WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD

US, 1933, 68 minutes, Black and white dot
Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, Rochelle Hudson, Dorothy Coonan, Sterling Holloway, Grant Mitchell, Robert Barratt.
Directed by William Wellman.

Wild Boys of the Road sounds a bit sensationalist but on its release in 1933 it was a picture of adolescents and the consequences of the Depression.Ordinary young people from middle America found that their parents were losing jobs and possessions. The young people decided to go on the road, hopping the freight trains, moving from city to city, looking for work, surviving in makeshift settlements, almost mini-cities on the edges of the cities. This film is a blend of realism, moments of despair, an appeal to goodwill from authorities and leaders, some hope.

The film was directed by William Wellman, World War I ace, winner of an Oscar for Wings, directing a wide range of films in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s. The part of the young girl in disguise, Sally, was played by Dorothy Coonan whom Wellman married the year after and they remained married for 41 years with seven children.

1. A film of the Depression? 1933? Financial collapse, social unrest, loss of employment, opportunities for the young? The people riding the trains?

2. Black-and-white photography, the 1930s settings, the towns, the American cities, the railroads, the makeshift settlements? The musical score?

3. The work of the director, his career in World War I, his dramas over many decades?

4. Introduction, the boys in the town, the dance, getting in in disguise, the boys and the girls, Tommy being evicted?

5. The changing situations, Eddie and his family, selling possessions to make ends meet?

6. Eddie, his character, decision to leave, persuading Tommy? On the road, on the trains, the hardships, support, clashes? Sally, disguised as a boy?

7. On and off the trains, the attempts to find jobs, taken by the authorities? Moving on? Chicago? New York?

8. The development of the boys’ characters, standing up for their rights, the fights and the challenges?

9. Sally and going to see her aunt? Possibilities? The raid and the arrests?

10. The settlements, hand to mouth, the attempts to find jobs, surviving, food?

11. Eddie being set up, the attempted robbery, his arrest?

12. In the courts, Eddie and his being sullen? Tommy and Sally? The sympathetic judge, trying to talk to them, offer opportunities, hopes for the future?

13. The film observing the difficulties of the period – but offering hope, especially for the younger generation?