Men of Boys Town

All right, fellows.

There'll be no more classes today.

Quiet down! Not so fast.

You've all got to be back here in an hour.

Now I want the band in their uniforms

and everybody cleaned up.

We're going to welcome home

Dave Morris.

Now I don't have to tell you older boys

who Dave Morris is.

But the new citizens ought to know that...

he's the best friend Boys Town has,

next to Father Flanagan.

And I don't have to tell any of you

who Father Flanagan is, I hope.

And I guess there's no doubt

that I'm the mayor around here?

So that's the orders now, fellows.

Everybody back here in an hour.

Give out with everything you've got...

when Dave Morris drives up

with Father Flanagan.

Make it sound like we just beat

Notre Dame at football.

- We'll shout our lungs out.

- All right, buddy.

- You bet your life.

- All right. Dismissed!

- Hello, Father.

- Good morning, Roger.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, Bradford.

I'm sorry, Father.

This letter requires your attention.

From the contractor,

about his last payment.

Well, it looks like today is my day.

Due on the day

the interior plastering is finished, huh?

The amount is $200,000.

$200... That much?

The $300,000 we underwrote originally

would have been enough...

if there hadn't been

those few little improvements.

Well, we need those two new wings,

you know. There are so many boys.

And, of course, that extra dormitory.

Don't overlook that extra dormitory.

We may be cramped even with that.

Well, I'm afraid we've gone

as far as we can.

After all, the bank's money belongs

to the depositors. It's not ours.

Excuse me, gentlemen.

Father, you're gonna be late for the train

if you don't hurry.

I made out a new basketball

schedule for you to look over, too.

There it is. But after you get back.

That can wait. You're late now.

The car's waiting outside.

Whitey, you're the most tyrannical mayor

that Boys Town has ever had.

You see, gentlemen,

I'm absolutely helpless.

Honest, Father. You're gonna miss

Mr. Morris if you don't hurry.

What do you suggest Burton write

to the contractor?

I'll take the finances up with Dave.

After all, that's his department.

Goodbye, gentlemen.

It'll be nice to have Dave home again.

A year is too long to be

without a friend like he is.

Yes, Father, but he needed the rest.

It's been a long time

since you've had a vacation yourself.

Whitey, my whole life is a vacation.

Father, you didn't write Mr. Morris

about the new buildings, did you?

No, I didn't, Whitey, I...

I thought I'd let Dave see

what the new buildings looked like first.

- You know, sort of surprise him.

- He'll be surprised, all right.

Yes.

- Hey, Dave!

- Eddie!

- I'm glad to see you.

- Hello, Mr. Morris.

- Hello, Whitey.

- Well, you're back at last, Dave.

I've missed you. We've all missed you.

If you don't think it took all

my willpower to stay away for a year.

I wanted to start home

after the first week.

And we wanted you to.

Eddie, you didn't write me

about Boys Town.

I've been anxious about the place.

What goes on out there?

Everything's the same.

No great change, Dave.

We're glad to see you back, Mr. Morris.

Every one of us.

That goes double in spades for me.

Well, what about Boys Town?

Well, the boys are waiting.

They want to give you a little reception.

- It's beautiful.

- Thanks, Dave.

Eddie, what about Boys Town?

What's happened there?

It's been a very quiet year, Dave.

No year is quiet where you are.

And I've been away, you know.

How well I know.

But I haven't been away long enough

to forget how you work.

And when you start stalling...

Tell me, Eddie,

what trouble have you got into?

Eddie, I know you've done something.

And when you do something

it always means money.

What have you really been doing?

Anything new about the place?

Well, we've made a few little

improvements here and there.

Those shrubs, for example.

Some new trees and some other items.

You know, a few little improvements

here and there.

Well, shrubs are all right

and trees are all right.

But those other items,

those few little improvements...

could you give me an idea?

- Well, Dave, here we are.

- Yes, here we are.

Thanks, boys.

It's good to be home again.

And it's very good

to get a welcome like this...

which I know comes from your hearts.

Put it up, Pee Wee. Put it up.

Well, I'm glad to see

that during the year I've been away...

Boys Town hasn't stood still.

Seem to have made a few little

improvements here and there.

Yeah, a few little improvements.

How was South America?

Magnificent, I hear.

Some of the most beautiful buildings

in the world, I understand.

Well, I didn't see any buildings down there

to compare with the new ones up here.

Eddie, I've got to take my hat off to you.

I've got some excellent cigars here.

Someone sent them to me, and I've been

saving them especially for you.

They're the finest Havanas.

- Those new buildings are honeys.

- Yes.

When we get them opened up

there'll be room for twice as many boys.

More boys waiting

than we'll have room for even at that.

I never thought you could do it

without me, Eddie.

Those new buildings must cost

half a million, if they cost a cent.

You've got a great eye for figures.

You hit the nail right on the head.

Well, how did you get all the money?

Is it true that there's a difference in the

quality of cigars as you smokers say?

- Or is that...

- You didn't get the money.

Eddie, look me in the eye.

Are those buildings paid for?

Now, Dave, don't make

a mountain out of a molehill.

After all, it's only $200,000.

We borrowed the other $300,000.

$300,000 you borrowed!

Well, with you, when it's borrowed,

it's nothing.

It's no worry. It's paid back already.

So there's $200,000 you

haven't even got a smell of borrowing.

Eddie, that's no mountain, that's the

whole Rockies and the Alleghenies...

thrown in.

Now, Dave, more boys need this place.

Boys need! Who doesn't need?

If there's any place in this world,

where people don't need...

tell me where it is, and I'll go there.

I can't turn them away, Dave. If you

could see their poor, pinched faces...

and their shivering bodies.

Every day they come, every night.

Well, I'm not in on this.

That's $200,000 somebody else

can start looking for.

Not me, not Dave Morris. So help me.

It isn't looking for the money

that bothers you.

It's the fact that you can't give it yourself,

that's what makes you angry.

I wouldn't give a penny, not a red cent.

Do you think money grows on trees?

Sometimes the way you manage to get it,

I think it does.

Now listen, Eddie.

Don't try any of your schmooze on me.

Hello? Where?

All right, put him on.

Yes, Judge?

Well, if it's about taking a boy in here,

I couldn't do that, Judge.

Not until the new buildings are opened.

I haven't got room for a canary right now.

Well, if I could be any help.

All right, I'll leave on the night train.

You're welcome. Bye.

That wouldn't be a couple of $100,000

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