Boys' Ranch (1946)

Baseball player Dan Walker being benched doesn't bother him as it allows him to make the easy decision to be a full time Texas rancher - his goal to own his own ranch - and be at home with ... See full summary »

Director:

Roy Rowland

Writers:

William Ludwig (original story), William Ludwig (screen play)

Stars:

Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins, James Craig, Skip Homeier

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins	...	'Butch' Taylor
James Craig	...	Dan Walker
Skip Homeier	...	'Knuckles' Dolam (as Skippy Homeier)
Dorothy Patrick	...	Susan Walker
Ray Collins	...	David Banton
Darryl Hickman	...	Hank
Sharon McManus	...	Mary Walker
Minor Watson	...	Mr. Harper
Geraldine Wall	...	Mrs. Harper
Arthur Space	...	Mr. O'Neill
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Druggist (as Robert Emmet O'Connor)
Moroni Olsen	...	Judge Henderson

Storyline

Baseball player Dan Walker being benched doesn't bother him as it allows him to make the easy decision to be a full time Texas rancher - his goal to own his own ranch - and be at home with his wife and daughter, Susan and Mary. The one thing Dan will miss about not being a ball player is the casual friendship he has with a bunch of disadvantaged boys at his team's ballpark. Without knowing their full stories, Dan could always manage to get a few of them into the ballpark to watch games for free. When Dan learns that two of them, Skippy and Hank, will be sent to reform school, with the probable outcome being they growing up to be adult criminals due to that experience, Dan feels he has no choice but to take the two with him to Texas to try to get them jobs on ranches. Dan learns both that city boys being thrown into the deep end in ranching duties doesn't sit well with the locals, and that there are just as many disadvantaged boys in the country as there are in the city, they who just ...

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | modern west | real place fictional people | amarillo texas | tascosa texas | 

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Taglines:

FILMED IN OUR OWN BACK YARD---AMARILLO, TEXAS---WITH THE SAME HEART-FELT PUNCH OF "BOY'S TOWM"! (print ad - Lubbock Morning Avalanche - Broadway Theatre - Lubbock, Texas - October 3, 1946 - all caps)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was first telecast in Cincinnati Saturday 17 August 1957 on WXIX (Channel 19) (Newport KY); it first aired in Los Angeles 9 September 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), in Philadelphia 28 September 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6), in Hartford CT 8 October 1957 on WHCT (Channel 18), in Amarillo 25 October 1957 on KFDA (Channel 19), in Tucson 1 November 1957 on KVOA (Channel 4), in Phoenix 10 November 1957 on KPHO (Channel 5), in Cleveland 30 November 1957 on KYW (Channel 3), in Chicago 21 December 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), in Honolulu 4 January 1958 on KHVH (Channel 13), in Columbus 23 February 1958 on WLW-C (Channel 4), in Portland OR 6 March 1958 on KGW (Channel 8), in Nashville 22 March 1958 on WLAC (Channel 5), and in San Francisco 12 April 1958 on KGO (Channel 7); the Boys finally found their way to New York City 21 October 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2).

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Goofs

The prologue says the story begins in midsummer, but the calendar in the police station is for February.

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Connections

Referenced in Forecast (1945)

User Reviews

Boystown, Texas Style

MGM, the same studio that bought you the more critically acclaimed Boystown, produced this film about a ballplayer, James Craig, who takes a job as superintendent of a ranch where boys in legal trouble go to get straightened out before reaching the age of majority.

Of course James Craig is hardly Spencer Tracy, but he shouldn't be blamed for that. He turns in a nice easy to take performance as the secular Father Flanagan of the film.

Of course the irredeemable bad kid, the role Mickey Rooney had, is played with a little more menace by Skip Homeier. Homeier had made a great screen debut as the little boy Nazi in Tomorrow the World. In fact, he's quite an operator here, so much so that the situation that does redeem him in the end does not quite ring true.

Still it's a nice family picture and with Boys Ranch still operating, surprising it's not shown more often.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Minorenni pericolose

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1