Wild Boys of the Road is a 1933 pre-Code Depression-era American drama film directed by William Wellman and starring Frankie Darro, Rochelle Hudson, and Grant Mitchell.

Casually chatting about the unemployment situation, Tommy tells Eddie that he is going to drop out of high school to look for work to help support his struggling family.

Eddie leaves a note, then they board a freight train, where they meet Sally (Dorothy Coonan), another teenager, who is hoping her aunt in Chicago can put her up for a while.

Nearing Columbus, Ohio, one girl (Ann Hovey), caught alone in a railcar, is raped by the train brakeman (an uncredited Ward Bond).

When two men offer Eddie $5 to deliver a note to a movie theater cashier across the street, he jumps at the chance.

The ending as presented in the film is not the one wanted by William A. Wellman and was imposed on him by the producer Jack Warner.

Originally, after Eddie's heartfelt cry in front of the judge, the latter explained to the three teenagers that the law left him no choice and announced their sentence to them.

In the final scene, the judge looks out the window and tearfully watches as a police car takes the teenagers away for incarceration.