Product Details

• Actors: Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, David Bailey, Lillian Gish
• Format: NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Home Video
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0001CL2BI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,919 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEHIND THE SCENES & TRIVIA, January 21, 2010

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Follow Me Boys! ( Walt Disney ) (VHS Tape)

PLOT: The film begins in the 1930's, as Lem Siddons (Fred MacMurray) decides to stop touring as a jazz musician and settles down in a small town named Hickory. He goes to work for a local store. After noticing the boys in town seem to get into a lot of mischief because there is nothing to do, Lem offers to start a local Boy Scout troop. He also has time to fall for a local girl, Vida (Vera Miles). The story takes place over several generations of boys that grow up in the Boy Scouts under Lem's leadership, and he gets to see the positive outcome of his part in developing character and values in their lives. A very heartwarming and humorous story, and a favorite with scout leaders to this day.

TRIVIA & BEHIND THE SCENES: Directed by Norman Tokar, who also directed other films for the Walt Disney Studios including A Tiger Walks, Savage Sam, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Snowball Express, The Boatniks, The Ugly Dachsund, The Cat from Outer Space, and more. Lead actors Fred MacMurray and Vera Miles both appeared in several Disney movies, and were naturals in this film. This was young Kurt Russel's first big part for Disney in a feature film. Elliot Reed as the banker, and Charlie Ruggles as the general store owner, you may remember him as the girls grandfather that always has peppermints in his pocket in The Parent Trap. Filmed in Technicolor. Screenplay by Louis Polletier (who wrote the scripts for Big Red, Those Calloways, Smith!, Bayou Boy), and it was supposed to be based on the book by Mackinlay Kantor, "God and My Country". But during the pre-production, the story was completely changed, including many changes by Walt himself. It is said that Walt created the part for Lilian Gish himself. The title song was written by the Sherman Brothers. An LP record was put together as a marketing tie-in to the film, and had songs to sing around the campfire, with the intention of selling the record to summer camps, campgrounds, scouts troops, etc. The small town was built in the back-lot at the Disney studios, and the scenes of camping out were shot at the studios well used Golden Oaks Ranch.

There is a whole fleet of wonderful antique cars in the film, 1915 Baker Electric car; 1927 Lincoln Touring Car; 1929 Fords and Chevrolets; 1940, 1946, and 1950 Cadillacs; vintage trucks, a jeep and more. Radio City Music Hall hosted the premier of the film, and it did brisk Christmas box office business.
First released on December 1, 1966. Walt Disney passed away just two weeks later on December 14. Running time 131 minutes. For a special theatrical re-issue of the movie for 1976, it was edited down by 24 minutes to a new length of 107 minutes. It aired once on the NBC television on the "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" weekly show, on August 2 & 16, 1982 as a two episode movie. Released to VHS for the first time in 1984. First DVD release was in 2004. One of the scenes cut from the film that I would love to see restored is when Fred MacMurray and Vera Miles canoe sinks to the bottom of the water. Great family friendly movie, about a regular guy sacrificing for the good of others.