948) gout ridden foot in the car...and get the car started!  "Goodbye!"

It's obvious that I like L&H.  It is difficult to recommend some films and not others because they are all worthy of watching.  Above are a dozen, with three that are simply not to be missed.

My only complaint is that the films are not shown in release order.  These are mostly short, two-reelers, with a few features like The Bohemian Girl thrown in.  Features like Sons of the Desert (1933) and Way Out West (1937) are also on the A-List of Laurel and Hardy movies, but I guess they will have to wait until the next marathon.

Enjoy these films.  They led the way for comedians who are still inspired by the genius of Stan and Ollie.

Body Heat

I guess it was unintentional that I should watch a steamy mystery that takes place during a Florida heat wave, on one of our cold and snowy weekends here in Philadelphia!  I watched Body Heat (1981) starring Kathleen Turner (b. 1954) and William Hurt (b. 1950).

This was Turner's first movie, and I must say it was also her breakout.  She was beautiful and totally convincing in her role.  The story has twists worthy of Hitchcock, although the filming wasn't as precise as Hitch would have demanded.  It was Hurt's third film, and he was also perfect in his part as the ill-fated lawyer.

There is some great trivia attached to Body Heat.  It was a remake of Double Indemnity (1944) starring Barbara Stanwyck (1907 - 1990) and Fred MacMurray (1908 - 1991).  That movie was directed by Billy Wilder (1906 - 2002) who is an A-List director without a doubt, and the two stars were both A-List as well.

Body Heat on the other hand, starred two newcomers to film, and was directed by Lawrence Kasdan (b. 1949) in his directorial premier.  But Kasdan has a load of experience.

As a writer, Kasdan's credits are excellent.  He started out working on Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and then Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), before writing Body Heat.  He went on to write Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi and The Big Chill in 1983, Silverado (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988), The Bodyguard (1992) and Wyatt Earp (1994).  That's pretty good.

Kasdan's friendship with George Lucas probably got him the job as director.  Lucas is uncredited on Body Heat as an executive producer.  After Heat, Kasdan directed more great films, including several mentioned above in his writing credits. 

There were Bit Actors also present.  Kim Zimmer (b. 1955) was Kathleen Turner's best friend...whom she killed.  Zimmer is only in two big screen movies, and spends her time making TV soaps.  Ted Danson (b. 1947) plays another lawyer and is William Hurt's friend.  I don't think his soft shoe dancing at every free moment added anything to the plot.  This was Danson's second movie.

There are some more experienced actors as well.  J. A. Preston was the police detective.  Preston has 78 titles on his IMDb list.  And of course, Richard Crenna (1926 - 2003) who was Turner's doomed husband, has 114 titles, my favorite was as Luke on "The Real McCoys" on TV in the 1950s.

My question is how can so many inexperienced people make such a good movie?  See it, or see it again, and I am sure you'll agree.

Another Recent Child Actor

I also took a look at Haley Joel Osmet (b. 1988) as I was writing my last post, on Macaulay Culkin.  Osmet may have fared a bit better than Culkin, but only time will tell.

Osmet began his career as many child actors do, in commercials.  His first movie was Forrest Gump (1994) where he played the son of Gump, played by Tom Hanks.  This was a big movie, and a good break for Osmet.  If you get the Gump DVD with extra features, it includes part of Osmet's screen test.  It is easy to see why he became a popular young actor.

Quite a few movies and TV series' followed, until he got his real breakout role, The Sixth Sense in 1999.  Haley's performance in the M. Night Shyamalan (b. 1970) film is incredible.  He was nominated for an Academy Award for his effort.  It is not easy to upstage Bruce Willis (b. 1955), but I think most people remember Osmet as the star of this film.

In a similar role, he starred in the 2000 film, Pay It Forward.  He exudes a sad appearance, with the look of his eyes and a slightly odd characteristic in his voice.  He was perfectly cast again, and his co-stars, Helen Hunt (b. 1963) and Kevin Spacey (b. 1959), also have the necessary qualities to make this movie work without trying to take anything away from Osmet.  It was not a movie about successful people, it was about regular people and their struggles to just get through life.

The next year he has a starring role in Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence.  Just barely a teenager, Haley has already had a dream career.  He has also had quite a few voice-over roles for animated films and video games.  The next ten years of work bring his total title count to about 45 roles.

IMDb now lists, in pre-production, a comedy called Sex Ed, due to be released later this year.  Osmet is now in his twenties.  Is he trying to break out of his child actor cage?  As with many child actors, he has had some incidents in his life that he probably regrets.  I hope he finds his place in the entertainment industry, and I wish him all the best.

Newer Child Stars

I have written in previous posts about some child stars in the earlier years of moviedom.  (Is that a word?)  I bumped into a pretty bad movie last weekend called Sex and Breakfast (2007) starring...are you ready?...Macaulay Culkin (b. 1980).  The movie stunk (That IS a word!) but it got me thinking about Culkin's career and the turns it has taken since his early days as a child star.

Culkin's fifth movie made him famous.  He starred in Home Alone (1990) when he was just ten years old.  That movie was a hit and grossed $235 million in the USA.  The sequel released two years later called Home Alone 2: Lost in New York did almost as well.

He was also in Uncle Buck (1989) and My Girl (1991).  Those four movies established him as an actor in demand.  Of course, his voice hadn't changed yet.

More starring roles followed.  The Good Son (1993), The Pagemaster (1994) and the title role in Richie Rich (1994).  But now he's a teenager and the cute kid roles won't work anymore.  And I don't think he is much of a hunk that the teenage girls will line up at the theaters to see, either.

Culkin was basically burned out at age 14, but he was also very rich from his success.  He took a seven year break from acting, partly due to a lengthy divorce battle by his parents.  Back in movies in 2003, I suppose he was trying to change his image with something more adult.  Enter Sex and Breakfast in 2007.

This movie had no plot, but it did put two young couples in a sexual situation where they are contemplating having a group sex encounter to help solve their various personal dilemmas.  Don't bother seeing it, because I just gave you all the details.  It was also interesting that it was rated R for sexual situations, but contained no nudity.

The bright spot was the two women, played by Eliza Dushku (b. 1980) and Alexis Dziena (b. 1984).  Dushku played the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenneger in True Lies (1994), and has 38 roles to her credit.  Dziena has 24 roles listed so far.  Both are charming and beautiful, and they can act.  Culkin just seemed to be out of place.

I think Macaulay Culkin with 28 titles on IMDb, will forever be a Bit Actor who was once famous as a child star.

Boys Town

I finally got around to ordering Christmas in Connecticut (1945) with Barbara Stanwyck.  Great film, don't miss it.  The DVD package I ordered included the 1938 movies A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen, and Boys Town starring Spencer Tracy.  Little did I know that Boys Town was on a double sided DVD and Men of Boys Town (1941) was on the flip side. 

Just to freshen your memory, Boys Town is the story of Father Flanagan (1886 - 1948) who started an orphanage in Nebraska.  I guess that doesn't sound very exciting, does it?  Mickey Rooney adds plenty of excitement.  The movie depicts Rooney as a boy on his way to delinquency, and Flanagan's attempt to save him.

The energy that Rooney brought to the role is amazing.  Tracy won the Oscar for Best Actor, and I believe he deserved it, but you should see the way Rooney handles his part.  Boys Town also won the Oscar for Best Writing and was nominated for three others, including Best Picture and Best Director.

It is said that some of the residents of Boys Town were actors in the film.  The main roles were played by actors, and Rooney wasn't the only standout.  The real Boys Town A Cappella Choir does appear in concert.

I particularly liked Pee Wee played by Bobs Watson (1930 - 1999).  Bobs was his father's nickname for him, so he wouldn't be confused with Bobby Watson (1888 - 1965) another actor of the era.  Bobs has 54 titles on film and TV, and he eventually became a minister, while continuing to act.  In 1941 he reprised his role as Pee Wee in the sequel, Men of Boys Town. 

Rooney's older brother (and bank robber) Joe Marsh was played by veteran actor Edward Norris (1911 - 2002).  Norris' first movie was Queen Christina (1933) starring Greta Garbo.  Norris went on to play in 87 titles through the 1950s and on TV into the early 1960s.  Most of his movie roles were in B pictures.  He was a solid Bit Actor. 

Another wonderful actor is Henry Hull (1890 - 1977) who played Flanagan's friend, Dave Morris.  Hull has 111 titles on his list.  I knew I had seen him before, and then I saw some of his titles; Stanley and Livingston (1939), Babes in Arms (1939), High Sierra (1941), and Lifeboat (1944).  All great movies with great leading stars. 

Maybe there was a little over acting in Boys Town, but it was made in 1938, when drama was very important and there were a lot of child actors to use.  Tracy excels in his understated performance, a complete opposite to the frenetic performance by Rooney.  No matter, you should see this film.

Boys Town is still in existence in Nebraska and other locations around the country, serving over 21,000 boys and girls directly, and helping over 1.4 million every year through their services.  In 1984 the Village of Boys Town was designated a National Historic Landmark District.