Discuss Wild Boys of the Road
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Packs a punch
posted by rudely_murraySTAFFMOD on June 25, 2017 at 5:04 AM
While it ends on a (relatively) positive beat, this pre-code drama about Depression-era kids hitting the road to ease the burden on their suddenly poverty-stricken families is powerful stuff. One can criticise the film for its earnestness, or for the dated overacting of some of the young cast, but the film grips like a vice throughout. A number of set-pieces linger in the memory, including a hard to take train track sequence (and its aftermath) which, had it been produced a year or two later, would not have had the power to make the viewer wince or look away as they do. Seemingly forgotten for decades, Wild Boys of the Road now seems to be achieving some kind of acceptance as a classic of its type. This is well worth a look. 8/10
Reply by genplant29
on June 26, 2017 at 8:04 PM
This is no masterpiece, but is excellent as what it is: A frank Depression era story of the types things people - including minors - were experiencing back then, and the realities that people had to endure and suffer.
Yes: That train tracks scene is, for sure, memorable and certainly does pack a mighty punch!
It's great that this movie has been reintroduced and rediscovered in recent years. It's the type of film that no doubt was so "of its time", of early on during the sound era, and with such heavy content, that it was felt by the studio (Warner Bros., if I recall correctly) to have no real lasting "shelf life" appeal (particularly post-Depression), so was probably stored away and forgotten within a handful or so years following its original release.
Funny that you mention this, as I was thinking of Heroes For Sale from the same boxed DVD set just the other day. I used to own that Forbidden Hollywood set (still own two or three of the other sets in the broader F. H. series), but donated it to the local public library five or years ago after watching everything included in it multiple times over the course of a few or so years.
PS: I watched 1926's Flesh and the Devil the other week, and Frankie Darro appears in it as a wee lad. Whenever I see FatD, I always automatically am reminded of this movie, because of him appearing in both. Also I watched 1925's Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ a few or so days prior - and Judah Ben-Hur's mom in that is Frankie Darro's mother in this. That, too, served to remind me of this. Ditto, a week or so earlier, I watched 1941's Footsteps in the Dark, and Grant Mitchell - Frankie Darro's dad in this movie - is also in it. Next I need to watch 1933's Gold Diggers of 1933 (which I also own on DVD) so I can see Dorothy Coonan Wellman who's sweet, pretty Sally in this, and one of the beautiful Busby Berkeley dancers/showgirls in it.
Reply by rudely_murray
on July 2, 2017 at 6:58 AM
I haven't seen any of the films you named - Flesh and the Devil is the only one so much as on my radar! - so thanks so much for drawing my attention to that. It would be interesting to see some of Darrow's other films - while his acting is certainly broad in the extreme, he was also suitably charismatic and carried the role with charm and panache.
I have seen Gold Diggers of '33 - I had a run some months ago of working through those early '30s Busby Berkeley classics, of which this particular one may be the best and is certainly the wittiest. Those production numbers are simply to die for!