Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1938)

His magnificent performance in "San Francisco" made Spencer Tracy an obvious choice for the role of priest in "Boys Town." The statue, beside which Mickey stands (left), is "The Spirit of the Homeless Boy," sculptured by one of the youths at the home TOWN // hent; then a grin lightened up his face. "Okay," le shouted, and the next minute was romping ivith some of my boys. It was difficult to say vhich of the group of romping youngsters were iioy-actors, imported from Hollywood, and vhich were my own youngsters. And I had a tisturbing thought. But for the grace of God, Mickey Rooney — instead of the popular and idolized motion-picture I tar he is today — might well be a Whitey Marsh. suppose that, as a small boy, he had been left lomeless and alone as so many of my boys had >een left. What would have become of him? lUT then I had a happier thought. The heights which Mickey had reached in this vorld, I felt, are heights within the reach of any ;me of my. more than two hundred youngsters, 'erhaps they will choose different professions in vhich their success is not so spectacular; neverheless, the opportunity to succeed is here and ny boys, in the past, have grasped that oppor' unity. j And suddenly I was proud of Boys Town. But especially was I proud of America, a land which 'ould foster such a township as this — a land in ; vhich such opportunities could exist for the rich nd the poor alike. And I thought of Whitey >/larsh, the character about whom Metro-Gold vyn-Mayer has built its picture, "Boys Town." Whitey, left alone when his brother is sent to prison, comes to Boys Town, scornful of the township, its citizens and the priest who founded it; yet stays to find a new viewpoint, a new faith in life. In the forty-five hundred boys who have passed through Boys Town in the past twentyone years, there has been many a "Whitey Marsh" and, today, I know them as successful citizens in many communities, citizens who are making their contributions to a society they might well have learned to hate, to a world that, once, had little time for them or their likes. I should like to tell Photoplay's readers about a few of these boys. But first, I should like to tell them about Boys Town. AS its name implies, Boys Town is an actual, legally incorporated township ten miles west of Omaha on the Lincoln Highway. It is governed, as are other Nebraska townships, by a mayor and six city commissioners, the only difference between it and other Nebraska townships being that its officials as well as its voting citizens are all under eighteen years of age. Elections are held twice a year under supervision of the Douglas County Electoral Commission and the duly elected officials are charged with the responsibility of giving good government to the more than two hundred voters who will have another opportunity at the polls within six months. The seriousness with which these lads take their government is amply evidenced in the preelection activity. Then, trading and bargaining become fine, political arts. Candidates give up their desserts to prospective voters. Campaign workers "do their stuff" whenever groups gather and, in the dormitory rooms at night, slates are made and remade, votes gathered and lost. Boys Town was founded, primarily, to afford a haven for homeless boys regardless of race, color or creed; regardless of whence they came. And from the day it was founded, until the present, there have been but two qualifications for citizenship there — first, that a boy be homeless and, second, that there be room for him. Unfortunately, last year we were forced to turn away more than seven hundred boys because of lack of accommodations. One of my fondest hopes is that, when the motion picture is released, we shall be able, through the many new friends it will make for us, to enlarge our township so that I shall never have to say "No" again to a homeless lad who comes to me seeking shelter and guidance. To Boys Town have come boys deserted by their parents, boys from homes broken by death or divorce and, in a surprisingly large number of cases in recent years, from homes so povertystricken that parents were unable to care for their children. No boy leaves Boys Town unless it is to better himself. Either he is adopted by people who are able to do more for him than we can at Boys Town, or he goes to a job upon which he can make a decent living with promise of promotion. (Continued on page 85) 23