To Generation X folks like me, we know Dean Stockwell mainly from his roles in movies like Blue Velvet or TV shows like Quantum Leap. However, Stockwell’s career started as a nine-year-old child actor in 1945, and 1948’s The Boy With Green Hair grants him a starring role.

With his parents absent for reasons he doesn’t know, young Peter Fry (Stockwell) finds himself shuttled from one relative to another. He winds up in the care of a kindly old man he refers to as “Gramp” (Pat O’Brien).

Eventually Peter discovers his parents died during World War II, and this revelation comes with an odd side-effect, as Peter’s hair suddenly turns green. This leads to a negative reaction in town, as locals treat Peter as a terrifying oddity.

Based on the movie’s title, one might expect Boy to offer a comedic Disney-style fantasy.

Based on my synopsis, one might expect Boy to offer a piece of social commentary on fear of the unusual.

In truth, both seem true – and it tosses in themes that aspire to depict heartwarming “parental” relationships. This makes Boy an odd mix of genres that doesn’t mesh in a particularly compelling manner.

Honestly, Boy seems like it would work better as a roughly 20-minute short. It comes with vaguely interesting themes and concepts that would seem sufficient to span a fairly brief period of time.

Unfortunately, Boy keeps on chugging well past that span, and it can’t fill the space in a compelling manner. The story flits all over the place and fails to find a coherent path.

Indeed, we get some odd bits of filler that feel out of place. For instance, it seems clear the movie posits Gramp as a former actor so it can interject random musical numbers into the proceedings. These come out of nowhere and don’t fit the overall tale.

Boy also mixes parable about the way people fear the unknown and overt political commentary. The movie occasionally grinds to a halt so characters can lecture us about the then-current climate, particularly in response to wars.

All of this feels awkward and clumsy. Again, as a basic fable intended for kids, Boy could work in a small dose, for we find enough content to occupy 20 minutes or so.

Since Boy runs well past that, though, it ends up with the aforementioned filler and the clumsy melange of genres and themes. The movie never decides where it wants to go, and this means it falters in a number of ways.

We do find a fine cast, as in addition to Stockwell and O’Brien, we get talents like Robert Ryan and Barbara Hale. Stockwell does well in his role, as he avoids “kid actor cuteness” and delivers a surprisingly deep performance.

Beyond that, though, Boy winds up as a sluggish and confused effort. It throws obvious messages in our faces and lacks consistency or coherence.

The Boy With Green Hair appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a nice presentation, especially given the film’s age.

In terms of sharpness, the movie usually demonstrated appealing delineation. A few shots seemed somewhat soft, but those issues occurred infrequently, so the majority of the flick looked concise and accurate.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and no edge enhancement became apparent. Grain remained appropriate, and no specks, marks or other defects showed up at any time in this fresh presentation.

Colors were strong. A Technicolor production that embraced a variety of tones, the hues tended to be vivid and full.

Blacks seemed deep and dense without too much heaviness. Shadow detail worked similarly well, as dimly-lit shots were appropriately clear and thick. I found little about which to complain here and thought the Blu-ray brought the movie to life in a positive manner.

The DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Boy appeared fine for its era, and speech was more than adequate. The lines showed age-related thinness, but they were always perfectly intelligible and without edginess.

Effects became a minor aspect of the track, and they resembled the dialogue. Those elements lacked much depth but they were without notable problems.

Music was acceptable for its age, as the score tended to be a bit tinny. There wasn’t much range to the music, but again, that stemmed from the limitations of the very old source. This became a perfectly acceptable mix for its vintage.

One extra appears here: a 1947 short called A Really Important Person. It goes for 10 minutes, 51 seconds.

Person presents a young boy (Stockwell) who writes an essay about a local notable – and winds up with text about his policeman father (Clancy Cooper). It seems sappy but fun in a sentimental way.

An odd mish mash of genres and themes, The Boy With Green Hair overstays its welcome by a good hour. Despite a strong lead performance from a young Dean Stockwell, the movie grows pedantic and tedious in a hurry. The Blu-ray boasts very nice picture quality along with appropriate audio and a bonus short. The film comes with some positives but it feels like a mess of topics in search of coherence.