Whakakihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te tau 1937, ko Rooney te mea nui rawa atu hei Shockey Carter i roto i te "Hoosier Schoolboy", engari ko tana mahi nui hei kaiwhakaari whakaari i puta mai i te 1938 "Boys Town" i te taha o Spencer Tracy hei Matua Flanagan, e whakahaere ana i te kaainga mo nga tama koretake me te kore whare. I whakawhiwhia a Rooney, 18 tau, me Deanna Durbin, 17 tau, ki tētahi Tohu Ākonga Mātauranga Motuhake i roto i
1939, mō "te takoha nui ki te kawe mai ki te mata te wairua me te whakaahuatanga o te rangatahi". E whakaahua ana a Wayne i tetahi o nga "tirohanga rongonui" o te kiriata, kei te takaro a Rooney i te poker me te hikareti i roto i tona mangai, kei tona potae, kei ona waewae kei runga i te teepu. "Kei te hopu a Tracy i a ia i nga waewae, ka maka atu i te hikareti, a ka pana ia ki runga ki te tūru. 'He pai ake,' ka mea ia ki a Mickey". I kii a Louis B. Mayer ko "Boys Town" tana kiriata tino pai i ona tau i MGM.