That Boy Joe (1944)

★★★★★ · I'm Gonna Party All Night til it's 1944! · Spuzz · 2004-10-16

Totally whacked story of a boy named Joe, who is hauled in front of a Juvie court judge because he stole some cigarettes with his friend. (you can tell they're both trouble, they both wear cardigans!). The judge finds out Joe was also drinking beer ("Oh, you were drinking beer, eh?") and then tells Joey he's going to speak with his parents. All is fine and somewhat predictible to this point, it almost feels like a more stable Centron production.. All logic is thrown out the window when his parents come in, Mom distracted me too much with what looked to me like a fez on her head.. Anyways, the…

★★★★★ · Just A COUPLE Beers? · JayKay49 · 2015-06-26

And he robs a place? For ciggies? Hmmm. Ya know, it's funny, but, even 60 years later nobody has made a film or even a documentary explaining a fairly common phenomenon, "the bad egg." The nicest couple can be cursed by a bad egg. It just happens. You can never predict it. Science can't explain it. I had a friend who attended all 12 years of catechism, had the nicest, most sober parents you ever met, and grew up in a fairly tightly wound house, yet he wound up in the slammer (manslaughter, they said [..yeah. right]) His sister, btw, wound up in "the home." See that football team? Well, let's…

★★★★★ · Absolute classic! · SirJekyllAppliance · 2007-10-04

Force feed your kids with Sunday School and Shakespeare and Utopia is here to stay!

★★★★ · "That Boy Joe" shows its age · ERD. · 2010-01-02

This 1944 film is dated and the script somewhat pretentious. A few points brought out about why teenagers get in trouble were good, but quoting J. Edgar Hoover now seems laughable. A good attempt for that era, however.

★★ · "like saving a life!" · uniQ · 2011-04-17

While the most basic message here (Alcohol can get you into real trouble) is valid, the plot, story, pacing, cast and so on are lackluster at best. When the ending card credits a temperance union (!!), all the exposition the judge delivers seems so obvious. Easily forgettable and not worth the time compared to most of the rest of Prelinger's Archive. Let me also say, that judge reminds me of Landis!