I watched Wild Boys of the Road expecting to see something hokey - instead, I saw a heart-wrenching depiction of the poverty and homelessness that was common during the Great Depression.
Realistic in its portrayal of life for transients seeking better lives, Wild Boys follows a gang of teens who take to riding freight cars when their parents are plunged into economic turmoil. Continually battling railroad police, smarmy characters eager to take advantage of the desperate, hunger and the elements, protagonists Eddie and Tommy ride the rails, being rousted from towns by local law enforcement at every stop. They form a bond with a third rider, Grace, who initially intends to stay with an aunt in Chicago but continues to travel with the boys when the aunt turns out to be a madame and her "house" is raided by the vice squad. The rape of one of the girl riders and subsequent street- corner justice administered by the boys and the scene in which Tommy's leg is severed by a passing train are powerful.
There actually is a happy ending to this movie, and the speech Eddie gives to the judge once he, Tommy and Grace are arrested is both notable and relevant today. Roosevelt's New Deal stimulus spending had just begun, and Eddie asks the judge, "..the government gives help to the breweries, it gives help to the farmers, it gives help to the bankers....when will anyone help us?" I've heard the same question asked in 2008.
Realistic in its portrayal of life for transients seeking better lives, Wild Boys follows a gang of teens who take to riding freight cars when their parents are plunged into economic turmoil. Continually battling railroad police, smarmy characters eager to take advantage of the desperate, hunger and the elements, protagonists Eddie and Tommy ride the rails, being rousted from towns by local law enforcement at every stop. They form a bond with a third rider, Grace, who initially intends to stay with an aunt in Chicago but continues to travel with the boys when the aunt turns out to be a madame and her "house" is raided by the vice squad. The rape of one of the girl riders and subsequent street- corner justice administered by the boys and the scene in which Tommy's leg is severed by a passing train are powerful.
There actually is a happy ending to this movie, and the speech Eddie gives to the judge once he, Tommy and Grace are arrested is both notable and relevant today. Roosevelt's New Deal stimulus spending had just begun, and Eddie asks the judge, "..the government gives help to the breweries, it gives help to the farmers, it gives help to the bankers....when will anyone help us?" I've heard the same question asked in 2008.