The always-reliable Fred MacMurray starred in Disney’s Follow Me, Boys!, a comic drama about the founding of a small-town Boy Scout troop to keep the local lads on the straight and narrow. Think Boys Town with more nature hikes.
1930’s musician Lem Siddons (MacMurray) decides to pack up his saxophone and settle down in a small Midwestern burg, hoping to eventually become a lawyer.
Lem’s eye is caught by Vida Downey (Vera Miles), a local bank teller. With Vida’s urging, Lem helps start up a new Boy Scout troop, serving as scoutmaster.
Though most of the community supports Lem and the boys, cold-hearted banker Ralph Hastings (Elliott Reid) threatens to have the troop kicked out of its headquarters.
But with the help of Hastings’ rich Aunt Hetty (Lillian Gish) and an unswerving dedication to his boys’ futures, Lem just might be able to turn things around.
A young Kurt Russell appears as a particularly troubled scout.
Radiating an old-fashioned sentimentality, Follow Me, Boys! warmed the hearts of 60’s moviegoers and earned a healthy profit for Disney.
Lemuel ‘Lem’ Siddons
Fred MacMurray
Dr Ferris
Tol Avery
Vida Downey
Vera Miles
Duke
David Bailey
Hetty Seibert
Lillian Gish
John Everett Hughes
Charles Ruggles
Ralph Hastings
Elliott Reid
Whitey
Kurt Russell
Cora Anderson
Madge Blake
Nora White
Luana Patten
Leo
Bill Booth
Melody Murphy
Ken Murray
Umpire
Richard Bakalyan