SOMEDAY, BOY

Without the hell-and-gunfire of He Ran All The Way (1917) but still in that vein and vernacular, this is the story of a pretty obnoxious boy named Benny Gordon in the slums of Chicago during the period leading up to the depression. Benny spends a good deal of his time dreaming of the big things he will do someday, most of them involving get-rich-quick schemes. The rest of his time is spent hanging out with Lefty and other friends, sleeping with Martha, or practising swimming so that he can win the river swim. With a job in a real estate agency, Benny decides Martha isn't good enough for him, and starts going out with Laura, a nice girl. But when Laura goes away to college, Benny realizes she is out of his class. At the close Benny has lost all his money, has returned to Martha, and is again dreaming about someday.... There's a certain authenticity of character here- if you can bear with it.