Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town. Written by

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This is a movie which needs to come around again. The USA is hurting for stories such as this. In a nutshell, an outsider named Lemuel Siddons wants so badly to become part of the community he volunteers to become the scoutmaster of a new Boy Scout troop...and over 40 years watches his scouts, their kids and grandkids all follow the path he blazed. He and the community come to realize he is part of them, and that he has become far more important in the grand scheme of life by guiding others to be good citizens/neighbors than he ever might have done by being a famous attorney.

I'm going to throw in a gratuitous thank-you to George Stratton, first Scoutmaster of Troop 573 at Good Shepherd Church in West Springfield Mass. in 1965 or 1966 or thereabouts. I'm sure your nephews Gorden and Dave (Ventulett) grew up on the straight & narrow. Thanks to you, so did I. You were like a second dad. I just wish I could find a diner as good as the one you used to take us to, down at Westfield St. and Dewey St. near the tracks....those were the most glorious greasy, oniony cheeseburgers I ever tasted.

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George Mussman (GEM-20) from Washington State
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I was very pleased to see that Disney finally released this movie on DVD. I have been wanting to see it for a long time, but not only because it was another Disney film with Fred MacMurray. Rather, I am a Scout Leader, and can relate to many of the things in the picture, and that made it a special delight for me.

This was Kurt Russell's first Disney picture. He is wonderful here as the reluctant boy with a drunken father. While he loves his dad, he is embarrassed when others see him. I have seen scouts in these positions.

With my two sons in Scouting, they enjoyed this movie very much. Even my daughter, who is a Girl Scout, liked it too. A measure of a great film is when it makes you want to see it again.

Out of my usual four-star rating system, I would give this: ***.5

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scgkj
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Just thought I would share what little I know about this movie.

Mackinlay Kantor was born in my hometown of Webster City, Iowa. He belonged to Boy Scout troop #17. He would have been 16 years old in 1920 so that gives you an idea when he was in scouts. My understanding is that he wrote the book to honor the Boy scouts and their leaders and he wanted to do so because of the great experiences he had a scout. I don't know how much of the movie is true but I do know there is at least one thing in the movie which reflects Webster City. It's nothing more than the name of a street but it's something anyway.

When I was a scout in the mid 70's we met in the upstairs of an old school building. All over the walls were posters which listed the winners of some of the annual contests that the troop held each year. Mackinlay Kantor's name was up there several times for having won several contests.

The name of my Scout leader in the 70's was a man named John McMurray. The man who founded Troop 17 in Webster City was a man named Murray McMurray. Their family has run a chick hatchery of all things in Webster City for years and it is still a thriving business today. Murray would have been Mackinlay Kantors Scout leader and I'm sure a big reason why he wrote the book. Murry, by the way, was a local banker who started the hatchery on the side. So he wasn't a musician like Lem was per say but his commitment to the town and to scouts is obviously reflected in the book and movie.

At this writing it is Memorial Day weekend 2006. There is a reunion being held this weekend in Webster City for all scouts who ever were in Troop 17. Among other things John McMurray will be speaking and concerning the movie Follow Me Boys? They will be be playing it twice for everybody there to go and see.

If you grew up in Webster City and were a scout this movie holds a little bit more than the usual emotions.

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jayrnj (jayrnj@aol.com) from New Jersey
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I was six years old when I saw this movie in the theaters in 1966. Back then the screens were big and a little kid like me, seeing other kids on screen looking bigger-than-life, wanted to be just like them. I never joined the boy scouts, but the film's somewhat typical Disney values definitely had an influence on me. Now let's fast-forward almost 40 years later and look at the film from a grown-up perspective. The acting here is marvelous. Anyone over 40 knows all about Fred MacMurray and the great actor that he was, both on TV and in films. Throw in the pretty Vera Miles, the legendary Lillian Gish, and the I-know-his-voice-from-Saturday-morning-cartoons Charlie Ruggles, and it all comes together nicely. The best part of this film? Not the catchy Sherman Brothers theme song...but perhaps one of the best child-actor performances ever...Kurt Russel. Want a movie where you'll cry a bit but then feel real good at the end? Follow this one!

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aliemre627 (aliemre627@yahoo.com) from Turkey, Ankara
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Follow me boys is an excellent movie that attracts you for a long time.I watched that movie when I was 8 (1989) but still I remember it (2001,age 21).The story was powerful and so on the cast (children players). I think it is not only a children classic but also a movie that every individual must see.

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Doc_Who from Vacaville, CA, USA
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In this movie a man moves into a town in the 1940 or it is 1930'(not sure which) a starts a new job. Then one day during a town meeting he volunteers to lead the local Boy Scout Troop. Of course this also leads to romance(it is Disney movie so it's standard) with one of the town's women. The only bad thing is she is going out with a rich,snobby guy . Eventually they both fall in love and get married. A young Kurt Russell also stars in this movie as boy always getting into trouble and treating the other boys meanly. The scout troop has pleanty of misadventures including accidently getting into a miltary "war games" .

Then many years World War 2 arrives. The young man who was always teasing everyone is now a soldier and a doctor.he also married a fellow solider. Everyone else in the orginal troop grew up as well. The troop honors their former scoutmaster with a touching day honoring him. If you like Fred Mccurray or Kurt Russell you might like this movie! This moive is a good drama/comedy.. It makes one wonder why Disney does not make these kinds of movies any more besides all this stupid live action movies. This movie was fresh in 1966 and it's still fresh today!

One question though.. When/Will will this come out on DVD?

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JohnnySTL from Saint Charles, MO
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Follow Me, Boys! is a feel good film with an impressive cast. It's a snapshot of a time when there was a true sense of community that we rarely see today. A time when personal values carried more weight than profits.

The film delivers a powerful message of just how much difference a single person can make by leading through example. I think with today's media glut of flashy superstardom and wealth and narcissism, many us have lost sight of how much force there is in simply being a kind and honest person. I certainly walked away re-evaluating some of my motivations and behaviors. Just how do I affect the people around me on a daily basis?

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bobmccanless from Pittsburgh
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I think the strength of the film - at least for those of us who grew up during the "Mayberry Days" of our country - is, that - if you were ALSO a Scout during those days, this film IS your story as well.

I grew up in the 70's and early 80's in rural NC - not far removed from the inspiration for the fictional Mayberry, in many respects. While Fred MacMurray's name is in the credits, my Scoutmaster could just as easily have played this part. A tall man himself - a Korean War veteran - and a leader by example, he was a man of few words, but like Scoutmaster Lem, they always seemed to be the RIGHT words, and for impressionable boys of that age, that's what matters.

In 25 years of service to my troop - 17 of those as Scoutmaster - over 50 boys in my small town made Eagle Scout - including myself and my younger brother. The uniforms are older, and the kids names are a little different, but I recognize my own youth - my own Scouting adventures - in this big screen production. And when Lem finally gets his parade, we can all rejoice over all the Scouting leaders who made us the men we are today.

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dicknielson from United States
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I loved it for the look back at how things worked some 50 years ago. I know it is sugar coated. But the importance that people put in different things back then is good to see.

I love the view of how scouting as an organized group can bring the boys and the community together. My kids loved it and watch it again and again. That does not happen much with movies.

Well filmed and though it has comedy moments it dives into the seriousness of growing up in a small town. The acting is pretty much the same for all movies at the time - a little melodramatic, but during that time period you can expect that. Movies were for all ages adult to kids. So you see silliness in the middle of serious moments.

great film

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cutterccbaxter from minneapolis, minnesota, on the planet Earth
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MacMurray plays a character named Lemuel Siddons, a member of a big band in the early 1930s who is tired of the endless traveling involved with that occupation. He wants to settle down somewhere so he can study law. On a whim he picks Hickory (Population 4,951) located somewhere in the Midwest of the United States of America. He immediately meet-cutes Vida Downey, who is played by Vera Miles, by stepping on her foot as he catches a fly ball from a baseball game played by a bunch of kids. She takes an immediate disliking to him, which means they are eventually going to get married. Before this happens, Lemuel, or as he is more commonly known as, Lem, volunteers to organize a Boy Scout troop at a town meeting which impresses Vida. The movie focuses on MacMurray and the positive effect he has on the various groups of boys he leads over the years. Sctructually the film flows somewhat awkwardly. That is the pacing lingers, and then leaps forward, and then lingers again. In a way, it's sort of a poor man's "It's A Wonderful Life" as Lem never really pursues his goal of becoming a lawyer, but instead finds great satisfaction in his marriage to Vida and his commitment as a Scout leader. The difference between Lem and George Bailey is that Lem knows he has it good the entire time, which means most of the drama comes from guiding the troubled Kurt Russle character. Once this part of the movie is concluded the films sort of feels rudderless until it makes it way to the final scene where Lem is honored by the community. The film has a nice positive spirit to it, but it still could have used more drama to make Lem's life all the more poignant.

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Dude-20 from Williston, North Dakota
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Follow Me Boys is a wonderful film that deals with the life of Lem, played by Fred McMurray, and his tenureship as a scoutmaster in a small mid-western town. As a scout myself, I feel a sense of loss when I watch this film. It shows a community that supports the youth and wish to see them grow into mature people. Too bad it isn't that way any more.

Film debut of John Larroquette.
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Charles Ruggles' final movie.
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Parley Baer left from being the Mayor of Mayberry, to being the Mayor of Hickory.
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Final movie of Madge Blake.
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This was Kurt Russell's first Disney movie.
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scoutmaster|family relationships|illness|governor|generational|decades|scouting|boy scouts|children|world war two|war game|rescue|parade|infertility|competency hearing|alcoholic father|adoption|boy scout|orphan|based on book|

AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Australia:G / Canada:G / Canada:G (video rating) / Finland:S / Sweden:Btl / UK:U / USA:Approved (certificate #21115) / USA:G (re-rating) (1975)