The read
Critics rate it 13 points higher than audiences do. Scores higher than 70% of the 363 1930s drama movies in this catalog. It runs a compact 1h 8m.
Synopsis
At the height of the Great Depression, Tommy's mother has been out of work for months when Eddie's father loses his job. Eager not to burden their parents, the two high school sophomores decide to hop the freight trains and look for work.
Ratings
IMDb7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes88%
Critics rate it 13 points higher than audiences do.
53 audience votes
Key crew
- William A. WellmanDirector
- Earl BaldwinScreenplay
- Bernhard KaunOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- Frankie DarroEddie Smith
- Edwin PhillipsTommy Gordon
- Rochelle HudsonGrace
- Dorothy Coonan WellmanSally
- Sterling HollowayOllie
- Arthur HohlDr. Henry A. Heckel
- Ann HoveyLola
- Minna GombellAunt Carrie
- Grant MitchellJames Smith
- Claire McDowellMrs. Smith
- Robert BarratJudge R.H. White
- Willard RobertsonCaptain of Detectives
Movies like Wild Boys of the Road
Themes
rapeamputationfreight trainhomelessnessmale friendshipgreat depressionyouth gangpovertyriding the railtroubled teenpre-codeschool dance