Wild Boys of the Road (Warner Bros.) (1933)

a ‘too evident. THREE MORE ADVANCE FEATURES (Advance Feature) Reporter Finds Straw Hat Out of Place at Egg Fight Becomes Victim of Director Wellman’s Joke During Battle With “Wild Boys of the Road” By CARLISLE JONES OUR unofficial observer knew, long before he had tra versed the half mile of dusty trail that led to Wild Bill Wellman’s location, that he was not properly dressed for the occasion. A glutton for realism, Directer Wellman had been content with nothing less than a real tramp ‘‘jungle’’ in which to stage the egg and tomato fight between kids and cops in the latest First National picture, “Wild Boys of the Road”, which eomes to the Sane RNAV SOMe veo eens. v6 A real tramp “jungle” reached only by a eireuitous route through the bone-dry Los Angeles river bottoms, is no place for white shoes. Nor is an egg and tomato fight the proper place to display a comparatively new straw hat. Your unofficial observer, little realizing how wild the “Wild Boys of the Road” sometimes are, wore both. For this particular sequence the studio had rented an entire freight train, locomotive and all; and had borrowed a. piece of spur track which erossed a dry tributary to the river on a low trestle. Located as it was, half way between Hollywood and Burbank and within a half mile off the main right of way of the Southern Pacific Coast Line, this trestle and the wash it traversed, made a perfect location for a “jungle”. Into it Director: Wellman had taken Frankie Darro, Dorothy Coonan, Ann Hovey, Edwin Philips and a hundred and “fifty other youngsters of the cast, a liberal supply of railroad detectives, real and synthetic, and all the para tion sequence. Before such a formidable array of talent, the regular occupants of the “jungle” had retreated up the sandy wash. Your unofficial adviser made the mistake of making his presence known to Director Wellman, just as he had completed his final instruetions for the first phase of the egg battle. Wellman eyed the straw hat a little balefully, it seemed. “We cannot be responsible for damaged clothing,” he announced, suddenly, to the waiting world. “Please stand over there.” “Over there” proved to be a spot which seemed in all probability to be within range of any overly enthusiastic egg thrower. Then your observer learned, too late, of a second mistake he had made. His companion on this tour of the front proved to be a writer who had once referred, in print, to Director Wellman’s “chestnut curls’’. They rehearsed once—using only a few eggs and some of the greener tomatoes. The scene was one in which more than a hundred boys and girls storm a freight train through a cordon of railroad guards, break open a refrigerator car and bombard the advancing detectives with eggs and tomatoes. In the story as in fact, the. detectives were to get the worst of it. They had been told as much when they were hired. Reluctant to Start But in the face of Wellman’s realism, they seemed reluctant to start. No one could exactly blame them. The atmosphere of anticipation among the youngsters was An. unlimited supply of eggs and a legitimate target is a combination calculated to bring joy into any boy’s life and terror into the target’s heart. “Where,” demanded Wellman shrilly, “are the detectives?” Slowly they reappeared from various convenient hiding places and assembled just out of camera range, to await the director’s signal to charge. — To increase the carnage, Wellman stationed “Cotton” Warburton, Tro Jan‘ football hero, and undoubtedly ‘a redoubtable: egg heaver, and two signaled to the men on top of the car. It was apparent to your observer that his eyes: lingered long est. on the author: of “chestnut curls” and your’ correspondent’s hat. But we were already moving off, urged om by a premonition of trouble. Not any too soon, either. As we reached the protecting dip of the river bottom a barrage of eggs came sailing in our direction accompanied by the high derisive laughter of Wild Bill Wellman. It would be useless to claim that none of these found its mark. The straw hat, however, was saved. “Wild Boys of the Road” reveals the comedy and the tragedy in the lives of thousands of youths who have been tramping the country in the past three years. DOROTHY COONAN in “Wild Boys of the Road” finds that there are worse things than being kicked-off a freight irain by a brakeman. Cut No.6 Cut 30c Mat roc | of (Advance Feature) Girls, Too, Hop Freights and Camp with Wild Road-Boys Congressional Investigation Reveals 500,000 Boys And Girls Share Hobo Life on U. S. Roads HERE are wild boys. And there are wild girls, too. Hundreds of thousands of them, drifting about the eoun try from city to city and encamped along the wayside. A ee= cent Congressional investigation placed the number of home less youths at 500,000. These are the boys and ¢g about in his story “Wild Boys of the Road”, pieturized by First National and eoming to the Theatre on former newspaper man and author “Picture Snatcher’, “How to Commit a Murder”, “Columbus Discovered It”, “Charity Girl’; and other books and plays, wandered about the country with these youths for more than six months in order to study their life first hand. “The boys began to drift when they found that there were no jobs open in their own towns and cities,” explained. Danny. “They go from city to city looking for work, al ways thinking that some other spot is more fortunately situated. D's. appointed at every turn, driven hither and thither’ by the police and railroad detectives, they eventually become embittered and give up in despair. Many become confirmed wanderers. They drift from panhandling to petty erimes and sometimes more. serious offenses. What is to become of them no one knows. But here you have, certainly, a certain number of potential criminals among youths who would normally be good citizens. Girls Roam Wild Ahearn, a wanderers. There are. not. as many as there are boys, but still. a goodly companions, on top of the refrigerator car, and out of the camera angle, with a supply of eggs. They were there, presumably, to toss eggs down on the guards from above, but after Director Wellman had given them special, private instruetions, they seemed to keep one eye focused in the direction of the author of the “chestnut curls” paragraph and on your correspondent’s new straw -hat. As quietly as possible the unofficial observer and his companion moved out of range and into place behind the fringe of Burbank citizenry gathered on the outskirts of the scene. There we found little Ann Hovey, one of Warner Bros. Junior Stars and a featured player in “Wild Boys of the Road”, dressed in heavy corduroys, with a dirty cap concealing her semi-long hair. She was so apparently out of the picture at the moment that we asked an obvious question. “Arewt you in this scene?” Ann smiled sweetly. “No,” she explained, “while this fight is taking place I’m being attacked—in a car of lettuce.” At that moment Director man perfected his plans. “Roll ’em over,” yelled Wellman. “Let’s go.” Boys and girls rushed furiously Well at the freight car door. A _ rock destroyed the seal and the heavy door was swung open. Frankie Darro was pushed into the opening and began shoveling out eggs and tomatoes in great profusion. Then Wellman waved the detectives into the melee. They advanced to the slaughter with heroic fortitude. Eggs hailed at them from above and smashed against their faces, their clothing and into their hair from the massed opponents by the ear door. Tomatoes added a gory touch to the ensemble. The detectives advanced, slowed down, halted, then broke and retreated. Wellman howled his. approval, as he ordered “Cut.” He looked around sharply : then (Advance Feature) Complete City Built For “Wild Boys of the Road” 2,000 Cement Sewer Pipes Were Quickly Changed Into Homes Teeming With Youthful Vagrants NE of the quaintest cities ever built was constructed recently just southeast of Los Angeles, California. It was lived in by several hundred boys for just a few days and then abandoned. Built in exactly three days, it was appropriately named Sewer Pipe City. The founding of this city came about in this way. William A. Wellman, while directing the First National picture ‘‘ Wild Boys of the Road,” which comes to the Theatre on needed just such a spot for a boys’ refuge. Hobo jungles and freight yards had furnished many of his authentic backgrounds. But what he wanted most was an _ isolated community where the wandering boys, shunted here and there by the authorities, could build a home. The hobo jungles and the freight yards — real ones—had been easy to find. But it was not so easy to locate a community for outcasts, constructed with that look of permanence he needed. The head of the location department at the Warner Bros. First National studios decided he’d have a look around the countryside. In the course of this look, he happened to drive some distance southeast of Los Angeles. Passing a large sewer pipe factory, he noticed the huge cement cylinders stored in a rear lot. They stood’ on low runners. 2,000 of them, of uniform size. Next day Director William A. Wellman drove to the spot with him, saw the sewer pipes and decided they were precisely what he needed. By the next morning, the factory’s rear lot had been leased and workmen from the studio were converting the rows of stored sewer pipes into rows of homes for the wild. boys of the road. The city is a replica -of -one of the sewer pipe camps visited. by Danny Ahearn, the author of “Wild Boys of the Road,’ when he was gathering material for his story. There he found the boys divided off into pairs and groups of three, each group having its own sewer pipe home where they cooked, ate, washed dishes and slept when they were not out panhandling of foraging for food. The city is the locale for the final big scene of the story which has the boys making a determined stand against-the combined police and fire departments of an adjoining city, anxious to get rid of them. “Wild Boys” is an intensely dramatie story, although interspersed with scores of hilarious incidents, of the thousands of boys (a recent Congressional investigation placing the number at 500,000) who are running loose about the country. Boys originally from respectable homes, who took to the road in their search for adventure, work and escape from home conditions which to them seemed unbearable. The adventures of these boys and girls are painted in a colorful story by Ahearn, a former newspaper man and author of “Picture Snatcher,” “How to Commit a Murder,” “Charity Girl,’ “Columbus Discovered It,” and other books and plays, who made a close study of the camps, even riding in-empty box: cars and: irls whom Danny Ahearn tells ;number. They invariably dress “as | boys, and generally in overalls. This is done partly beeause it is easier to get about, to hop freight trains and hitch-hike but also as a i protective measure. Girls are frequently subjected to tough treatment by hoboes and. unscrupulous wayfarers. 5 “The real wild boy, as distinguished from the real hobo, tarely molests the girls. These youths’ are usually from respectable families who have felt the rough edge of depression. They have been taught to have a certain amount of chivalry toward the gentler sex and naturally have a protective instinet for the girls who join their groups. For in many instances the girls travel right along with the boys, camp with them and share in all their hardships. “They steal rides on freight trains to hop from town to town, live with them in their improvised villages in the jungles or dumping grounds. They travel sometimes in pairs, sometimes in small groups, and oceasionally in larger numbers. Near almost every railway terminal or freight yard there is an established camp where these youths live “The children often remain for days in the same camp before: drifting on. They improvise houses from boxes, sewer. pipe, barrels or: small shacks.” ae Se The screen play by Earl. Baldwin, in detailing Danny’s story, brings out. this angle of the girl wanderers as well ag the boys. The two girls who have the leading roles in the picture are Dorothy .Coonan and Ann Hovey, both but recently chorus girls, but advanced into important roles after competitive tests in which more than fifty players took part. The two leading road boys are Frankie Darro and Edwin Philips, both long experienced in youthful picture roles, In addition there are about three hundred other boys and girls who make up the crowd scenes or are seen in smaller roles. <4 Others in the cast include Rochelle Hudson, Arthur Hohl, Grant Mitchell, Claire McDowell and Sterling Holloway. . The picture was directed by William A. Wellman. Note to Exhibitor: You can get the grandest publicity by having your newspaper assign a reporter’ to stories cover and “Wild Boys Girls of the Road” who are picked up at your railroad terminal or are caught camping near the town. eee on flats in order to get the story of these boys from their own mouths. There is a strong cast headed by Frankie Darro, Dorothy Coonan, Rochelle Hudson, Edwin Philips, Ann Hovey, Arthur Hohl, Grant Mitchell, Claire McDowell and Sterling Holloway... The screen play is by Earl Baldwin. : Bees ‘Page Seven until driven out by the police. g