Commentary
Throughout history, there has been a natural antagonism between the youth and the generation before, who are all too quick to shake their heads and say, “this modern generation.” Yet who is to blame for the youth’s wildness, immorality, or even delinquency, if not the generation that raised them? The Bible says we all “go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies,” yet it also says we are given parents to guide us. It’s every parent’s job to raise his child with love and understanding, nurturing him in the graces and ways of God.
In the most recent report from the National Children’s Alliance from 2021, an estimated 600,000 children in the U.S. suffered from child abuse, 76 percent in the form of neglect. This staggering statistic reveals a sad truth about our nation. Parents are increasingly preferring their jobs, devices, or friends over their children. However, as you see in many classic films, it has always been thus, to a certain degree.
Today’s moment of movie wisdom is from “Dangerous Years” (1947). The scene takes place 35 minutes into this 63-minute film. A gang of juvenile delinquents, led by older criminal Danny Jones (Billy Halop), attempts to rob a warehouse. When local youth leader Jeff Carter (Donald Curtis) attempts to stop them, he is fatally shot. The entire gang is arrested, and Danny, the group’s only adult, is tried for first-degree murder. While three gang members invoke the right to silence, young Willy Miller (Scotty Beckett) chooses to testify. When he tells the court that his father (Joseph Vitale) beat him into confessing in the presence of the arresting officers, the outraged judge (Harry Shannon) gives the brutal man a lecture on parental responsibilities.
The Story
In the small town of Middleton, U.S.A., the older generation is concerned about the youth going through the “dangerous years of adolescence.” Many fear that a popular juke joint, the Gopher Hole, is a breeding ground for juvenile delinquency. High school teacher Jeff Carter has started many boys’ clubs to keep his male students out of trouble. However, a gang of adolescents has formed, including Willy, Phil Kenny (Harry Harvey Jr.), Gene Spooner (Dickie Moore), and Tammy McDonald (Gill Stratton), led by newcomer Danny Jones. While attempting to steal cases of perfume one night, they are intercepted by Carter, who tells the younger boys to go home and Danny to come with him. He is shot and killed, and the boys are seen running away. However, they are arrested, and Danny is put on trial for Carter’s murder.
District attorney Edgar Burns (Richard Gaines) is determined to send Danny to the chair, not only for killing Carter but also for leading the local youth astray. Defense attorney Weston (Jerome Cowan) truly believes his client is innocent, due to the false testimony of Danny’s adolescent girlfriend, Doris (Ann E. Todd). However, matters grow complicated when Burns’s daughter from a failed marriage, Connie (Annabel Shaw), whom he didn’t know existed for her first ten years, returns from vacation. She reveals that Danny was her only friend and protector at the orphanage before her father abruptly took her away. However, nobody knows that Danny’s ties to Burns are much closer than this childhood friendship.
The Scene
After giving his account of the crime on the stand, Willy is approached by Weston, who asks him what happened after he ran from the scene of the crime. Throughout his testimony, Willy has been anxiously looking to a man in the audience, later revealed to be his father, of whom he is obviously frightened. However, Willy eventually agrees to tell the whole story. In a flashback, we see that, upon arriving home, he is surprised by his father, who he thought was still at a party. Two policemen soon come to the door and inform Miller that his truck is at the warehouse and was involved in an attempted robbery. When Willy denies taking the truck, his father removes his belt and says he will make his son talk. He shoves Willy into the next room, and the two officers wait casually in the living room, ignoring Willy’s screams. When his father brings him out, he confesses to the crime and names his confederates.Weston tells Willy he may step down after he finishes his story, but the judge asks him to wait. After excusing the jury, he calls Miller up to the bench and says, “Stand in front of your son. Keep looking at him. Mr. Miller, your disgraceful actions cannot be tolerated in this day and age.” When Miller starts to argue that a man has a right to whip his own child, the judge stops him, saying, “Be quiet, or I’ll cite you for contempt of court. Look at your son, sitting here, afraid of the very sight of you, lonely for the companionship you denied him, forced out into the street to find that which wasn’t in your home or your heart. Look at him and realize that it was you that forced him out of your house. If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be here, and if this court ever hears of you threatening or mistreating this boy again, I’ll see that you get the maximum punishment. Officer, remove this person from my courtroom.”
Its Significance
The term “judge” is often used to describe someone who passes sentence on others without care or sympathy. However, in this case, a legal judge shows this unfortunate young man the care and concern which his own father, who should be his source of comfort and security, has failed to offer him. When he first takes Willy into the other room, Miller can be heard telling Willy that he’s no good, that he always knew he was no good, and that he’s “no son of his.” This implies that he has always regarded his son as a bad seed, even before he joined Danny’s gang four months prior and was presumably an inoffensive youth.
Willy says that both his parents were away at a party that night, so he was left home alone. While he is 17 years old and can’t really be considered a child anymore, one can’t help but wonder if he was often left alone this way in his childhood. His mother is never shown, but one can only assume that she also has neglected him in one way or another. Since he has narrowly escaped the scene of a serious crime, Willy is understandably nervous and jumpy when his father catches him arriving home late and out of breath, but his demeanor implies that he always has reason to fear his father. It’s obvious the first time you see that Mr. Miller is a brute, and it’s implied that he drinks to excess. In the flashback, he already seems somewhat drunk and came home to get more alcohol.
