Wild Boys of the Road

William A. Wellman's 1933 film is about young people leaving home during the Great Depression. Tommy's mother has been out of work for months, and when his friend Eddie's father also loses his job the two high school students set out so as not to burden their families, hopping freight trains. On the road they meet hundreds of others in the same position; the makeshift camps they build are broken up by police, railway men chase them off and an accident brings heavy consequences. The film does not soften the reality of the period, showing hunger, the threat of sexual assault and the absence of the state plainly. It belongs to the era before censorship rules were strictly enforced and that freedom shows. The ending arrives with an optimistic resolution added by the studio that contradicts the rest. Who it's for: viewers who like Depression-era American cinema and social film. Who it's not for: anyone expecting a hopeful account; the film is merciless until its last scene.