337:. Constance drags the cowering Caesar to the floor, beating him with the strap. Dunn angrily shoves Constance to the floor and then flees, with Constance and the other boys following him. The chase ends in the auditorium during the assembly. Constance backhands Dunn and calls him a bastard. Dunn then retaliates by delivering an uppercut to Constance, knocking him to the floor and causing pandemonium as the student body rises to its feet and cheers.
314:
Dunn and Rooney are sent to the office of the headmaster, Brother
Thadeus. Rooney, impressed by Dunn's refusal to snitch, attempts to patch things up between them, but Dunn wants nothing to do with him. After school, Rooney tells Dunn that if they do not become friends, he will have to continue in his harassment in order to save face. Reluctantly, Dunn befriends Rooney and his friends, sex obsessed Williams and naive Corbett.
310:. His grandmother is determined to see him fulfill his parents' dream of him joining the priesthood. Dunn befriends Caesar, an overweight, bespectacled student who enjoys reading and excels academically. Caesar helps Dunn catch up with the rest of the class, but because of their association, foul-mouthed bully and school troublemaker Ed Rooney pranks Dunn outside of the soda fountain across the street from school.
480:, to producer Dan Wigutow, who tried unsuccessfully to interest production companies in it. Purpura dropped out of NYU and was fired from his job at a lithography shop for union organizing. He was denied unemployment benefits because his nighttime screenwriting was considered potentially lucrative employment, so he filed for bankruptcy, borrowed money and headed for India.
612:
that I'm part Jewish! My grandfather was Jewish. I mean, it may have sounded like I was being anti-Semitic, but I was really just sort of being... Catholic boys are kind of vain. They think of themselves as being unique, so why would we want to be directed by a Jewish person? But I probably didn't work again after that for two years or something.
329:
see police cars and a few of the
Brothers surrounding the soda fountain door as Danni's father is led out in handcuffs. Dunn rushes in and finds that social workers are preparing to take Danni away. A shaken Dunn takes Danni in his arms. Weeping, she wants him to promise that he won't be sad over her departure.
325:, Caesar enters the confessional, but Father Abruzzi becomes preoccupied with another student's misbehavior. Rooney enters the priest's booth and hears Caesar's confession, giving him the penance of befriending Rooney and making sure he gets passing grades. As a result, Caesar tutors and befriends Rooney.
333:
duffel bag containing the missing head. Brother
Constance sees the bag and accosts the boys into the gym, where Constance hits Corbett and Williams with a leather strap in an attempt to extract a confession for the vandalism. Caesar presents Constance with a doctor's note, presumably to exempt him from
611:
or somebody. I'm a
Catholic, and I still hang around with guys I went to high school with... I leaned over and I said, “I don't understand: Why in the world would they get a Jew to direct a Catholic boys movie?” And the director—Michael Dinner... —was sitting right behind me. And then it turned out
551:
He spent four months looking for actors around the country, including Boston and
Philadelphia, but ended up casting them all out of New York via their agents. "What happens here is that you stumble on kids with some stage experience who also seem natural as New York kids. What happens in Los Angeles
340:
Thadeus suspends all five boys for two weeks. He then presents
Constance, who he claims started the altercation, with an order that he be transferred to another assignment where he will not work with children. The five boys walk out of the school downtrodden, but then joyfully realize that they will
313:
After Rooney pulls a prank on Caesar, teacher
Brother Constance attempts to get Dunn to identify the prankster by striking Dunn's open palms with a paddle. Fed up with Dunn's refusal to rat out the perpetrator, Constance shoves him to the floor. Dunn lunges towards Rooney and the pair are separated.
328:
The relationship between Dunn and Danni further develops, culminating in a kiss under the boardwalk at the beach. One day, during one of the
Brothers' routine raids, Danni takes a stand and locks them out. The Brothers leave, but later contact social services. A few days later, Dunn and his friends
662:
The marketing was believed to have misled audiences about the film, indicating it was more of a typical teen film. "I'm a first-time director, and all I can do is stamp my foot, so to speak," said
Michael Dinner. "Besides, in terms of offending anyone, I'm more worried about Elvis fans." (The film
332:
An angry Rooney develops another prank with the help of Caesar, Williams and
Corbett to get back at the Brothers for having Danni taken away. The boys sneak onto school grounds at night and cut the head off the statue of St. Basil. During a school assembly the next day, Rooney presents Dunn with a
317:
Dunn also befriends Danni, a teenaged girl who runs the soda fountain across from the school and cares for her mentally infirm father. Danni's fountain shop is raided numerous times by the Brothers, who wish to catch St. Basil's students misbehaving. The raids leave the shop in shambles. After one
305:
In 1965, Boston teenager Michael Dunn and his young sister Boo have been sent to Brooklyn to live with their Irish-Catholic grandparents following the deaths of their parents. Dunn is enrolled at St. Basil's, a strict all-boys
483:
The script was read by producer Mark Carliner, who wanted to finance further work on it. Wigutow had to contact Purpura in India via telegram. The writer began doing further drafts.
562:, where Masterson had spent two summers in an acting company. Masterson was cast while the film began production, and she would rehearse on weekends with Dinner and McCarthy.
31:
659:
McCarthy later called the film "a very lovely movie that twelve people saw" and described it as "my favorite and/or the best movie I did in that whole era of those movies."
540:
Dinner said "When you're a new director you hear from a lot of people that you're a genius but it doesn't mean very much. I was happy to be getting any firm assignment."
548:
Dinner said "I came into this very idealistically, wanting to discover eight brand new faces who could play 16 and 17 year olds. But it didn't work out that way."
656:
was more positive, writing the filmmakers “have an unusually good feeling for the time, the place, the characters as kids and the adults they later turned into”.
1037:
589:. Filming used external and internal shots of this church and school, and around the neighborhood. An auditorium scene was filmed using students from
750:
1315:
648:
expressed that while he found some scenes were funny and contain “moments of real insight and memory,” he found the tone to be inconsistent.
590:
1345:
1216:
632:
To make the film more upbeat, there were changes made to a plot involving a disenchanted teacher, and the addition of a spoken epilogue.
574:
1340:
1270:
995:
1162:
1320:
1260:
1330:
1325:
1290:
1305:
1280:
1208:
1016:
863:
968:
1300:
1295:
1285:
1265:
1335:
640:
The film received mixed reviews and was not a commercial success. In a review that awarded the film two and
1155:
891:
834:
740:
629:. In European territories and in Australia, the film was released theatrically under its original title.
782:
1275:
1232:
334:
816:
Taylor, Clarke (June 19, 1984). "Director Dinner's First Feature: The 'Unknowns' Elements in 'Boys'".
123:
1310:
425:
1148:
491:
322:
525:
On the plane to Cannes, Dinner met Maurice Singer, chief of the new theatrical film division of
297:
as the teachers and administrators at the private Catholic school the boys attend in the 1960s.
162:
712:
472:
The story was originally written in 1978 as a masters thesis by Charles Purpura, a student at
1135:
555:
368:
262:
80:
1118:
603:
later claimed an incident on the film led to him being unofficially blacklisted for a time.
1224:
1192:
515:
8:
1255:
942:
577:(built 1921) and the (now closed) St. Michael's Parish School were used as the fictional
476:, who had attended Catholic boys' schools. An NYU teacher showed the script, then titled
473:
973:
923:
600:
586:
559:
506:
356:
290:
105:
1091:
896:
839:
818:
787:
745:
500:
431:
350:
294:
278:
133:
110:
921:
Maslin, Janet (February 16, 1985). "Hollywood keeping space stories down to earth".
625:
but due to HBO and Tri-Star's fears of alienating viewers, the title was changed to
1140:
1129:
534:
173:
1107:
1057:
1124:
1113:
717:
692:
526:
437:
386:
362:
307:
274:
258:
75:
1017:"Andrew McCarthy on Weekend At Bernie's: "It's the stupidest movie. I love it.""
607:
One afternoon when I was sitting there talking to another actor. I think it was
518:, figuring it was "bread cast upon the water". Dinner became attached to direct
1172:
864:"John Heard on The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, The Sopranos, Sharknado, and more"
677:
called the film "part of Andrew McCarthy's ‘soulful teens’ trilogy (along with
495:
487:
455:
380:
270:
254:
90:
44:
1249:
1021:
868:
608:
443:
416:
404:
398:
286:
282:
100:
649:
410:
374:
266:
250:
143:
85:
1200:
938:
665:
645:
449:
1096:
1085:
529:. By the time the plane landed in Europe, Singer had agreed to finance
392:
158:
95:
1102:
1042:
673:
30:
594:
510:. Carliner gave Dinner $ 10,000 to enable him to travel with
490:, a former recording artist who had just made a film at the
318:
raid, Dunn helps Danni clean things up, sparking a romance.
1000:
552:
is that even the good ones come off like Valley kids."
558:
was cast after Dinner saw a tape she had made at the
1170:
1247:
741:"Getting through 'Oz' with help of his friends"
1156:
1217:Thicker Than Blood: The Larry McLinden Story
969:"FILM: 'HEAVEN HELP US' FROM MICHAEL DINNER"
1163:
1149:
29:
341:not have to attend school for two weeks.
832:
916:
914:
889:
833:Champlin, Charles (February 28, 1985).
783:"MGM/UA: Two Guys Working Out a Script"
738:
281:as a group of Brooklyn teenagers, with
1316:1980s coming-of-age comedy-drama films
1248:
966:
920:
892:"Studios end season off $ 160 million"
861:
815:
780:
663:contains an unflattering excerpt from
1144:
1014:
937:
811:
809:
807:
805:
776:
774:
772:
770:
768:
753:from the original on October 29, 2020
1209:Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story
1035:
943:"Heaven Help Us (1985) movie review"
911:
781:London, Michael (February 8, 1985).
1346:English-language comedy-drama films
890:Mathews, Jack (September 6, 1985).
835:"The echoes of teen-age film stars"
13:
1058:"Heaven Help Us | Rotten Tomatoes"
967:Maslin, Janet (February 8, 1985).
802:
765:
14:
1357:
1079:
1038:"Top 10 Teen Films of the 1980s…"
422:Jimmy Ray Weeks as Danni's Father
1341:Films directed by Michael Dinner
1271:American teen comedy-drama films
1036:Vagg, Stephen (March 28, 2020).
996:"Interview with Andrew McCarthy"
621:The film was originally shot as
1050:
1029:
1008:
988:
960:
739:Mathews, Jack (June 21, 1985).
1321:1980s buddy comedy-drama films
931:
883:
862:Harris, Will (April 4, 2015).
855:
826:
732:
705:
467:
1:
1261:1980s teen comedy-drama films
698:
591:Cardinal Spellman High School
462:
1331:1980s English-language films
1326:1985 directorial debut films
1291:Films scored by James Horner
635:
7:
1306:Films about school violence
1281:Films shot in New York City
1015:Ihnat, Gwen (May 8, 2017).
16:1985 film by Michael Dinner
10:
1362:
616:
565:
543:
188:February 8, 1985
1179:
570:Filming took nine weeks.
277:, in his film debut, and
228:
220:
212:
202:
179:
169:
149:
139:
129:
119:
68:
58:
50:
40:
35:Theatrical release poster
28:
23:
1301:Films about Christianity
695:based on seven reviews.
1296:Films about Catholicism
537:came on to distribute.
492:American Film Institute
344:
323:sacrament of confession
300:
1286:TriStar Pictures films
1062:www.rottentomatoes.com
691:holds a 29% rating on
614:
163:Silver Screen Partners
1266:Films set in Brooklyn
941:(February 11, 1985).
605:
585:, run by the factual
575:Church of St. Michael
556:Mary Stuart Masterson
369:Mary Stuart Masterson
263:Mary Stuart Masterson
249:) is a 1985 American
81:Mary Stuart Masterson
1336:1980s American films
516:Cannes Film Festival
407:as Brother Constance
504:which had aired on
335:corporal punishment
1171:Films directed by
974:The New York Times
924:The Globe and Mail
654:The New York Times
587:Order of St. Basil
583:St. Basil's School
579:St. Basil's Church
560:Sundance Institute
507:American Playhouse
486:Carliner then met
419:as Brother Dominic
359:as Brother Timothy
353:as Brother Thadeus
1276:Films set in 1965
1243:
1242:
897:Los Angeles Times
840:Los Angeles Times
819:Los Angeles Times
788:Los Angeles Times
746:Los Angeles Times
512:Miss Lonelyhearts
501:Miss Lonelyhearts
432:Stephen Geoffreys
401:as Father Abruzzi
351:Donald Sutherland
295:Donald Sutherland
279:Stephen Geoffreys
253:film directed by
236:
235:
174:Tri-Star Pictures
134:Stephen A. Rotter
124:Miroslav Ondříček
111:Donald Sutherland
1353:
1165:
1158:
1151:
1142:
1141:
1073:
1072:
1070:
1068:
1054:
1048:
1047:
1033:
1027:
1026:
1012:
1006:
1005:
1004:. July 26, 2016.
992:
986:
985:
983:
981:
964:
958:
957:
955:
953:
935:
929:
928:
918:
909:
908:
906:
904:
887:
881:
880:
878:
876:
859:
853:
852:
850:
848:
830:
824:
823:
813:
800:
799:
797:
795:
778:
763:
762:
760:
758:
736:
730:
729:
727:
725:
713:"Heaven Help Us"
709:
426:Richard Hamilton
195:
193:
33:
21:
20:
1361:
1360:
1356:
1355:
1354:
1352:
1351:
1350:
1311:Teensploitation
1246:
1245:
1244:
1239:
1175:
1169:
1125:Box Office Mojo
1114:Rotten Tomatoes
1082:
1077:
1076:
1066:
1064:
1056:
1055:
1051:
1034:
1030:
1013:
1009:
994:
993:
989:
979:
977:
965:
961:
951:
949:
936:
932:
919:
912:
902:
900:
888:
884:
874:
872:
860:
856:
846:
844:
831:
827:
814:
803:
793:
791:
779:
766:
756:
754:
737:
733:
723:
721:
718:Box Office Mojo
711:
710:
706:
701:
693:Rotten Tomatoes
638:
619:
568:
546:
527:Home Box Office
494:, a version of
470:
465:
438:Patrick Dempsey
413:as Brother Paul
365:as Michael Dunn
363:Andrew McCarthy
347:
308:Catholic school
303:
275:Patrick Dempsey
259:Andrew McCarthy
243:(also known as
205:
198:
191:
189:
182:
165:
161:
154:
152:
115:
76:Andrew McCarthy
63:
54:Charles Purpura
36:
17:
12:
11:
5:
1359:
1349:
1348:
1343:
1338:
1333:
1328:
1323:
1318:
1313:
1308:
1303:
1298:
1293:
1288:
1283:
1278:
1273:
1268:
1263:
1258:
1241:
1240:
1238:
1237:
1233:Outlaw Country
1229:
1221:
1213:
1205:
1197:
1189:
1185:Heaven Help Us
1180:
1177:
1176:
1173:Michael Dinner
1168:
1167:
1160:
1153:
1145:
1139:
1138:
1131:Heaven Help Us
1127:
1120:Heaven Help Us
1116:
1109:Heaven Help Us
1105:
1098:Heaven Help Us
1094:
1087:Heaven Help Us
1081:
1080:External links
1078:
1075:
1074:
1049:
1028:
1007:
1001:Atlanta’s CW69
987:
959:
947:Rogerebert.com
930:
927:. p. E.6.
910:
882:
854:
825:
801:
764:
731:
703:
702:
700:
697:
689:Heaven Help Us
679:Pretty in Pink
637:
634:
627:Heaven Help Us
623:Catholic Boys,
618:
615:
567:
564:
545:
542:
496:Nathaniel West
488:Michael Dinner
469:
466:
464:
461:
460:
459:
456:Yeardley Smith
453:
447:
441:
435:
429:
423:
420:
414:
408:
402:
396:
390:
384:
381:Malcolm Danare
378:
372:
366:
360:
354:
346:
343:
302:
299:
271:Malcolm Danare
255:Michael Dinner
240:Heaven Help Us
234:
233:
230:
226:
225:
222:
218:
217:
214:
210:
209:
206:
203:
200:
199:
197:
196:
185:
183:
180:
177:
176:
171:
170:Distributed by
167:
166:
157:
155:
150:
147:
146:
141:
137:
136:
131:
127:
126:
121:
120:Cinematography
117:
116:
114:
113:
108:
103:
98:
93:
91:Malcolm Danare
88:
83:
78:
72:
70:
66:
65:
60:
56:
55:
52:
48:
47:
45:Michael Dinner
42:
38:
37:
34:
26:
25:
24:Heaven Help Us
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1358:
1347:
1344:
1342:
1339:
1337:
1334:
1332:
1329:
1327:
1324:
1322:
1319:
1317:
1314:
1312:
1309:
1307:
1304:
1302:
1299:
1297:
1294:
1292:
1289:
1287:
1284:
1282:
1279:
1277:
1274:
1272:
1269:
1267:
1264:
1262:
1259:
1257:
1254:
1253:
1251:
1235:
1234:
1230:
1227:
1226:
1222:
1219:
1218:
1214:
1211:
1210:
1206:
1203:
1202:
1198:
1195:
1194:
1190:
1187:
1186:
1182:
1181:
1178:
1174:
1166:
1161:
1159:
1154:
1152:
1147:
1146:
1143:
1137:
1133:
1132:
1128:
1126:
1122:
1121:
1117:
1115:
1111:
1110:
1106:
1104:
1100:
1099:
1095:
1093:
1089:
1088:
1084:
1083:
1063:
1059:
1053:
1045:
1044:
1039:
1032:
1024:
1023:
1022:The A.V. Club
1018:
1011:
1003:
1002:
997:
991:
976:
975:
970:
963:
948:
944:
940:
934:
926:
925:
917:
915:
899:
898:
893:
886:
871:
870:
869:The A.V. Club
865:
858:
842:
841:
836:
829:
821:
820:
812:
810:
808:
806:
790:
789:
784:
777:
775:
773:
771:
769:
752:
748:
747:
742:
735:
720:
719:
714:
708:
704:
696:
694:
690:
686:
684:
680:
676:
675:
670:
668:
667:
660:
657:
655:
651:
647:
643:
633:
630:
628:
624:
613:
610:
609:Jay Patterson
604:
602:
598:
596:
592:
588:
584:
580:
576:
571:
563:
561:
557:
553:
549:
541:
538:
536:
532:
531:Catholic Boys
528:
523:
521:
520:Catholic Boys
517:
513:
509:
508:
503:
502:
497:
493:
489:
484:
481:
479:
478:Catholic Boys
475:
457:
454:
451:
448:
445:
444:Paul Marchand
442:
439:
436:
433:
430:
427:
424:
421:
418:
417:Douglas Seale
415:
412:
409:
406:
405:Jay Patterson
403:
400:
399:Wallace Shawn
397:
394:
391:
388:
387:Jennie Dundas
385:
382:
379:
376:
373:
370:
367:
364:
361:
358:
355:
352:
349:
348:
342:
338:
336:
330:
326:
324:
319:
315:
311:
309:
298:
296:
292:
288:
287:Wallace Shawn
284:
283:Jay Patterson
280:
276:
272:
268:
264:
260:
256:
252:
248:
247:
246:Catholic Boys
242:
241:
231:
227:
223:
219:
216:United States
215:
211:
207:
201:
187:
186:
184:
178:
175:
172:
168:
164:
160:
156:
148:
145:
142:
138:
135:
132:
128:
125:
122:
118:
112:
109:
107:
104:
102:
101:Wallace Shawn
99:
97:
94:
92:
89:
87:
84:
82:
79:
77:
74:
73:
71:
67:
62:Mark Carliner
61:
57:
53:
49:
46:
43:
39:
32:
27:
22:
19:
1231:
1223:
1215:
1207:
1199:
1191:
1184:
1183:
1130:
1119:
1108:
1097:
1086:
1065:. Retrieved
1061:
1052:
1041:
1031:
1020:
1010:
999:
990:
980:December 20,
978:. Retrieved
972:
962:
952:December 20,
950:. Retrieved
946:
939:Ebert, Roger
933:
922:
903:December 20,
901:. Retrieved
895:
885:
873:. Retrieved
867:
857:
847:December 20,
845:. Retrieved
838:
828:
817:
794:December 20,
792:. Retrieved
786:
757:December 20,
755:. Retrieved
744:
734:
724:December 20,
722:. Retrieved
716:
707:
688:
687:
682:
678:
672:
671:
664:
661:
658:
653:
650:Janet Maslin
641:
639:
631:
626:
622:
620:
606:
599:
582:
578:
572:
569:
554:
550:
547:
539:
530:
524:
519:
511:
505:
499:
485:
482:
477:
471:
411:Philip Bosco
377:as Ed Rooney
375:Kevin Dillon
339:
331:
327:
320:
316:
312:
304:
267:Kevin Dillon
251:comedy-drama
245:
244:
239:
238:
237:
204:Running time
181:Release date
159:HBO Pictures
144:James Horner
86:Kevin Dillon
18:
1201:Hot to Trot
1136:The Numbers
843:. p. 4
666:Blue Hawaii
646:Roger Ebert
468:Development
458:as Cathleen
450:Dana Barron
434:as Williams
389:as Boo Dunn
257:. It stars
232:$ 6 million
208:104 minutes
64:Dan Wigutow
59:Produced by
41:Directed by
1256:1985 films
1250:Categories
1067:August 10,
699:References
601:John Heard
463:Production
440:as Corbett
428:as Grandpa
395:as Grandma
357:John Heard
291:John Heard
229:Box office
192:1985-02-08
151:Production
106:John Heard
51:Written by
636:Reception
452:as Janine
446:as Perrin
393:Kate Reid
383:as Caesar
153:companies
130:Edited by
96:Kate Reid
1225:The Crew
1193:Off Beat
1103:AllMovie
875:April 6,
751:Archived
535:Tri-Star
371:as Danni
221:Language
140:Music by
69:Starring
1043:FilmInk
674:FilmInk
644:stars,
617:Release
593:in the
566:Filming
544:Casting
514:to the
321:At the
224:English
213:Country
190: (
1236:(2012)
1228:(2000)
1220:(1994)
1212:(1994)
1204:(1988)
1196:(1986)
1188:(1985)
293:, and
683:Class
595:Bronx
1092:IMDb
1069:2024
982:2021
954:2021
905:2021
877:2015
849:2021
796:2021
759:2021
726:2021
685:)."
681:and
581:and
573:The
345:Cast
301:Plot
1134:at
1123:at
1112:at
1101:at
1090:at
669:.)
652:of
498:'s
474:NYU
1252::
1060:.
1040:.
1019:.
998:.
971:.
945:.
913:^
894:.
866:.
837:.
804:^
785:.
767:^
749:.
743:.
715:.
597:.
533:.
522:.
289:,
285:,
273:,
269:,
265:,
261:,
1164:e
1157:t
1150:v
1071:.
1046:.
1025:.
984:.
956:.
907:.
879:.
851:.
822:.
798:.
761:.
728:.
642:½
194:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
