Henry, Boy of the Barrio

Duration: 12:00

Year Published: 1963

Creator: A Bernard Selling Enterprises Production

Complete Record: Two Hispanic boys walk through a graveyard looking at the tombstones that are flat with the grass. One of them takes his foot to wipe away the dust and dirt. A Hispanic woman is doing the same -- looking for a tombstone. She gets on her knees to wipe away dirt obscuring the writing in her search. The mother’s face shows signs of having been hit, abused. The camera then takes in three younger people (the two boys and a girl) and two older people (man and woman) searching the graveyard. They find what they are looking for. Woman sits down on grass and weeps into a handkerchief. It is raining. Boys go away and come back with a container with flowers. Flower container won’t stand up, but mother gathers children in her arms to hug. Henry remains on his knees at the grave. Screen changes to graffiti on wall, and then Henry appears drawing on a wall with chalk. Henry is introduced as a troubled young man, haunted by the death of his father. He is living in a culture isolated from the white, wealthy, power-centric world of Los Angeles. He lives in a neighborhood that is much like his native Mexico. Views of the two contrasting neighborhoods in LA are shown, but not shown together. The film is about Henry’s quest for identity in a world to which he doesn’t belong for the two years following his father’s death. Shots of the barrio in Los Angeles and how Henry lives. Henry is struggling to become a man without a father. He beat up his mother, blaming her for his father’s death. Mother sits in a broken down chair smoking. The filmmaker tells us that he went with a parish priest to Henry’s home, and that is how the filmmaker got into the project. Making the film kept the mother of the family safe. MS of children playing as narrator tell us that mother has had 7 children, and but four are alive, one is in Idaho State Penitentiary. LS of children milling around the Parish Church. Henry and his parish mentor take him to meet The Intercontinentals, a teen club of the parish. CU shots of The Intercontinentals, who don’t want Henry because he is too young. LS of a classroom. Children at desks. Teacher to side of class. CU (camera somewhat over-the-shoulder) student’s hand on desk with paperwork. Shot of teacher’s arm and students, level with heads of seated students. Interesting detail: The letters “Born Free” on a pin board in back of classroom, appear as a corona over Henry’s head. Various shots of class in action from various angles. Teacher and students talk. Henry walks through vacant railroad yard describing how his father took a pitchfork to his mother. CU pot of soup; mother cooking. Mother talks of her life while camera shots are of Henry moving around the rail yard -- not really looking for trouble, but headed that way. Henry is bored and aimless. Mother is an Indian from Mexico. She married a man who had raped young girls. They got married. They moved to Idaho where the father locked the mother up and pimped her for money. As she relates this story, she sits rocking in a chair watching Ronald Reagan give a speech. Henry is shown in the railroad close to moving trains. When his mother was pregnant she went back to reservation, but her father would not let her into his house or reservation. CU shots of train car under carriage -- wheels, springs, etc. These seem to attract Henry. As the mother’s story continues, we see Henry mesmerized by the details of the trains under carriage. Shot of mother somewhat in silhouette against the bright light coming through her door and a torn window curtain. The details of the place where she lives are partially seen. There are a few quick CU shots of images on the wall. A friend of the mother’s, a Black man, has been around for 15 years. He brings her chickens and wine, and sometimes things for the girl like a game. Mother lives on $150 a month. Her friend sometimes helps her pay her rent. Her Black friend sits on couch, and the TV is playing cartoons. Mother makes point that daughter is “dark,” but she is not “a nigger.” A friend joins Henry in the freight yard. CU of the boys hands. They get in trouble by stealing a pair of socks, and they get picked up and handcuffed. CU of mother’s face saying she can’t cry anymore. CU of Henry’s face at home with paperwork for his infraction. The CU shots of Henry’s mother show a woman down and out. She is grief-stricken and at a loss for words. She is also smoking. Then she cries. Henry is seen wandering the streets. Something flashes like a gun. He wanders among the cars, lost. Henry stares at bright fountain in front of a business called “The Grand Pris.” His body language expresses aimlessness. His mother’s cries are over the scenes of him wandering the streets. Scene changes to house again. A Christmas tree is up. A Social Worker is visiting. The house interior is lighted up so that details of the living situation are more easily seen. The Social Worker tries to get Henry and his mother to talk to each other. She brings confusing forms to be signed. Later on in the day, Henry must go to court to answer for his theft. Since Henry lives in a high crime area in LA, and because he has no priors, his case is dismissed. Because Henry continues to get into trouble two parish people take up the task of mentoring him. They take him places he would not normally see: the ball park, the zoo, museums, the marina. They try to get him involved doing things not just watching. Shots of Henry and a friend doing things at the marina -- trying on life preserver, tying knots, etc. Shots of boys on sail boat steering. Social Worker moves mother into a cleaner newer place to live. Mother is shown MS interacting with her Black friend. The subject is whether he will marry her. She is rough housing with him. This kind of play could become violent. CU of Henry sailing, but obviously getting sea sick. Mother shown at MS and CU smoking. CU tortillas being cooked on stove. Children shown grooming themselves. Using combs. Son released from prison in Idaho, but can’t fulfill expectations that he will take care of family. Girl playing 45 records on record machine. Younger child learning against her drinking from baby bottle. CU Henry eating from plate. Man playing pool in MS and CU. People sitting at bar in midday drinking. Includes mother. Older son is having a hard time adjusting. From the time he was incarcerated until now he has become a man. Hard for him to find work with prison record and support his mother, keeping her out of bars, etc. He is shown walking the street. Viewer sees 1940s, 1950s and 1960s cars at curb, telephone poles and lots of wires, gas station in background. Deserted street otherwise. Shot of bar interior and people dancing, kissing, drinking, . . . shot of exterior of bar -- sign in background says “pool.’ Shot of son trying to take bottle from mother. Lot of pushing. Shot varies from CU to MS. Son removes bottle from his mother and throws bottle in outside a garbage can. Henry wanders the streets. In his boredom he aimlessly tries to destroy a wooden bridge. He walks railroad tracks. aimlessly. Freeway traffic shows up in shot. CU breaking glass out of abandoned building; Henry inside, camera outside. Camera inside pans around debris littered room of abandoned building. Poignant shots from outside looking at Henry breaking glass from inside as if he wants to escape. Henry shown CU pulling out cigarettes from pocket and lighting up. Last scene, Henry and brother again walking graveyard. Repeat of opening scene. Narrator announces that two years after the death of his father, Henry is arrested for auto theft. At fourteen, he has an arrest record.