THAT'S MY BOY
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY ROY WILIAM NEILL
COLUMBIA PICTURES
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
Featuring members of the 1931 National Champion football team from the University of Southern California Trojans, with team members Russell Saunders and Oscar "Dutch" Hendrian also cast in roles other than just team members. Former USC football player John Wayne (not on the 1931 team) and Olympic swimmer Buster Crabbe also in cast as football players: Thomas Jefferson "Snakehips" Scott is the sensation of the Freshman football squad at Bedford University. After a sensational Sophomore season, varsity coach "Daisy" Adams gets him a summer "job" in the Maine woods as a bond salesman. The coach sends him there for conditioning purposes only, but Tommy is pleased with the $6,000 he gets for selling bonds he never even sees. Nice work if you can get it and, seventy years later, college football players (usually from Texas and California, playing for colleges from some other states that can't "grow their own") still manage to find similar positions. Tommy, figuring that there is more where this came from, tells a graduate manager he will quit the team unless they pay him $50,000. The manager arranges with a broker to start an investment fund named after Thomas Jefferson Smith, the receipts from which will net Tommy his demanded amount. Thousands of shares are sold, for unclear reasons since the buyers had no reason to expect a return, but, hey, the plot must move along. The broker gambles away the funds. The broker kills himself. The district attorney questions Tommy. The father of Tommy's college squeeze offers Tommy $50,000 if he will break his engagement to the girl. Tommy holds out for $100,000. Tommy is booed off the field after the first half of "the BIG GAME." Tommy has sent the $100,000 to the district attorney to pay off the investors. The D.A. tells the newspapers. The newspapers print special editions that are delivered to the stadium at half-time. Tommy receives a standing ovation from the crowd. Tommy scores the winning touchdown. Mom Scott is proud of Tommy, for reasons hard to discern.
Written by Les Adams
Full Cast
Richard Cromwell ... Tommy Jefferson Scott
Dorothy Jordan ... Dorothy Whitney
Mae Marsh ... Mom Scott
Arthur Stone ... Pop Scott
Douglass Dumbrille ... Coach 'Daisy' Adams
Lucien Littlefield ... Uncle Louie
Leon Ames ... Al Williams (as Leon Waycoff)
Russell Saunders ... Pinkie
Sumner Getchell ... Carl
Otis Harlan ... Mayor
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian ... Hap
Elbridge Anderson ... 1st Student
Crilly Butler ... 2nd Student
Douglas Haig ... Tommy, as a young boy
Tay Brown ... Football Player (uncredited)
Buster Crabbe ... Football Player (uncredited)
Toby Hunt ... Football Player (uncredited)
Joan Marsh ... Co-ed (uncredited)
Jim Musick ... Football Player (uncredited)
Ernie Pinckert ... Football Player (uncredited)
Gaius Shaver ... Football Player (uncredited)
Ernie Smith ... Football Player (uncredited)
Earl Sparling ... Football Player (uncredited)
Duke Morrison ... Football Player (uncredited)
Writing Credits
Norman Krasna screenplay
Francis Wallace novel
Original Music
Charles Kisco
Cinematography
Joseph H. August
Trivia
The USC national championship football team of 1931 appears in the film.
Filming Location
University of Southern California, Los Angeles.