Hoosier Schoolboy (1937)

A schoolteacher comes to a new town and finds herself caught up in the town's problems and disputes.

Director:

William Nigh

Writer:

Robert Lee Johnson (screenplay)

Stars:

Mickey Rooney, Anne Nagel, Frank Shields

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rooney	...	Shockey Carter
Anne Nagel	...	Mary Evans
Frank Shields	...	John 'Jack' Matthews Jr.
Edward Pawley	...	Captain Fred Carter
William Gould	...	John Matthews Sr.
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Miss Hodges the School Mistress
Anita Deniston	...	Elvira
Harry Hayden	...	Mr. Townsend
Bradley Metcalfe	...	Roger Townsend
Doris Rankin	...	School Girl
Walter Long	...	Riley
Helena Grant	...	School Girl
Cecil Weston	...	Teacher
Mary Field	...	School Board Secretary
Zita Moulton	...	School Girl

Storyline

A new schoolteacher arrives in the town of Ainsley, which is in the middle of a milk strike that has caused heated feelings among the local dairy farmers. One of the teacher's new students is a cynical boy who is prone to fighting. When she takes an interest in him, she learns that he lives with his father, a shell-shocked war veteran. Meanwhile, the son of the hard-line dairy owner is pursuing her, despite her resistance to his attentions.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forgotten Hero

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Pawley's only child, Martin H. Pawley, played one of Mickey Rooney's classmates. This was the only movie in which he ever appeared - he never got interested in the entertainment business, and eventually became an accountant.

User Reviews

Decent Drama With Some Interesting Themes

This is a decent low-budget drama with some interesting themes, and it also includes solid performances by Anne Nagel and a young Mickey Rooney. It ties together several plot lines in a way that works rather well, and although most of the characters remain one-dimensional, the overall situation is interesting enough to hold your attention.

Nagel plays a strong but sensitive schoolteacher who arrives in a new town just as feelings are running high due to a strike by the local dairy farmers, who aren't getting the price they want for their cows' milk. Rooney plays one of the students, a cynical outcast with a father who is a shell-shocked former war hero. These issues would probably have struck a chord in a 1930s audience, and to some degree the ideas are still of some relevance now.

The story that develops moves a little unevenly, and eventually it gets a little predictable, which keeps it from being a better movie overall. But it never loses your interest, and it's not bad at all for such an inexpensively-made feature.