Summaries

Synopsis

The movie opens with the title character (Allen Martin Jr.) climbing out the window of a drugstore that he has just robbed, and being helped down by his accomplice Eddie Duggan (Stanley Clements). After hiding from a passing policeman, they head off to Duggan's father's (George Cisar) tavern.

Johnny Holiday is a very troubled adolescent. While he is basically a decent person, he has made some extremely bad choices in his association with Duggan. He admires Duggan greatly, as a role model who can give him a sense of worth and importance. Johnny's father is absent, his mother is sick in the hospital, he has been living with a relative, and their financial situation is desperate, alleviated somewhat by Johnny's acts of larceny. Eddie Duggan, on the other hand, is an incorrigible, sociopathic, and violent juvenile delinquent.

Johnny and Eddie go into the back room of Mr. Duggan's tavern. Mr. Duggan is part of this burglary ring--Eddie's criminal nature runs in the family. Johnny empties his pockets of some small items he has stolen, while Eddie counts the cash that was in a cloth bag. Eddie is surprised by the amount of cash, and decides not to let his father have it. He hides it on a chair that he has Johnny sit on. Mr. Duggan comes in, looks at the small stolen items and haggles over the price, and asks about the cash. Eddie says there was no cash, his father doesn't believe him, and they get into a violent confrontation, with Eddie threatening his father with a switchblade knife. Mr. Duggan also beats Johnny over the missing money. Finally, Mr. Duggan leaves. Johnny seems to admire Eddie's courage in all of this. Eddie gives the bag of money to Johnny for safekeeping, since his father will probably frisk him again that night. Johnny leaves.

Johnny walks home. Two policemen notice him, he acts suspicious, and they run after him, catching up to him just at the door. He puts on a "tough guy" act of defiance, which he is very bad at. They frisk him, and find the money bag with the drugstore's name. Since he is already on probation, they say the he is going to go to Plainfield, and they take him away. The relative with whom he has been living, Mrs. Bellini (Jean Juvelier) is devastated, and says that his mother, in the hospital, will die from this.

The Indiana Boys School was a reform school at Plainfield, near Indianapolis. It was a real place (it is now an adult re-entry facility), and the movie was actually filmed there, using many of the staff and boys themselves as actors.

Immediately after arriving at Plainfield, Johnny attempts to run away from the car that delivered him (security was not very tight) and was caught, still on the grounds, by Mr. Walker (William Bendix), a staff member. He gets into a physical altercation with the much larger Mr. Walker, removing his belt and causing his pants to fall down, but is quickly subdued and brought back to the administration building.

In his initial interviews, Johnny is surly, sullen, and defiant. Johnny is younger and smaller than most of the other boys, and still has a child's voice. He tries to compensate with a "tough guy" attitude that is not at all convincing.

Inmates spend part of their time in school and part in some kind of vocational work, such as carpentry, shoe repair, machine shop, printing, or farming. The farming involves the use of horse-drawn plows. It is run by Mr. Walker, a gruff but fair and respected former World War I calvalry sergeant. Johnny is assigned there. Mr. Walker is hostile (because of the earlier incident) and dismissive of the boy's small stature, but shows him how to curry a horse, instructing him to curry the mare in the next stall when he's done with the current one. Johnny is confused about his instructions and instead goes into the stall of a stallion that is being dangerously aggressive. He realizes that there is something wrong with one of the horse's hooves, and, using a technique that he had observed from Mr. Walker only a few minutes earlier, inspects the hoof and removes a splinter. Walker comes by, sees Johnny in the stall of a dangerous horse, quietly asks him to come out, and then quickly closes the stall door and chews Johnny out for going into that stall. Johnny points out that the problem was just a splinter. Mr. Walker realizes that Johnny has a natural talent with horses. Johnny is soon promoted to driving the horse-drawn milk wagon.

There is an incident in which Johnny's horse is spooked by some maintenance workers, upsetting the cart and spilling all the milk containers. Mr. Walker comes by, followed by an administrator. In a fit of anger, Mr. Walker demands that Johnny be reassigned off the farm, to the shoe shop. The budding friendship and respect between Mr. Walker and Johnny has come to an end. Mr. Walker then realizes his mistake and arranges to visit the shoe shop, pick up Johnny, and go to the administrative office. While Johnny waits outside, Walker tells superintendent Lang (Donald Gallagher) that he wants Holiday back, and that Holiday is the best teamster in the whole school. Johnny overhears this through the open window. The superintendent lets Mr. Walker take Johnny back. The relationship, with Mr. Walker being a much-needed father figure, resumes.

There is a large ceremony in which the Governor (Henry F. Schricker, played by Governor Schricker himself) addresses the inmates, telling them that he is proud of them, and that they will be good citizens when they leave. A military-style pageant is put on, including a demonstration marching drill team, of which Johnny is a member.

A new inmate has arrived: Eddie Duggan. Johnny sees him, gets distracted, and falls out of formation, disrupting the entire show. Johnny is assigned to a punishment detail shoveling horse manure. Eddie is assigned to the farm, and runs into Johnny. The farm captain appears and chews Eddie out for talking to someone on punishment detail. Eddie assaults him.

On visitors day, Johnny has no family to come and visit him. He mentions this to Mr. Walker, saying that his only family is his mother, who is in a hospital in Indianapolis. Mr. Walker arranges to make a phony trip to a stock show, with a phony excuse to take Johnny along. When Eddie Duggan finds out, he gives Johnny some money, telling him to buy him some cigarettes.

On the trip, Mr. Walker tells Johnny that Nellie, Johnny's favorite horse, will be having a foal in a few months. Johnny expresses the wish that he could tell that to his mother, not realizing that visiting her is actually the goal of the trip. Mr. Walker drives right past the hospital; Johnny points this out, and Mr. Walker stops and lets Johnny visit his mother (Greta Granstedt).

Johnny has an emotional meeting with his mother. She is impressed by his good manners and neat clothing. (He is in a well-pressed military uniform.) He tells his mother what a wonderful man Mr. Walker is. Mr. Walker comes in and meets Mrs. Holiday. He takes Johnny aside and gives him a dollar to go downstairs and buy his mother a gift. While Johnny is gone he tells Mrs. Holiday how pleased he is with Johnny's progress. Mrs. Holiday thanks him for his help and fatherly influence. She tells him that Johnny was always a good boy, until "he started running around with that Eddie Duggan." She says that Johnny didn't know what he was doing; that he only knew that she was sick and needed money, and that Eddie could get it for him. Mr. Walker assures her that "Johnny's on the right track and he's going to stay there."

Down in the gift shop, Johnny buys his mother some candy, and then buys three packs of cigarettes. (The clerk says "They're not for you, are they? No; they're for my mother, upstairs." In 1949 minors weren't supposed to smoke, but it was OK for hospital patients.) Johnny hides them, not at all well, in his shirt. When he gets back upstairs, Mr. Walker tells him to tuck in his shirt, and then sees the cigarettes. His whole attitude changes, though he hides that from Mrs. Holiday.

On the drive home, Mr. Walker says "Hand 'em over." Johnny does so, and Walker throws them out the window. (Sensibilities about littering were different in 1949.) "Who'd you buy them for?" "Myself." "You like to smoke?" "Yes, sir." Walker gives him a cigar to smoke. Johnny seems to be enjoying it, to Mr. Walker's chagrin. But after a while, Johnny throws up, pleasing Mr. Walker.

Eddie Duggan upbraids Johnny for getting caught and losing his 50 cents. He reminds Johnny that he had helped him financially when his mother was about to be evicted. Mr. Walker, who now knows the background, comes by and reminds them that Eddie had gotten Johnny into Plainfield. He sends Eddie up to the second floor of the barn to help operate a crane that is offloading hay from a wagon. Mr. Walker and Johnny then get into a game of mumbley-peg in front of the barn. The apparatus that Eddie is operating above them is extremely dangerous, and could cause death if dropped on someone from that height. Eddie drops it on Mr. Walker while the latter is "rooting for the peg" and not able to notice. Johnny pulls Mr. Walker away just before the apparatus strikes the ground. Eddie is brought down, and he says that it was just an accident. Johnny backs up his story.

Eddie is taken to the staff psychologist Dr. Piper (Herbert Newcomb) for an examination. The report, among other things, concludes that Eddie is a "constitutional psychopathic", "completely devoid of sympathetic emotion", and that "John Holiday represents the last vestige of his power as a gang leader".

When the time comes for Nellie to foal, Mr. Walker and Johnny argue over the name. A generational conflict becomes apparent: Mr. Walker wants the name "Black Jack", the nickname of World War I General John Pershing. Johnny has never heard of Pershing, and wants to name the colt after World War II General Dwight Eisenhower, who was extremely famous in 1949, even before he became President. But during the night, Nellie comes into extreme distress. Mr. Walker and Johnny try to control her sweating, to no avail. Johnny goes into Walker's office to get the first aid kit. When he opens the desk drawer, he notices, in addition to the first aid kit, a revolver. He is very concerned. They call a vet. After a few hours, the vet finally gets back to Mr. Walker. After hearing about the mare's condition, he tells Mr. Walker that he has to kill the mare, or they will lose both the mare and the foal. Walker knows what he has to do. He takes the gun, goes into the stall, and tells Johnny to leave. Johnny hears the gunshot, and runs back into the stall. "You killed her." "I had to do it, Johnny. I had to." Johnny is beside himself with grief. He sobs on the hay, and is not consoled when Mr. Walker comes out later holding the colt General Eisenhower. He runs out of the barn into the early dawn. Eddie is there, and Johnny relates what happened. Eddie says that Johnny can get away from Walker if he is caught smoking. He gives Johnny a cigarette and lights it. After Eddie leaves, Walker catches Johnny, slaps him, and tells him to report back to his cottage.

Both Eddie and Johnny are placed in "disciplinary barracks", where the boys have to mop floors inside a locked cage. Through the window, Johnny sees that his mother is out of the hospital, on a bench talking to Mr. Walker. But he won't let her see him, because he is on discipline. He agrees to go inside and talk to Johnny. He tries to be conciliatory, but Johnny is hostile. "Did you tell her you killed Nellie? Did you tell her you put me in the cage?" Walker decides that progress can't be made.

After Johnny is released, he goes back to the barn, and is hostile to Mr. Walker. Eddie shows up and gives Johnny some putty to make an impression of the barn door key so that they can break in, steal Walker's jeep, and escape. Johnny has still not learned to make good decisions.

There is a Christmas service at the chapel. As a special treat, Hoagy Carmichael (playing himself; he was from Indiana) puts in an appearance, singing some Christmas songs. During the performance, Eddie gets Johnny to slip away with him, and they go into the barn. Johnny starts to hot-wire Walker's car. Walker has noticed their disappearance from the Christmas show, and comes to the barn. He finds Johnny; Eddie has gone into his office and gotten the gun. He comes out and threatens to shoot Mr. Walker. He demands Walker's car keys. They are in his coat pocket in his office. Mr. Walker starts to go into the office, but Eddie demands that Johnny do it instead. Mr. Walker tells Johnny that they are in his coat hanging by the phone. Johnny takes the phone off the hook, and, with the operator listening, says loudly "I've got the coat, Eddie. Don't shoot Mr. Walker, Eddie. Don't shoot him." The operator sounds an alarm, and the authorities arrive. Eddie holds Johnny as a hostage. Walker says "Look at him. Big shot Duggan hiding behind a baby. He was too yellow to pull the trigger when he had the gun on me." Eddie shoots Walker several times, but he survives.

In the final scene, Mr. Walker is back on the job, but using a cane. Johnny, who has been released, comes with his mother for visit. He introduces his mother to the horse "Ike" Eisenhower. Mr. Walker and Mrs. Holiday are both very proud of how Johnny has turned out.

A new boy arrives and is introduced to Mr. Walker. The new boy is as nasty as Johnny had been. Mr. Walker says "Well, here we go again."