Another biopic and another Oscar winner for Best Actor. This time it was the turn of Spencer Tracy as the legendary Father Flanagan, who founded 'Boy's Town', a camp for homeless boys. I'm sure everyone's heart was in the right place but it's still sick-makingly sentimental, the kind of pious claptrap that Hollywood was expert in making back in the day. This was Tracy's second Best Actor Oscar in a row and he's the best thing about the film, even if neither Oscar-winning performance represented anything like his best work. A young Mickey Rooney pulls out all the stops as one of the boys who comes his way and proves to be a tough nut to crack. He also picked up a Special Juvenile Oscar that year and he probably cries more than any other male in the history of movies; I wonder what Taroug did to the kid this time round? Tell him he massacred his whole family? Watch it if you must but only if you are in desperate need of a sugar rush.
Review of Boys Town
