Bad Boy on AllMovie

Independently (and very cheaply) produced, Bad Boy stars Johnny Downs as the title character, one John Fraser. In truth, John isn't really a bad boy, but he's been led astray by crooked Steve Carson (James Robbins). Somewhat weak-willed, our hero gains inner strength through adversity, and by film's end he has squared himself with the Law and rounded up the actual crooks. Of interest is the fact that Bad Boy is one of the few "mainstream" films to offer a major role to legendary black actor-writer-director Spencer Williams Jr., best known to contemporary viewers as Andrew H. Brown on TV's Amos 'N' Andy. Bad Boy was released in December, 1939, the same week that the decidedly superior Johnny Downs vehicle Laugh it Off also hit the screens.