Saturday's Heroes

Saturday's Heroes is a film starring Van Heflin and he's one of the many college football players who pack the stands and earn money for the colleges they attend. But they themselves are held to an almost impossible standard to maintain amateur status. It's a problem we still face today.

The problem has also been dealt with far better in films like The Program and Johnny B. Goode that are of more recent vintage. This was a B picture for RKO and either the script was bad or in the editing this film got butchered. At times it was incoherent and some of Van Heflin's character motivations made no sense.

Best performance in the film was a former college football player John Arledge who was caught at professionalism and drummed out of school. His scene with Heflin was most effective.

Better films were done on this issue although Van Heflin is never bad in anything he does.

Still timely and with a strong supporting cast. Outspoken college football star Val Webster (Van Heflin) sounds off against collegiate political corruption. He is basically fed up with amateur athletes betting on games, scalping tickets and accepting subsidies. The same goes for the college board of directors, who pocket most of the profits. Webster is expelled but is aided by sportswriter Red Watson (Richard Lane) to expose them. And by winning the big game against them as the rival coach, he proves himself right and them wrong. He also wins the girl, of course. Heflin was well cast as an athlete as he was an accomplished swimmer, fisherman and sailor.

While Van Heflin was 27 years-old when he made this film and the film had a very muddled message about sportsmanship, at least the film was different and it was nice to see that Heflin had already developed a nice screen presence--one of apparent grace and ease. While not a great film, it is worth a peek.

Heflin plays a star football player for a team that hasn't lost a game in three years. However, Heflin and some of the players are fat-heads. Heflin is by far the worst, as he earns extra money by selling his complementary tickets to scalpers (a clear violation of NCAA rules). When he is caught, he hypocritically starts a bizarre plot into motion--one that tries to expose the rampant rules violations condoned by the universities who should be policing themselves. Having Heflin be the man to lead this crusade is like having Bill Clinton leading a crusade against sexual harassment!! But despite this, the film is solidly entertaining throughout and although some elements of "the big game" are silly (such as spotting the other team a touchdown). It's not great entertainment and the message certainly is muddled, but somehow it manages to keep your interest.

Sadly, the reforms suggested by the film are pretty good and school pretty much are apparently the same way now as they were then. A new reworking of this story (without such a totally flawed and hypocritical hero) would be a nice to see.

"Saturday's Heroes" is a 1937 programmer starring a very young Van Heflin as a college football hero. And what better time for TCM to show this film than on Super Bowl weekend? As others more knowledgeable than me have pointed out, the issues raised in the film exist today: college football is big business and filled with inequities for the players. In this film, Heflin and some other players scalp tickets so that they can make some money. They have scholarships, and the Heflin character complains that because of a heavy training schedule, they're not even getting the promised education.

These programmers were used to groom future stars, and Heflin here is as excellent as he is in movies like "Johnny Eager." He was not a standard hunky leading man, though he was attractive and could handle romantic leads such as in "Possessed" as well as character roles. We lost him too soon.

Interesting for early Heflin and for the timeliness of the film.

Should college football players be paid? That question is still being asked 80 years after this movie asked it.

Van Heflin was 29 years old, perhaps a bit past the age of his college football quarterback character, but he was perfectly believable in what seems to be his fifth movie role. He gives a great performance, and makes me wonder why he wasn't more of a star.

His character's love interest was lovely Marian Marsh, who reminded me of one of the Lane sisters. She was an excellent actress, but her bio here at IMDb tells a heart-breaking story of foolishness on the part of Hollywood studios failing or refusing to recognize her ability.

Several other really excellent and recognizable actors help fill out a superior cast, but to me Al St. John always stands out. He did some mugging, of course, but his mobile features were relatively restrained and his "Andy Jones" character added a lot to the story.

So, should college football players be paid?

I get asked that question every once in a while in surveys I receive on a frequent basis. Frankly, this movie has changed my mind.

"Saturday's Heroes" is extremely well done (with one somewhat noticeable goof in the use of stock footage), filled with exciting 1930s football, a few stereotypes, and that nagging question: Should college football players be paid?

Watch "Saturday's Heroes" and reach your own conclusion. Whatever you think of that proposition, you are bound to like the movie. I do recommend it and hope you like it as much as I do.