Spencer Tracy_ A Biography - James C. Curtis [215]
There had been some discussion of having the world premiere in Washington—Flanagan had at one time been sold on the idea—but then came rumblings from within Omaha, the mother city, and the insult of being bypassed. “Washington—no!” the Most Reverend James H. Ryan, bishop of Omaha, thundered. “It would not do Boys Town a particle of good to have the premiere there. If it has to be away from Omaha, make it at least New York.” Father Flanagan lobbied Frank Whitbeck: “In reality Omaha gave us our first start and gave us our first building—and paid for it—and it is now our chance to pay back our debt to Omaha by having the premiere here.” The matter was pretty much in the hands of the distribution people, but Frank Whitbeck had a word with Al Lichtman, a Loew’s vice president, who in turn took the matter up with H. J. Shumow, manager of the Omaha exchange.
Tracy at his Encino ranch with daughter Susie and son John, circa 1938. (HERALD EXAMINER COLLECTION, LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY)
Father Flanagan and Bishop Ryan were invited to California, where they were feted at a studio luncheon. L. B. Mayer posed for pictures between the two men, Tracy with his arm around Flanagan’s shoulder and Rooney, on his best behavior, talking animatedly with the bishop. Next came the season opener of Good News, with Tracy and Rooney performing punchy little scenes from the movie, followed by Mayer’s introduction to the nationwide listening audience of the real Father Flanagan.
After the broadcast, the studio contingent motored crosstown to Westwood for the official press preview, an event that went better than anyone could have hoped. “There was applause several times as the picture progressed,” Gus McCarthy of the Motion Picture Herald wrote. “Generally, however, the spectators watched and listened silently, but they almost tore up the seats at the finish.”
As Daily Variety reported, “Pure sentiment, the decent, courageous, unselfish impulses of men and boys, time after time was applauded as no picture in years has been approved. This spontaneous outburst is the keynote to the showmanship the offering represents, and to the kind of showmanship which may sell Boys Town for one of the season’s smash money makers.” Tracy, said the Hollywood Reporter, “gives a brilliant, restrained performance that should put him in direct line for a second Academy Award. Even when he is not seen on the screen, his guiding presence is felt every moment.” No one seemed to differentiate between the honest, understated footage of Father Flanagan’s early struggles and the overheated melodrama that highjacked the picture once Mickey Rooney made his appearance. Boys Town packed a sentimental wallop, and every review that came out of the showing was an unqualified rave.
The launching of Boys Town on the M-G-M lot. Left to right: Mickey Rooney, Bishop James H. Ryan, Louis B. Mayer, the Reverend Edward J. Flanagan, and Tracy. (PATRICIA MAHON COLLECTION)
On Sunday, September 4, Tracy, Rooney, Flanagan, Ryan, and actress Maureen O’Sullivan left for Nebraska and the world premiere of the picture. When their train arrived in Omaha on the sixth, it was met by an estimated twenty thousand people, and the crowd swelled to more than thirty thousand for the premiere the next evening. One hundred and ten policemen and another forty firemen struggled to maintain control as the crush filled Douglas Street along two city blocks and spilled over onto side streets, threatening to snap the steel wire barriers strung for the event. Fans lined the rooftops and leaned out of office windows. Tracy, taking in the spectacle, said, “This thing makes a Hollywood premiere look like a dying hog.”
Inside the Omaha Theatre, all 2,500 seats were filled as a procession of local dignitaries welcomed the filmmakers. O’Sullivan made a brief appearance, and the Boys Town a cappella