I usually find myself sympathizing with characters like Herod and Rameses when children are involved, although I wouldn't want to take things quite as far as they did, so I was pretty much expecting to dislike this movie. Despite having its share of cheesy moments, it isn’t overly sentimental, and for my initial exposure to Bobby Breen, it turned out okay. “Tommy” shares a home with his mother “Martha” (Dolores Costello). They and the rest of their Mennonite community are struggling financially, so his ambition to become a singer seems unlikely to happen, as is them getting together enough money—$92—to move to Kansas and join the rest of their family who are farming there. Wanting to lend a hand, and under the guidance of “Terwilliger” (Charles Ruggles), who isn’t entirely reliable, he runs off to Philadelphia where he finds some work at an ice rink, and then gets to sing too—for the surprisingly low amount of $5 per week! The problem is that we know he's being taken advantage of by his friend, so when it becomes clear that “Terwilliger” has a hidden sum of money, “Tommy” uses it to go back home with enough cash for their trip. While he was gone, though, he’d been wrongly blamed for stealing a twenty dollar bill that had accidentally ended up as padding inside a chair. Now returning and facing the anger of “William” (Robert Barrat), he and his now somewhat regretful friend have to hurry around trying to figure out what happened to the chair. Some of the cinematography and special effects make Breen appear excessively innocent at times, and there's a group scene on the ice where a young girl tries her best impression of Shirley Temple while skating that did give me pause. Otherwise, though, you can’t deny that Breen is a likable kid who can easily carry a tune—though it’s quite high-pitched. There are some pleasant adventures, particularly near the end, which lets Ruggles keep things lighthearted, and the music is cheerful throughout. It's not a masterpiece, certainly, but it isn’t awful either, and there’s even a cameo for the infamous “Miss Gulch” (Margaret Hamilton) for those who are looking closely.

Source on TMDB