Derutterj-1 Review of Heroes for Sale

Heroes for Sale (1933)

An Important and Ultimately Very Sad Social Document

[8/10 · 7 December 2007]

It has been written by another commentator that to weather the Depression the decision was made at Warner Bros., c. 1932, that principal photography on each picture had to be wrapped in no more than 18 days, and that no retakes could be made without head office approval. How the studio still managed, under these conditions, to generate some of the best movies ever in the 1932-33 release period continues to mystify me, but here's another example. Heroes for Sale doesn't just tell an effective, insightful yarn about the plight of the dispossessed and mistreated in the typical fashion of other films from WB's social protest cycle, it literally seethes with indignation about these conditions. Less fiercely bleak than I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, equipped with a more detached protagonist in Richard Barthelmess's Tom, it still manages to pack quite a punch. I disagree with the author of the Barthelmess mini-biography who wrote that his acting style didn't translate well when talkies came in. At least here, he is subtle and effective as the shattered WWI vet who after kicking drugs sees his life gradually turn around, in the form of modest but steady career advancement and a beautiful wife, played by the luminous Loretta Young. We know it's all going to go bad, but how this happens isn't quite what I expected. Indeed the plot contrivance (SPOILER ALERT) that tragically unravels Tom's life and puts him on the road to being a grizzled hobo at first seems innocent and trite: his introduction of a labor saving invention at his job. Heroes for Sale is highly topical but not exactly timeless. At first glance the theme of the wronged, abandoned veteran would seem very current, but it is not really on point in this instance. This picture is more an historical document to be seen in the context of the Bonus March and the social upheavals related to that 1932 event.