Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Daniel Ahern (story)
Earl Baldwin (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 October 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure

Tagline:

Girls living like boys! Boys living like savages!

Plot:

At the bottom of the depression, Tom's mother has been out of work for months when Ed's father loses his job...

Plot Keywords:

Railway | Train | New York City | Columbus Ohio | Teenage Boy

Cast

Frankie Darro	...	Edward 'Eddie' Smith
Edwin Phillips	...	Tommy Gordon
Rochelle Hudson	...	Grace
Dorothy Coonan Wellman	...	Sally (as Dorothy Coonan)
Sterling Holloway	...	Ollie
Arthur Hohl	...	Dr. Henry A. Heckel
Ann Hovey	...	Lola
Minna Gombell	...	Aunt Carrie
Grant Mitchell	...	Mr. James Smith
Claire McDowell	...	Mrs. Smith
Robert Barrat	...	Judge R.H. White
Willard Robertson	...	Captain of Detectives

Also Known As:

Dangerous Days (UK)

Runtime:

68 min | Germany:53 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2694)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The movie shown in the movie theater scene (about an hour into the film) is another Warner Bros. release, Footlight Parade (1933).

Goofs:

Continuity: Sally's piece of cake jumps from the plate into her hands between shots.

Quotes:

Edward 'Eddie' Smith: [to judge] I knew all that stuff about you helping us was baloney. I'll tell you why we can't go home--because our folks are poor. They can't get jobs and there isn't enough to eat. What good will it do you to send us home to starve? You say you've got to send us to jail to keep us off the streets...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wanderlust (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Pettin' in the Park

Nice Spare Storytelling

`Wild Boys of the Road' is another fine example of the spare storytelling prevalent in the 1930's-- before egos, the demise of double features and the birth of multiplexes conspired to inflate movie running times to over two hours. Wearing its heart on its sleeve at times, Wellman nevertheless creates a story in true Warner Bros fashion--grim reality washed down with a dose of social commentary. One wonders if the rosy ending was considered necessary because of the age of the protagonists involved. Downbeat endings were certainly in evidence during that time from Warners: as the denouement of `Public Enemy' will bear witness. As the young tramps ride the rails, Wellman infuses the scenes with such energy and dynamism as to render them almost euphoric, despite the somber subject matter. As a veteran flyer from World War I, he seemed especially adept at combining humans we care about with dangerous, hurtling machines. And pre-code shocks abound-in addition to the implied rape and dismemberment, it seems apparent that young Sally's aunt, in Chicago, has established a business of dubious respectability in her own home, just before the kids fly the coop to avoid a police raid. Striking location photography.