"Mayor of Hell" is one of those movies that I agree with fundamentally and principally but disagree with practically. It was a social experiment on screen, and I generally love social experiments.
In "Mayor of Hell" a group of juvenile delinquents got rounded up and sent to a reform school. It was a dreary oppressive place run by Thompson (Dudley Digges), a mean dictator. What the movie was conveying was that this was a miserable place and not a place at all for young adolescents who hadn't even committed violent crimes. The one sane voice in the institution was the nurse, Dorothy (Madge Evans). She was young, pretty, and empathetic, which meant she was in the movie to fall in love.
Don't be mad at me for stating a fact.
The "school" was eventually taken over by Patsy (James Cagney), a ruffian who had no business in such a position. He was given the position as a political favor. He was a gangster who rounded up votes, and as a favor so that he'd have some income, he got the position of supervisor of reform school. Right away he began making wholesale changes. He got rid of the guards and the razor wire fence, sent Thompson on a vacation, improved the food, gave the kids ownership of the place, and tried to get a piece of Dorothy. Dorothy was a decent girl so naturally she rebuffed Patsy's advances, but you knew she'd catch feelings eventually.
Patsy told the boys that they'd run the school much like a city. They had to elect a mayor, chief of police, judge, treasurer, and whatever other positions needed to run a small government. Not even a full month after Patsy took over, the school was running like a well oiled machine. The kids were neat, clean, orderly, respectful, and well-behaved. And this is where I disagreed with the movie.
While I'm no fan of the prison industrial complex and the prison system here in America, I'm not foolish enough to believe that taking away guards, the walls, and punishment, even at the juvenile level, is enough to bring about reform. The testosterone alone is enough for there to be problems. "Mayor of Hell" made it seem as though once the kids could govern themselves they'd have a lot fewer problems. You know what I think of when I think of boys governing themselves?
Lord of the Flies.
The kids are still going to have jealousy, greed, envy, anger, misunderstandings, and other emotions that they don't even have the maturity to keep in check. Adults can barely keep their own behavior in check, so what about tweens and teens? I thought the portrayal of the reform school was very Pollyanna. Even having Patsy, a known gangster, run the reform school as a reward for his misdeeds was irresponsible. Did the school need changes? Absolutely. Did it need to be stripped of just about every adult authority figure in there? No way.
While Patsy was running the reform school he got into a jam. Another gangster was moving in on his territory so he went to go handle it. He and the other mobster got into a tussle and Patsy shot him.
By this time Patsy and Dorothy were an item and she didn't know about this part of Patsy. When he tried to tell her she responded with the all-to-familiar "I don't care what you've done or who you are. I love you," which is a shameful crock that Hollywood loves pushing. Let's be real. You mean to tell me that if the person you love wanted to open up about some things from his/her past (or present) you would cut him/her off and pretend it doesn't matter?
Shooooot! Not me. "Keep talking, I'm listening. I don't want any surprises five years down the line. I want to know now if it's worth being in a relationship with you."
James Cagney always plays the tough guy role and that's one of the reasons I like him. He was atypical for his time period. When most men were playing polished, charming gentlemen, Cagney was in there with his unrefined manner of speaking and behaving. It was great. However, this is one tough guy role I didn't like.
When Patsy went to check his rival or, as the man would be called nowadays, his opp (short for opposition for the uninformed), Patsy initiated their fight. Patsy punched the man and from there it was a street fight. When the rival got the better of Patsy he pulled out his gun and shot him which was a punk move. To initiate a physical confrontation then shoot a guy because he's licking you is weak. After the shooting Patsy even tried to claim it was self-defense. I was thinking, "Who are you, George Zimmerman?"
I had real problems with this movie as you can probably gather if you've read until this point. I didn't like the reforming of the reform school, the trite romance, or Cagney's tough guy act. I think the premise of the movie is remarkable and should've been explored, it just needed a more sensible writer.
$2.99 on YouTube.
In "Mayor of Hell" a group of juvenile delinquents got rounded up and sent to a reform school. It was a dreary oppressive place run by Thompson (Dudley Digges), a mean dictator. What the movie was conveying was that this was a miserable place and not a place at all for young adolescents who hadn't even committed violent crimes. The one sane voice in the institution was the nurse, Dorothy (Madge Evans). She was young, pretty, and empathetic, which meant she was in the movie to fall in love.
Don't be mad at me for stating a fact.
The "school" was eventually taken over by Patsy (James Cagney), a ruffian who had no business in such a position. He was given the position as a political favor. He was a gangster who rounded up votes, and as a favor so that he'd have some income, he got the position of supervisor of reform school. Right away he began making wholesale changes. He got rid of the guards and the razor wire fence, sent Thompson on a vacation, improved the food, gave the kids ownership of the place, and tried to get a piece of Dorothy. Dorothy was a decent girl so naturally she rebuffed Patsy's advances, but you knew she'd catch feelings eventually.
Patsy told the boys that they'd run the school much like a city. They had to elect a mayor, chief of police, judge, treasurer, and whatever other positions needed to run a small government. Not even a full month after Patsy took over, the school was running like a well oiled machine. The kids were neat, clean, orderly, respectful, and well-behaved. And this is where I disagreed with the movie.
While I'm no fan of the prison industrial complex and the prison system here in America, I'm not foolish enough to believe that taking away guards, the walls, and punishment, even at the juvenile level, is enough to bring about reform. The testosterone alone is enough for there to be problems. "Mayor of Hell" made it seem as though once the kids could govern themselves they'd have a lot fewer problems. You know what I think of when I think of boys governing themselves?
Lord of the Flies.
The kids are still going to have jealousy, greed, envy, anger, misunderstandings, and other emotions that they don't even have the maturity to keep in check. Adults can barely keep their own behavior in check, so what about tweens and teens? I thought the portrayal of the reform school was very Pollyanna. Even having Patsy, a known gangster, run the reform school as a reward for his misdeeds was irresponsible. Did the school need changes? Absolutely. Did it need to be stripped of just about every adult authority figure in there? No way.
While Patsy was running the reform school he got into a jam. Another gangster was moving in on his territory so he went to go handle it. He and the other mobster got into a tussle and Patsy shot him.
By this time Patsy and Dorothy were an item and she didn't know about this part of Patsy. When he tried to tell her she responded with the all-to-familiar "I don't care what you've done or who you are. I love you," which is a shameful crock that Hollywood loves pushing. Let's be real. You mean to tell me that if the person you love wanted to open up about some things from his/her past (or present) you would cut him/her off and pretend it doesn't matter?
Shooooot! Not me. "Keep talking, I'm listening. I don't want any surprises five years down the line. I want to know now if it's worth being in a relationship with you."
James Cagney always plays the tough guy role and that's one of the reasons I like him. He was atypical for his time period. When most men were playing polished, charming gentlemen, Cagney was in there with his unrefined manner of speaking and behaving. It was great. However, this is one tough guy role I didn't like.
When Patsy went to check his rival or, as the man would be called nowadays, his opp (short for opposition for the uninformed), Patsy initiated their fight. Patsy punched the man and from there it was a street fight. When the rival got the better of Patsy he pulled out his gun and shot him which was a punk move. To initiate a physical confrontation then shoot a guy because he's licking you is weak. After the shooting Patsy even tried to claim it was self-defense. I was thinking, "Who are you, George Zimmerman?"
I had real problems with this movie as you can probably gather if you've read until this point. I didn't like the reforming of the reform school, the trite romance, or Cagney's tough guy act. I think the premise of the movie is remarkable and should've been explored, it just needed a more sensible writer.
$2.99 on YouTube.