By Frank Miller
Fighting Father Dunne
Brief Synopsis
A dedicated priest tries to reform a group of homeless boys in turn-of-the-century St. Louis.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Ted Tetzlaff
Director
Pat O'brien
Father [Peter J.] Dunne
Darryl Hickman
Matt Davis
Charles Kemper
Emmett Mulvey
Una O'connor
Miss O'Rourke
Arthur Shields
Mr. [Michael] O'Donnell
Film Details
Also Known As
Father Dunne's Newsboys Home
Genre
Drama
Biography
Release Date
Jun
19,
1948
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 33m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,347ft
Synopsis
As two of his men are about to destroy the sidewalk outside St. Louis' rundown News Boys' Home and Protectorate, contractor Fred Carver asks that a piece of the sidewalk containing two sets of footprints be preserved. Fred explains to his workers that one set of footprints was made by him as a small boy, and the other belonged to Father Peter J. Dunne, the founder of the Home. Fred then recalls how Father Dunne became the "patron saint" of newsboys everywhere: In the winter of 1905, orphan newsboys huddle together in the cold while waiting for newspapers to sell. During a grueling morning of work, two boys, Jimmy and Tony, go to see Father Dunne and tell him that Chip, another orphan newsboy, is sick. Concerned, Father Dunne asks Jimmy and Tony to take him to Chip's home, which turns out to be an unheated packing case. Father Dunne takes the ailing Chip to his sister Kate's house and calls a doctor. After the doctor prescribes bed rest for all three boys, Father Dunne convinces his reluctant brother-in-law, Emmett Mulvey, to sacrifice his only bed to the children. Father Dunne then informs his superior, Archbishop John Joseph Glennon, about the conditions under which the boys live and asks for help in creating a Home for them. Although the archbishop pledges to support Father Dunne's efforts, he also makes clear that the Catholic Church cannot donate any money to the cause. With that in mind, Father Dunne rents a shabby townhouse with help from lawyer Tom Lee and slowly begins to turn it into a home for Jimmy, Tony, Chip and two other boys. To supply the quickly expanding Home, the smooth-talking Father Dunne then cajoles various merchants into donating their goods to his cause. Father Dunne even talks Michael O'Donnell, a sour-faced businessman from Northern Ireland, into lending the Home his pony and cart, which some newsboys had earlier tried to steal. When one of the young thieves, Matt Davis, throws a brick through the Home's front window in order to "get in," Father Dunne welcomes him without question. Disturbed by the violence perpetrated on his boys by their older competitors, Father Dunne confronts Colpeck, the head of the Herald Sun 's circulation department, and his thug, "Gorilla" Blake. Although he is not intimidated by Colpeck and Blake, Father Dunne is unable to dissuade them from their strong-arm tactics. Taking Father Dunne's sermon on unity to heart, Matt, whose abusive, alcoholic father Steve has tried unsuccessfully to reclaim him, then organizes the boys into a group and uses O'Donnell's horse and cart to peddle their papers. Matt's strategy works at first, but Blake eventually orders several thugs to break up the group. During the ensuing mêlée, the horse is fatally injured and Jimmy's leg is crushed under the cart. After the guilt-ridden Matt runs away, Father Dunne asks O'Donnell, who owns the Herald building, to threaten the paper with eviction, and O'Donnell happily intimidates Colpeck into reforming. Months later, a still recuperating Jimmy beseeches Father Dunne to find Matt, and the priest agrees to search for him. Father Dunne locates Matt at his father's house, but is unable to break Steve's violent hold on the boy. Later, in an attempt to raise money to build a bigger Home, the priest hosts a "VIP" dinner. Because Father Dunne delivered the invitations at the last minute, however, only O'Donnell and Tom attend the function. Once again, O'Donnell comes to the priest's aid by offering to form a board of directors and use his financial clout to influence his peers. After the spacious, well-equipped new Home is built, a nattily dressed Matt returns for a visit. Although he claims to be doing well, Matt is nearly caught breaking into a store and runs to Father Dunne for help. Father Dunne encourages Matt to turn himself in, but a frightened Matt, imagining that the policeman in front of him is his drunken father, pulls a gun and shoots the officer. After Matt is sentenced to die, Father Dunne visits him in jail and listens to his pleas for mercy. Moved by the boy's words, the priest asks the governor to stop the impending execution, but the governor insists that justice be served. Although saddened by Matt's death, Father Dunne is comforted by the group of grateful boys who greet him later at the Home's door.
Director
Ted Tetzlaff
Director
Cast
Pat O'brien
Father [Peter J.] Dunne
Darryl Hickman
Matt Davis
Charles Kemper
Emmett Mulvey
Una O'connor
Miss O'Rourke
Arthur Shields
Mr. [Michael] O'Donnell
Harry Shannon
John [Tom] Lee
Joe Sawyer
Steve Davis
Anna Q. Nilsson
Mrs. Knudson
Donn Gift
Jimmy
Myrna Dell
Paula [Hendricks]
Ruth Donnelly
Kate Mulvey
Jim Nolan
Danny Briggs
Billy Cummings
Tony
Billy Gray
Chip
Eric Roberts
Monk
Gene Collins
Lefty
Lester Matthews
Archbishop [John Joseph Glennon]
Griff Barnett
Governor
Rudy Whistler
Soloist
Don Haggerty
Gorilla Blake
Ricky Berger
Boy
Albert Ray
Boy
Sonny Rees
Boy
Eugene Holland
Art
Bobby Frasco
Pat
George Mcdonald
Mickey Polaski
Vincent Graeff
Petey Hendricks
Paul Dunn
Harry
Leon Burbank
Editor
Tex Swan
Driver
Harry Harvey
Dr. Adams
Buddy Roosevelt
Pedestrian
Cedric Stevens
Clerk
Sedal Bennett
Blowsy woman
Florence Clayton
Blowsy woman
Leo Kaye
Newspaper vendor
Tom Coleman
Newspaper vendor
Gerald Mackey
Blackie
Ernie Adams
Man on loading dock
Dot Farley
Mrs. Flaherty
Anne O'neal
Mrs. Monohan
Broderick O'farrell
Butler
Emmett Vogan
Defense attorney
Raymond Burr
Prosecuting attorney
Charles Miller
Judge
Harry Hayden
Mr. Dunfee
Freddie Chapman
Roger Sylvester
Phillip Morris
Prison guard
Frank Ferguson
Colpeck
Ellen Corby
Colpeck's secretary
Wes Hopper
Guard
Perc Launders
Policeman
Stanley Blystone
Policeman
Sid Wagner
Swede
Harold Smith
Hoodlum
Ralph Brooks
Delivery boy
Ray Walker
Fred Carver
Ralph Dunn
Workman
Chuck Flynn
Workman
Timmy Hawkins
Urchin
Robert Bray
Priest
Robert Clarke
Priest
Jack Gargan
Crew
C. Bakaleinikoff
Music Director
F. J. Barnes
Composer
Gordon Bau
Makeup Supervisor
Eugene Busch
Dialogue Director
Russell A. Cully
Special Effects
Albert S. D'agostino
Art Director
Frank Davis
Screenwriter
George E. Diskant
Director of Photography
Jack J. Gross
Executive Producer
Walter E. Keller
Art Director
Terry Kellum
Sound
Frederic Knudtson
Film Editor
Adolph Kuri
Set Decoration
John Pommer
Assistant Director
Martin Rackin
Screenwriter
William Rankin
Story
Phil L. Ryan
Producer
Frank Sarver
Sound
Maurice Scott
Composer
Darrell Silvera
Set Decoration
John Temple
Assistant Director
Roy Webb
Music
R. P. Weston
Composer
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Also Known As
Father Dunne's Newsboys Home
Genre
Drama
Biography
Release Date
Jun
19,
1948
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 33m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,347ft
Articles
Fighting Father Dunne
Pat O'Brien was Hollywood's top Irishman, excelling particularly as fast-talking newspapermen and priests who, though more reflective, could pull off the rapid palaver when the situation demanded it. He certainly got to exercise his Hibernian charms in this fact-based story about a St. Louis priest who created a home for newsboys, many of them living on their own and in poverty. Reviewers were quick to point out similarities to MGM's Boy's Town (1938), which had brought Spencer Tracy a Best Actor Oscar®, but the O'Brien vehicle has its own charms, O'Brien chief among them. The story starts in 1905, when he first encounters a trio of newsboys (including Billy Gray, who would go on to star in Father Knows Best), whose hard lives are threatening to kill them. Over time, O'Brien fights to provide decent living conditions for the boys and end the bullying and violence fostered by the newspapers for whom they work. Like Tracy in Boy's Town, O'Brien has one special boy (Darryl Hickman) who proves the hardest to reform. This was probably the young Hickman's best role, as he gets to display braggadocio in his dealings with the other boys and abject terror when confronted with his abusive father (Joe Sawyer).
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Fighting Father Dunne
Pat O'Brien was Hollywood's top Irishman, excelling particularly as fast-talking newspapermen and priests who, though more reflective, could pull off the rapid palaver when the situation demanded it. He certainly got to exercise his Hibernian charms in this fact-based story about a St. Louis priest who created a home for newsboys, many of them living on their own and in poverty. Reviewers were quick to point out similarities to MGM's Boy's Town (1938), which had brought Spencer Tracy a Best Actor Oscar®, but the O'Brien vehicle has its own charms, O'Brien chief among them. The story starts in 1905, when he first encounters a trio of newsboys (including Billy Gray, who would go on to star in Father Knows Best), whose hard lives are threatening to kill them. Over time, O'Brien fights to provide decent living conditions for the boys and end the bullying and violence fostered by the newspapers for whom they work. Like Tracy in Boy's Town, O'Brien has one special boy (Darryl Hickman) who proves the hardest to reform. This was probably the young Hickman's best role, as he gets to display braggadocio in his dealings with the other boys and abject terror when confronted with his abusive father (Joe Sawyer).
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Father Dunne's Newsboys Home and Father Dunne's Home. The film's opening credits include the following written foreword: "This is a story about a man who lived in St. Louis. It is also a tribute to him and what he stood for. The conditions that Father Dunne helped alleviate no longer exist in St. Louis, or in any other city...." Although the character played by Harry Shannon is listed as "John Lee" in the onscreen credits, he is called "Tom Lee" in the film. According to Hollywood Reporter, Phil L. Ryan Productions, which was producer Ryan's company, sold the rights to the film's story for $50,000, plus a percentage of the profits. RKO production files contained at the UCLA Arts Library-Special Collections note that Roddy McDowall tested for a role in the production. A September 1946 Los Angeles Examiner news item noted that producer Jack Gross was planning to shoot some scenes in St. Louis in February 1947, but no evidence that filming was done there has been found. Reviewers noted the similarity between this film and M-G-M's 1938 hit movie Boy's Town, which chronicled the founding of Father Edward Flanagan's home for juvenile delinquents in Omaha, NE (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.0465). According to Los Angeles Times, in April 1950, Matthew L. Davis of St. Louis lost a $300,000 lawsuit against RKO after a federal court decided that his reputation had not been damaged by this film. Davis lived at the News Boys' Home as a child and, after the picture was released, became jokingly known as "Killer Davis."
