Written byBarry Morrow & Corey Blechman Directed by Anthony Page Produced by Mel Stuart StarringMickey Rooney
Dennis Quaid
Largo Woodruff
Anna Maria Horsford
Harry Goz Music by William Humeke, William Kraft Cinematography Mike Fash
Approx. run time 100 minutes Distributed by CBS Television Country United States Language English Release date December 22, 1981
Bill is a movie that I watched several times when I was a kid. It is the story of Bill Sackter, a man who has an intellectual disability who lived in an institution for 46 years but is now living in the community trying to make it on his own. I think that it is kind of ironic that I watched this film so often as a kid as for the last fifteen years I have made a career working with people with intellectual disabilities.
Bill is played by Mickey Rooney, who won an Emmy Award for the role. Naturally he is not subtle with his playing of Bill but that is not so bad here. It’s hard for me to make an unbiased judgement of this movie though as I work with people with disabilities and can tell that reality is very different from the movies. I can see how the film tries to manipulate the feelings of the viewer but the story is quite compelling and Rooney’s overacting of the part helps us feel empathy for Bill. I know that there is a documentary about the real Bill Sackter that has recently been released but this is still an OK watch.
Directed byNorman Taurog Produced by John W. Considine Jr. Written byDore Schary, Eleanore Griffin & John Meehan StarringSpencer Tracy Mickey Rooney
Henry Hull Music by Edward Ward Cinematography Sidney Wagner Editing by Elmo Veron Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release date 9 September 1938 Running time 96 minutes Country United States Language English
Boys Town is a hard film to review for me because although I thought it was a great story, and Spencer Tracy’s fine portrayal of Father Flannigan was pretty good, there was one element that almost ruined the film for me. I am talking about Mickey Rooney’s performance as Whitey Marsh.
I have seen a few Mickey Rooney films and know that he can be quite a ham, but here his over-acting really affected my enjoyment of the film. The part really could have used a little subtlety instead of Mickey trying to steal every scene when he really didn’t have to. Perhaps I could put it down to him just being 18 at the time he made this film BUT… he had been acting in vaudeville and movies all his life so there shouldn’t be an excuse. Perhaps because Tracy’s portrayal of Father Flannigan is very understated the director wanted to have the Mickster play his part way OTT.
Just heard via Twitter that Tony Curtis has died at the age of 85. I think that the first time that I ever saw a movie with Tony in it would have either been Some Like It Hot or The Great Race on TV, both movies that I loved as a kid and still like now. When I grew older I watched other movies such as Spartacus and The Defiant Ones with Sidney Poitier. I wonder how many stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood are still with us. Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Lauren Bacall, Kirk Douglas… not too many others.
