Saturday's Hero

Steve Novak (John Derek) comes from a Polish-American immigrant family in a small mill town. He gets a chance to go to play college football. His father is eager to have one of his sons escape the mill. He falls for Melissa (Donna Reed), the daughter of a wealthy school benefactor.

This is not the hardest hitting of college football expose movie. It has a few hard hits. Mostly, it shows that football is more important than everything else in the college world. There are a couple of big-ish names in the lead. Every knows Donna Reed. I know John Derek more as an 80's B-movie director with his sexpot wife. He has a fine face for a second-tier leading boy which fits this role very well. The football action is mostly fine and seem to be running at full speed. They do spend a lot of time on the field. All in all, this is fine as it tries to take a serious look at the college football world.

When movies about sports are thought of, no masterpiece comes to mind. But don't ignore completely this flick about college football and the often nasty business behind it. Lee Garmes' cinematography, for a start, is outstanding. A flat, but sobering and amusing movie, this approach to college sports' dark side captures John Derek in his new life. He's about to betray his acquired values. As always in Hollywood sports stories, the pattern is as follows: young man joins the fray, succeeds, and then begins to question his traditional values. There are plenty of subplots which flow well and keep the interest. It's when Aldo Ray says to Derek "this IS a racket! Did you think the fans got in here for free?" that you realize you are in 2019 and therefore wondering how global those rackets have really become. Aren't players yet recruited and used not exactly for the sake of football?

This movie was shown on a cable film channel a few years back. Most films made during this time period that dealt with sports either were humorous or light hearted with a little bit of drama thrown in. Saturday's Hero looks at a local high school football star played by John Derek who comes somewhat from the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. The local college successfully recruits him to play for them on a scholarship. He accepts their offer and begins playing and the team soars with him as its star then something happens which changes everything.

Although the film came out in 1951 it surprisingly is not dated in its subject matter. When movies about football are thought of The Longest Yard, M*A*S*H, SemiTough, North Dallas Forty, Knute Rockne All American, The Program, All the Right Moves, Everybody's All American are some which come to mind. Don't however over look this early 50's film about college football and the sometimes-nasty business behind it.

I just watched this film on AMC on a rare Tuesday off of work. I was surprised at how good it was. What struck me first was the cinematography, outstanding! Lee Garmes really understood how to frame a football game and uses some innovative mobile camera work to take you right into the action. His camera angles are very similar to ones you see covering football today and I wonder if he was a pioneer in this effort.

The story flowed well and kept you interested. It's somewhat disheartening that the underlying thread in the story (the dark (money)side of big time college football) is still so relevant. When Aldo Ray's character say's to John Derek's character "...do you think the fans get in for free?, It's a racket..." and you consider it is 1951 you wonder at how far we have really come.

"Saturday's Hero" is a film about the experience of one college football player as well as the ugliness of the college football business.

Steve Novak (John Derek) is a star high school football player. Not surprisingly, he's recruited by many top universities and he chooses Jackson University. Once there, he's a serious student and star athlete but he also seems to be constantly refusing a variety of illegal payoffs...ways 'benefactors' of colleges make sure the athletes are paid for their services. It soon becomes obvious that college football is a business...one that cares little about the student athletes...especially when they no longer are profitable.

This is a most unusual football film for 1951, as instead of the usual film glorifying the sport and making college seem like a game, it shows some of the darker sides of the sport. It also is very somber in tone and, sadly, mostly true of college football today. Overall, well made and surprisingly frank...and John Derek did a surprisingly good job in the lead.