Gloria y hambre

HEROES FOR SALE is available on videotape as part of the "Forbidden Hollywood" series of pre-Hayes Code films. Since it is not salacious, unlike most of this line, its inclusion is a bit of a stretch-- its hero's morphine addiction is honestly come-by. Still, it is a grabber-- I have shown it to three acquaintances, and each has been as surprised as I. Why isn't this film better known? If you trouble yourself to find a copy, what you will get is a furiously compacted plot line that resembles an Americanized LES MISERABLES. Won't spoil the surprises, which are frequent. But the plot is hardly more surprising than the film's anger-- watch for the series of quick scenes late in the film documenting a Red-scare vendetta by Chicago police. What really seems "forbidden" here are the politics.

After the dawn of sound, Warner Bros. wandered through the early-talkie wilderness trying their hand at Technicolor musicals and revues that largely did not work out. Around 1930 they changed their output to be what we think of when we think about the Warner Bros. of the 1930's - gritty Depression era films that pulled no punches in depicting the hardships of those days. Here Richard Barthelemess is Tom Holmes. Tom's life is a metaphor for just about every social injustice from 1917 through 1933 you can pack into a 70-plus minute film. Through his life we visit the post-war hardships of WWI doughboys including morphine addiction, the double-edged sword of automation, the Red scares and hysteria of the 1920's, and finally the armies of unemployed Depression-era men treated as lepers as they wandered from town to town in search of non-existent jobs.

It's an interesting picture of a bleak world populated with largely unlikable characters such as the socialist who becomes a capitalist as soon as he becomes wealthy and the soldier that stole a wartime honor from Tom only to return home and not stand up for him when Tom really needs him. You do have to overcome some obvious problems in logic to enjoy this film. For one, nobody is as long-suffering as Tom Holmes is in this film, having so much adversity unjustly piled on him and still at heart an optimist. However, the film is a great political precode, and one whose script would not have been possible even a year later with its explicit sarcasm about the American social and economic order.

Tough film from Warners during the depth of the Depression. Richard Barthelmess is great as the hapless "hero" who endures the misfortunes of WW I and the Depression, addiction and the "red scare." The film also boasts good work from Loretta Young, Aline MacMahon, Gordon Westcott, Charley Grapewin, Berton Churchill, Grant Mitchell, Robert Barrat, and James Murray as the blind solider.

Barthelmess was a major silent star and had a solid career in early talkies in films like THE LAST FLIGHT, THE DAWN PATROL, WEARY RIVER, and others. He also gave one of the all-time great performances in silent film in TOL'ABLE David.

HEROES FOR SALE is terrific because it shows how an ordinary man can beaten by an ordinary life and still be great. As Barthelmess suffers the misfortunes of war and life he seems to grow as a spiritual person. The hypocrisy around him never seems to get to his heart. There's a great scene where Barthelmess is sitting in the rain in a hobo camp when his eyes meet another man's. It's the banker's son (Gordon Westcott) who took the war glory after he thought Barthelmess had been killed. The sanctimonious banker had fired Barthelmess for his morphine addiction, but finally gets caught for stealing from the bank's depositors. The banker and son also did jail time (as Barthelmess did for leading a riot). The ironies of life become full blown there in the rain. A terrific scene.

Barthelmess is wonderful and so is Gordon Westcott (in his best film role). Young and MacMahon are always pleasures to watch.

I rented this movie after reading about William Wellman and his adventure filled life. Heroes for Sale captures the mood of the Great Depression, a time when rich people were not celebrities to be worshiped and envied, but villains who oppressed the working class. The movie is noteworthy as a benchmark for how we lived during a period of economic turmoil 75 years ago versus today. The unemployment ratio is about 1/3 of what is was then and we now have safety nets that weren't available 75 years ago. Also we treat our returning veterans better for the most part. This movie is enjoyable from start to finish and the beauty of it is there is no Hollywood ending per Se. One of the enjoyments is the way early 30's movies had the ability to encapsulate so much plot into a little over an hour. No wonder it was possible to watch a double bill back then. I am looking forward to watching more of Wellman if this movie is any indication of his work. Loretta Young was certainly one of the Hollywood beauties of that era, and a good actress even at that early age. The movie appears faithful to the history of that period in its portrayal of the "Red Squads", treatment of veterans, soup kitchens, and authoritarian figures in general. The morphine segment at the start of the movie is very realistic and not far from the pain killing addition medications of the 21st century.

In under 65 minutes, "Heroes for Sale" deals with drug addiction, Red Squads, automation, the Great Depression and World War I. This movie's time frame covers the end of the Great War to the election of FDR, and makes some very pointed observations about America along the way. There are no stereotypes in this movie, and except for the sanctimonious fadeout, I would have rated this movie a 10. "Heroes for Sale" was the last movie William Wellman directed under contract at Warner Bros. and he did a great job. With the onset of the production code in July, 1934, this movie was buried because of its treatment of drug addiction. "Heroes for Sale" is a top notch movie ahead of its time.