When I was growing up on 90th Street, houses ended and corn fields started at 96th Street, which made me feel as if Boys Town was virtually next door. So in the 1960s when I discovered this movie on TV I was flabbergast. Its version of uplift is the conventional Hollywood kind, but when I was ten years old it choked me up, and introduced me to Spencer Tracy. (Kurt Andersen)

Awards

Academy Award Winner: Best Actor(Spencer Tracy); Academy Award Winner: Best Writing, Original Story;
Academy Award Nominee: Best Director (Norman Taurog); Academy Award Nominee: Best Picture