Wild Boys of the Road

Audience Reviews

View All (23) audience reviews

David K Hard-hitting example of Depression-era Warner Bros. films. Directed by William Wellman in his inimitable style, the film traces the lives of two young middle class boys and a girl who are thrown into a life on the road so as not to be a burden to their families. Yes, the ending doesn't ring true and that fact is what keeps me from giving the film an even higher rating. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Marvelous William Wellman treatment of the depression and its effects on a young segment of society. Actors Frankie Darro and Edwin Phillips work together with a chemistry that is palpable. While the film is dramatic, it is no more dramatic than actual events themselves -- millions of young men did leave home searching for employment and many millions more lost everything they had because unemployment led to default on their homes or inability to pay their rent. President Hoover had just ordered the National Guard to shoot at and kill the unemployed soldiers from world war I that had camped across from the White House and wouldn't go home without their pay or a job. The times were drastic and life-threatening. This movie fits right in, although the ending is too optimistic if looked as occurring in a single moment. The new President, Roosevelt, put these boys and young men to work again, working at needed public works projects, but his programs would have been too late for the boys in this film. This is an altogether film great. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Lots of energy from the cast of this terrific depression era flick Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member 2.5: This one definitely fits into the category of pre-code socially conscious pictures. It explores an issue, essentially the multitude of juvenile delinquents without homes or families created by the Great Depression, that I imagine most wish was forgotten, or at least not widely discussed. The ending is a bit hokey and perfunctory, but the film still works on a basic level. Nothing spectacular, but still watchable. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member A masterpiece and one of the essential American films of the 1930s. It's a surprisingly grim proto-neorealist look at poverty and the great depression. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member First off, this is not a male porno so get that out of your head sicko. It plenty of opportunity to engage in man on man love but did not! So stop it. Especially when those railroad dicks showed up with their truncheons to bash heads...Eyes front, pervert! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/10/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Wild Boys of the Road

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now