Rentschler as Tommy Anderson Frankie Thomas as Freddie Fuller Jimmy Butler as Paul Ferguson Sidney Miller as Mo Kahn Gladden James as Doctor Everett Brown as Barky Robert Gleckler as Mr. Reynolds Stanley Blystone as Guard (uncredited) Kent Rogers as Tailor (uncredited) Reception Boys Town was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1938 and earning MGM over $2 million in profit. According to MGM records, the film earned $2,828,000 in the United States and Canada, and $1,230,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $2,112,000. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 90% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.20/10. Awards In February 1939, when he accepted his Oscar for the role, Spencer Tracy talked about Father Flanagan in his acceptance speech. "If you have seen him through me, then I thank you." An MGM publicity representative mistakenly announced that Tracy was donating his Oscar to Flanagan, not having confirmed it with Tracy. Tracy said: "I earned the ... thing. I want it." The Academy hastily struck another inscription, Tracy kept his statuette, and Boys Town got one, too. It read: "To Father Flanagan, whose great humanity, kindly simplicity, and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort. Spencer Tracy." Home media Boys Town was released on VHS by MGM on March 29, 1993, and re-released on VHS on March 7, 2000. On November 8, 2005, it was released on DVD as a part of the "Warner Brothers Classic Holiday Collection", a three-DVD set which also contains Christmas in Connecticut and the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, and as an individual disc. The DVD release also includes the 1941 sequel Men of Boys Town as an extra feature. Sequel Released in April 1941, Men of Boys Town takes a darker view of the issue of homeless and troubled youth. Tracy and Rooney reprise their characters as Father Flanagan and Whitey Marsh as they expose the conditions in a boys reform school. This film was released on VHS on December 23, 1993, but is now available only as an extra feature on Boys Town DVD. Popular culture In the Northern Exposure television series 1991 episode "The Big Kiss", orphan Ed Chigliak watches Boys Town and is inspired to find out who his real parents are. He mentions the film reference to several other characters. Newt Gingrich,