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Wild Boys of the Road

  • 19331933
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 8m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Dorothy Coonan Wellman and Frankie Darro in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:16
1 Video
14 Photos
  • Adventure
  • Drama

In the depths of the Depression, two teenage boys strike out on their own in order to help their struggling parents and find life on the road tougher than expected.In the depths of the Depression, two teenage boys strike out on their own in order to help their struggling parents and find life on the road tougher than expected.In the depths of the Depression, two teenage boys strike out on their own in order to help their struggling parents and find life on the road tougher than expected.

IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • William A. Wellman
  • Writers
    • Earl Baldwin(screenplay)
    • Daniel Ahern(story "Desperate Youth")
    • Robert Presnell Sr.(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Frankie Darro
    • Rochelle Hudson
    • Edwin Phillips
Top credits
  • Director
    • William A. Wellman
  • Writers
    • Earl Baldwin(screenplay)
    • Daniel Ahern(story "Desperate Youth")
    • Robert Presnell Sr.(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Frankie Darro
    • Rochelle Hudson
    • Edwin Phillips
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 46User reviews
    • 24Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win

    Videos1

    Wild Boys of the Road
    Trailer 2:16
    Wild Boys of the Road

    Photos14

    Alan Hale Jr., Sterling Holloway, Beaudine Anderson, Frankie Darro, and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Frankie Darro, Ann Hovey, Rochelle Hudson, and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Alan Hale Jr., Sterling Holloway, Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Frankie Darro, Ann Hovey, Rochelle Hudson, Jack McHugh, Buddy Messinger, George Offerman Jr., and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Ward Bond, Dorothy Coonan Wellman, and Frankie Darro in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Alan Hale Jr., Sterling Holloway, Beaudine Anderson, Dorothy Coonan Wellman, John R. Coonan, Frankie Darro, Ann Hovey, Rochelle Hudson, Jack McHugh, Buddy Messinger, Sidney Miller, George Offerman Jr., Edwin Phillips, and Vivian Wilson in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Alan Hale Jr., Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Ann Hovey, Buddy Messinger, Sidney Miller, George Offerman Jr., and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Frankie Darro, Minna Gombell, and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Ward Bond in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Frankie Darro, and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman, Frankie Darro, Arthur Hohl, Rochelle Hudson, and Edwin Phillips in Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Frankie Darro
    Frankie Darro
    • Eddie Smithas Eddie Smith
    Rochelle Hudson
    Rochelle Hudson
    • Graceas Grace
    Edwin Phillips
    • Tommy Gordonas Tommy Gordon
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman
    Dorothy Coonan Wellman
    • Sallyas Sally
    Sterling Holloway
    Sterling Holloway
    • Ollieas Ollie
    Arthur Hohl
    Arthur Hohl
    • Dr. Henry A. Heckelas Dr. Henry A. Heckel
    Ann Hovey
    Ann Hovey
    • Lolaas Lola
    Minna Gombell
    Minna Gombell
    • Aunt Carrieas Aunt Carrie
    Grant Mitchell
    Grant Mitchell
    • James Smithas James Smith
    Claire McDowell
    Claire McDowell
    • Mrs. Smithas Mrs. Smith
    Robert Barrat
    Robert Barrat
    • Judge R.H. Whiteas Judge R.H. White
    Willard Robertson
    Willard Robertson
    • Captain of Detectivesas Captain of Detectives
    Beaudine Anderson
    • Boyas Boy
    • (uncredited)
    William Augustin
    William Augustin
    • Police Sergeantas Police Sergeant
    • (uncredited)
    Ward Bond
    Ward Bond
    • Red - Railroad Brakemanas Red - Railroad Brakeman
    • (uncredited)
    Wade Boteler
    Wade Boteler
    • Policeman in Courtas Policeman in Court
    • (uncredited)
    James Cagney
    James Cagney
    • Actor in Filmclip from 'Footlight Parade'as Actor in Filmclip from 'Footlight Parade'
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Eddy Chandler
    • Brakeman Throwing Stonesas Brakeman Throwing Stones
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William A. Wellman
    • Writers
      • Earl Baldwin(screenplay)
      • Daniel Ahern(story "Desperate Youth")
      • Robert Presnell Sr.(uncredited)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    At the bottom of the depression, Tom's mother has been out of work for months when Ed's father loses his job. Not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomores decide to hop the freights and look for work. Wherever they go, there are many other kids just like them, so Tom, Ed and now Sally stick together. They camp in places like 'Sewer City' as long as they can until the local authorities run them off. They travel all over the mid west and when they get to New York, Ed thinks that they may finally find work. —Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
    • riding the rails
    • prothesis
    • manhattan new york city
    • juvenile court
    • hooverville
    • 46 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Girls living like boys! Boys living like savages!
    • Genres
      • Adventure
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Passed
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The movie shown in the movie theater scene (about an hour into the film) is another Warner Bros. release, Footlight Parade (1933).
    • Goofs
      Sally's piece of cake jumps from the plate into her hands between shots.
    • Quotes

      Edward 'Eddie' Smith: [to judge] I knew all that stuff about you helping us was baloney. I'll tell you why we can't go home--because our folks are poor. They can't get jobs and there isn't enough to eat. What good will it do you to send us home to starve? You say you've got to send us to jail to keep us off the streets. Well, that's a lie. You're sending us to jail because you don't want to see us. You want to forget us. But you can't do it because I'm not the only one. There's thousands just like me, and there's more hitting the road every day.

      Tommy Gordon: You read in the papers about giving people help. The banks get it. The soldiers get it. The breweries get it. And they're always yelling about giving it to the farmers. What about us? We're kids!

    • Connections
      Featured in Alibi Mark (1937)
    • Soundtracks
      The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)
      (uncredited)

      Music by Harry Warren

      Played after the kids leave the dance

      Also whistled by Frankie Darro

    User reviews46

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Youth In The Depression
    The only studio in Hollywood that acknowledged that there was a Depression out there for the most part was Warner Brothers. It was only from this studio that Wild Boys Of The Road could have been made and done as well as it was.

    The story and the situation is what puts this film over. There are no stars in Wild Boys Of The Road although some of the players eventually got reputations as competent character actors. The most well known person in this film would have to be Ward Bond playing the part of the train brakeman who sees that one of the Wild Boys is actually a girl and rapes her. Bond in his early days did play thugs like these for the most part.

    The generation that proceeded me lived through the Great Depression. My uncles were in their teens at the time this film was made. In fact one of my uncles before he died told me how he left school and went to work on a farm in Brockport owned by the husband of my grandmother's cousin. He considered himself incredibly lucky to even get that kind of work even from family. Both of them could easily have been part of the gang of homeless youth.

    The film centers on three of them, Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips, a pair of kids from small town USA in the west somewhere are both up against it. Darro's father is laid off and Phillips's has died, leaving both families right on the poverty line as they would be described today. Darro and Phillips take off for the east and along the way meet up with Dorothy Coonan who is in drag for her own protection, rightly so as she finds out later. The film concerns their adventures on the road, the railroad to be precise as they catch rides aboard freight trains with an eye out for the railroad police.

    Curiously enough one Hollywood star was living just this kind of life at this point. Robert Mitchum and his brother John would have been teens at this time and also left home to find any kind of work. His memories, should his widow Dorothy ever divulge them, could make the basis for another Wild Boys Of The Road.

    Note in the climax scene in the courtroom where Darro, Coonan, and Phillips are before Judge Robert Barrat who usually was a bad guy in films, but is a sympathetic judge here, the Blue Eagle symbolizing the National Recovery Administration. It was one of the first initiatives of the New Deal and its presence in the film is a symbol of hope for these kids. But later on a more substantial program directly aimed at these youths was passed right around the time Wild Boys Of The Road would have been in theaters.

    The Civilian Conservations Corps which took homeless kids off the streets and put them to work beautifying America's National Parks and a lot of other rural area would have been home to Darro, Phillips and the whole rest of the railroad freight hoppers. Back then liberal was not a dirty word and it was all right for government to care about the welfare of its citizens. The CCC was one of the best of the New Deal programs and it lasted all the way until World War II was declared.

    And it's to the CCC which provided real salvation for so many youths of the time like Darro, Phillips and the rest that this review is respectfully dedicated to.
    helpful•21
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Mar 23, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 7, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Junaci Pavlove ulice
    • Filming locations
      • Southern Pacific Taylor Yard, Glendale, California, USA
    • Production company
      • First National Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 8 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Gold Diggers of 1933
    Gold Diggers of 1933
    Feb 8Trailers from Hell
    Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
    Dec 21Trailers from Hell

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