Cinema Revisited: Heroes For Sale (1933)

Directed by William Wellman. Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon, Gordon Westcott, Robert Barrat, Berton Churchill, Grant Witchell, Charley Grapewine.

Opening with the most realistic war footage this side of “Saving Private Ryan,” William Wellman’s “Heroes For Sale” explodes right after the credits roll, with soldiers fighting in the rain and mud, screaming in pain and wallowing in fear, but continuing to exhibit the courage and bravery necessary.

The film centers upon Tom Holmes (Richard Barthelmess) whose wartime heroics are credited to another soldier. Because Holmes had been captured, the soldier presumes he was killed, so he takes credit for all of Tom's accomplishments. Seriously wounded, Tom becomes hooked on morphine and ends up in an asylum. When he gets out, he is broke and alone in the world. Relocating to Chicago, he joins a laundry as a driver, but soon rises up in the business. Supporting an invention that is more efficient for washing and drying clothes, the eventual result is the machine puts many of the men out of work, including Tom himself. Eventually arrested as the ringleader of a mob he is actually trying to stop (his wife is killed in the riot), Tom is put in prison for five years. When he gets out, the success of the washing machine has made him a rich man, but because it put so many out of work, he refuses to take the profits. The money he’s accumulated is used to keep a diner open 24 hours and offer free food to the needy. Settling into hobo life, Tom runs into Roger, the soldier who had taken credit for his heroism during the war, now equally in need due to the Depression. Tom maintains his American spirit, stating, “it takes more than one sock on the jaw to destroy millions of people." While he is out trying to survive as a hobo, there is a cut back to the diner he has financed, a plaque honoring him prominently displayed on the wall. His young son looks at it and states, “when I grow up, I want to be just like my dad,” showing that Tom is still a hero.

Made when director Wellman was at his most prolific, “Heroes for Sale” is brilliantly filmed, offering more details in its 71 minutes than the 2-to-3 hour Hollywood epics from the modern era. Tom’s plight shows a perseverance despite every success being spoiled by failure, and usually not of his doing. Wellman’s choice of shots, his moving camera, his use of action within the frame during the riot sequence, and the negative space surrounding an actor when displaying the character’s loneliness, are the elements that make this an exceptional pre-code drama. It’s presentation of a sociocultural era in 20th century history causes the movie to rise to the level of cultural artifact.

The performances are grand, especially Richard Barthelmess as Tom shows his ability to maintain success as an actor in talking pictures after silent movie triumphs like “Way Down East,” “Tolable David,” “The Patent Leather Kid,” “Broken Blossoms,” and “The Drop Kick.” Commanding his dialog and offering subtler nuance than the broader gestures found in silent movies, Barthelmess defines the narrative's attitude as its altruistic central character. Loretta Young is at her prettiest and most soulful, while Aline McMahon offers a presence that carries every scene in which she appears.

The point of the film continues to resonate in the 21st century, with Tom's American idealism so strong, he makes choices that will help others and avoids those that help himself. Of course this perspective would be difficult to present during the post-war era when suspicious politicians searched for messages that could be even remotely socialistic. But during the pre-code era, William Wellman's film could investigate the darkest corners of Depression America,

“Heroes for Sale” is one of the most powerful American movies of its time.