The City of Little Men

Starring: Edward Flanagan, Johnny Walsh
Directed by: Harry Loud
Rating: Passed
Genre: Short, Documentary
Length: 11 minutes
1938

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Follows Edward Flanagan and his experiment for troubled and homeless boys, Boys Town.

Review:

Tim: The City of Little Men is a documentary short that is best viewed in conjunction with the films Boys Town and Men of Boys Town. Both movies are fictional accounts of Father Flanagan and his work for at risk boys through the founding of Boys Town. After seeing both films and being somewhat familiar with the story (i.e., I did some research on the internet), I was intrigued to learn more about the real Flanagan and what exactly Boys Town was all about. This documentary short gives us an interesting look into the real man and what he tried to do with his social experiment.

I was most interested in seeing the real Flanagan, since I was familiar with how Tracy portrayed him in two films. He did come across as genuine and kind, as you might expect. The real Flanagan is clearly not an actor, but that doesn't hurt the film too much. It was intriguing to see him on screen, after being familiar with Tracy's performance. For one, it made me even more impressed with Tracy, and two, it was insightful to see the real man up on screen.

After a few words from Flanagan, we get an in depth look at Boys Town. I was familiar with some of the aspects of it through the film, but others were new and surprising to me. I was intrigued by how the boys all took various trades on themselves- you have some boys who go into farming, some into livestock, printing, politics, police, and much more. The short shows a great deal of the inner-workings of Boys Town, which was educational and interesting. Of course, this is a piece that is pro-Boys Town, so it does occasionally feel a little fluffy. Still, it's wonderful to get this insight and actual footage of what took place in Omaha, NE.

This short film will be most interesting if you're familiar with Boys Town through one or both of the movies. Without that background, I likely wouldn't have appreciated the amazing achievement that Flanagan and the boys pulled off. I'd recommend watching the films first and then going to this short to see the real story. In that context, this short film is definitely worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Boys Town, Men of Boys Town