YES, we should all know what to do if the engine quits at any time. But if you have ever taken off from airports surrounded by urban scene there simply isn't much choice.
I think the recent Harrison Ford EFATO in his PT-22/ST3KR illustrated this very well. This 72-year-old pilot handled it very well, even though we have no idea of the failure cause yet. (The 75-year fatal accident history of this model is dominated by stall/spin accidents in the traffic pattern.)
But given the reputation of the Kinner engine (indeed, many engines of that era), one might question his judgement in basing the Ryan at that airport. He was lucky in being in position to avail himself of the #8 fairway to land.