Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story

A long time ago this came on television in the 80's. It was and still is a very true to life story about a mixed up teen, who after stealing a car for a joyride, lands himself at Boystown. It is here where he learns who he really is and with the aid of caring adults and the brotherhood of the boys he boards with, that he learns his self-worth. Casey Siemazsko was remarkable as Andy Grainger and Art Carney was powerful as Father O' Halloran. It's too bad they don't make TV movies like this anymore. This film is down to earth and heartfelt.If you can find this one on the net or in a used video store I strongly recommend this one...there's a really great story of a young man's life turned around here.

As we classic film fans recall Spencer Tracy won an Oscar in the first of two films where he played Father Frank Flanagan the founder of Boys Town, a refuge for runaways and orphans with them also taking in on probation some juvenile delinquents. Such a one in this film is Casey Siemaszko who got a friend badly injured while they were joy riding. His drunk mother Barbara Rae can't be responsible so its Boys Town or juvenile hall.

Like Mickey Rooney in the Boys Town films Siemaszko is a hard case when he goes into a group room on the Boys Town grounds that is run by Darrell Larson and his wife Lisa Sloane. And like Rooney, Siemaszko plans to blow the joint as soon as he can with another hard case Reginald Dorsey. But the place does get to him after a while.

Presiding over all of this is Father Art Carney who was at Boys Town as a client when he was a lad. He's getting close to retirement and the place is going to have a new head with Father Jack Bannon. The two have differing ideas about how the institution should be run.

Art Carney did a fine job heading the cast in a film which is perfectly cast. Boys Town has broadened its policies, they have separate female quarters as well and its not a strictly Catholic operation. The presence of Larson and Sloane attest to that as Larson mentions his Protestant faith in conversation with Carney a scene I really liked.

You could never have a remake of Boys Town the original let alone this film given the current climate concerning the Catholic Church. With all the sex abuse scandals just the name of Boys Town would have it laughed off the screen.

Another reviewer was right, this indeed is a most old fashioned type film that we'll not be seeing the likes of again.

I wouldn't be surprised if this forgotten made-for-TV drama based on the Boys Town organization of Nebraska somehow found itself in the rerun catalog for prime-time family program stations like PAX or for those terribly out-of-date movies with moral lessons they force you to watch in life management classes in high school. Though well-meaning, this one is crammed with a stark departure from realism and plenty of bad acting by all except Art Carney.

The movie primarily follows alleged petty street tough Andy Grainger (Seimaszko) (who's troubles stem from a rather neglecting mother). After an afternoon joy ride in a stolen cars leads to a wild run-in with the police, Andy is given the option of jail or a term in Boys Town. So Andy takes the latter and is given a second chance.

Although initially reluctant to settle into the swing of things at Boys Town, despite being very lucky to avoid sentencing to juvenile detention and the minor presence of harsh rules, Andy has plans to leave. But, and as the usually family drama goes, he learns the lessons that those at Boys Town try to teach him and eventually, changes his ways. Meanwhile, Art Carney plays Father Halloran, the aging priest who is fighting retirement with a younger priest and trying to keep the spirit and teachings of Boys Town alive with Andy being his primary example of success.

Typical family drama material with excess emphasis on the role of the church in solving problems (Boys Town is a Catholic institution) might be tolerable were it not for the unrealistic events and the utterly bad acting, especially by Seimaszko and Dorsey ("Winslow"). Art Carney's presence is at least entertaining.