Spencer Tracy brought the story of Father Edward J. Flanagan to life in the 1938 Oscar-winning movie “Boys Town.” A new documentary, “Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story,” will take a deeper look at his work when it is shown in theaters for one night only on Ocober 8.
The movie documents Flanagan’s unwavering commitment to caring for abandoned and orphaned youth, starting from the Great Depression to after World War II, all while defying racist laws to serve the most vulnerable and give them hope for a future. As of 2024, the legacy of Flanagan includes serving more than half a million children nationwide in nine sites. See the full impact HERE.
The film covers a range of topics, from Flanagan’s health issues to his immigrating to the United States to his founding of Boys Town, Neb.
The feature-length documentary was produced by Spirit Juice Studios in partnership with the Father Flanagan League and filmed on location in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Japan and throughout the United States. It also includes expert commentary from Steve Wolf, vice postulator for the cause of Flanagan’s beatification and canonization, as well as Deacon Omar F.A. Gutierrez, Father Ryan Lewis and Ed Flanagan, the great-nephew of Flanagan, among others. The film is narrated by popular Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as Jesus Christ in “The Chosen.”
Producer Victoria McEachern said that although man of the bigger topics of Flanagan’s life are very well known, it was the “smaller moments” that she learned while making the film that really stood out to her and gives the documentary more depth.
“For me, it was those little, quiet moments,” she told the Catholic News Reporter. “Father Flanagan was this big personality who was incredibly well known and he was also a very quiet, holy, giving, generous man.”
She added that there also is a lot that people can continue to learn from Flanagan, especially when it comes to injustices we face in society today.
“He was really ahead of his time in speaking out against issues of segregation and racial justice,” McEachern said. “To recognize how he stood on situations like that in the past really informs even now how we deal with injustices of our days.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice