City of Little Men, The (1938)
*** (out of 4)
This MGM short was without question a promo piece for their film BOYS TOWN, which would get Spencer Tracy an Oscar for playing Father Flanagan. In this short the Father plays himself as we learn about Boys Town and hear how the Father had to borrow $90 in order to get lodgings and start the place up. We learn that all races of boys are allowed into Boys Town as long as they believe in God. We also get to see the type of chores they do ranging from working in fields to running their own post office. There's no question that the BOYS TOWN film is much better but this is a pleasant short simply because we get to see Father Flanagan as well as see many of the kids who were really staying at Boys Town. There are some other child actors being used to tell a story here but this is the least entertaining thing as the actual footage is a lot more interesting. It's also interesting to see that some of the "story" here made it's way into the actual film but Mickey Rooney was certainly the better of the two actors.