Forty Boys and a Song (1941)

Overview

Forty Boys and a Song is a 1941 short documentary film directed by Irving Allen. The film is about the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, consisting entirely of boys aged 8 to 14. The choir, run by organist Robert Mitchell, appeared in Hollywood productions for over thirty years. Accordingly, the boys were recruited to go to a special school where they would go through regular classroom instruction until 1 PM, after which they'd do choir practice. The kids are also shown performing in a church on Sunday as well as camping, as they are all part of the same Boy Scouts troop. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-Reel.

Reviews

CinemaSerf

This isn’t the most natural of films you’ll ever see as it showcases the skills of young lads attending a school where their more academic lessons play second fiddle to their singing. Led by their young teacher Bob Mitchell, these youngsters deliver a few songs whilst extremely conscious of the camera that is filming them. Even the more jolly songs seem to go hand-in-hand with a sort of compulsory grin on each of their faces, and the hearty meal they are toasting at the end as they go a-scouting just looked like sausage on a stick to me. It’s a feel good, naturally falsetto, film about camaraderie and the joys of harmonising, but you’ll never remember it afterwards - unless you were one of the boys.

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