Hero for a Day
Cast & Crew
Harold Young
Anita Louise
Dick Foran
Emma Dunn
David Holt
Berton Churchill
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Gale University wins the Eastern grid title and invites McKinley College to be its opponent in the post-season classic held in New York, Abbott, Gale's publicity director, must find an angle to publicize the match. The news of the game generates mixed emotions in the Higgins household because Uncle Frank was a McKinley football hero in his college days. Once voted the most likely to succeed, Frank now is employed as a night watchman. When Abbott discovers that Frank is the sole old graduate from McKinley in New York, he persuades him to serve as the reception committee. Through a mixup, Abbott thinks that Frank is a rich construction company president and releases glowing publicity stories in which Frank is depicted as the ideal graduate. Frank finds the situation bitterly ironic, but his nephew Billy, his niece Sylvia and Sylvia's employer Dow, a Wall Street broker, all try to bolster his self-esteem. At the reunion, Frank's old friend, McKinley football coach "Dutch" Bronson, introduces him to "Brainy" Thornton, the team's egotistical quarterback. Frank sees himself in Brainy's arrogance, and consequently, when Sylvia begins to fall in love with the boy, Frank voices concern. On the night of the big football dinner, Frank becomes a bit tipsy, and when he reports late for work, he is fired. Meanwhile, Brainy, irked by a sportswriter's stories about his cockiness, gets drunk and refuses to play in the big game. Realizing that Brainy is headed down the path of destruction, Frank chastises him, forcing Brainy to see the error of his ways. The next day, Frank, feeling guilty for his deception, refuses to go to the stadium. When the team begins to lose, Abbott, believing that Frank's presence will inspire the players, convinces him to come to the sidelines. Abbott's hunch proves accurate when, inspired by Frank's presence, Brainy scores the touchdown that wins the game. Overcome by excitement, Frank faints and is taken to the hospital, where Coach Bronson learns the truth about his old pal and offers him a position on the McKinley athletic board.
Director
Harold Young
Cast
Anita Louise
Dick Foran
Emma Dunn
David Holt
Berton Churchill
Samuel S. Hinds
Richard Lane
Jerry Marlowe
Frances Robinson
Dorothy Arnold
John Gallaudet
Eddie Dunn
Paul Barrett
Cully Richards
Eddie Acuff
Russ Powell
Bobby Watson
Billy Engle
Tommy Bupp
Buster Phelps
Dale Armstrong
Kernan Cripps
Bobbe Trefts
Irene Coleman
Margaret Brayton
Marty Faust
Eddie Fetherston
Jack Gardner
Robert Darrell
Ben Lewis
Crew
John W. Boyle
Bernard B. Brown
Harold Buchman
Charles H. Clarke
R. A. Gausman
Kenneth Goldsmith
Charles Gould
Hal Herman
Joe Lapis
Charles Maynard
Jack Otterson
Matt Taylor
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Old Grad, and it was based on an unpublished story of the same name by Matt Taylor. Although the film was completed in the spring, its release was delayed until the fall football season.
