Little Pal (aka The Healer) (DVD)

Litle Jimmy dreams of riding a shiny bicycle down the road at sixty miles an hour, but his crippled legs keep his fantasy from becoming reality. As part of the lad's therapy, Dr. Holden buys him a bike for inspiration as he and his pretty assistant, Evelyn, exercise Jimmy's crippled legs in the healing waters of the hot springs at Holden's charity retreat. Enter Joan Bradshaw, a wealthy socialite with designs on the doctor that go far beyond clinical. Determined to win him away from Evelyn, Joan funds the construction of a magnificent sanitarium, installing Holden as the chief physician. Being a "Healer to the Rich" is not his cup of tea, however, and he decides to give it up and return to his roots. A forest fire racing toward the retreat threatens both his plans and the life of the woman he loves, when Evelyn is pinned under a falling tree. It's up to young Jimmy to get help for her, and the only possible way is atop his unridden bike.

This film, originally released in 1935 as The Healer, was reissued in 1939 as Little Pal in order to capitalize on the popularity of young Mickey Rooney, after films like A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938) made him a box-office star.

• drama