By Violet LeVoit
Saturday's Heroes
Brief Synopsis
A college football star rebels against the exploitation of the game and its players.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Edward Killy
Director
Van Heflin
Val Webster
Marian Marsh
Frances Thomas
Richard Lane
Red I. Watson
Alan Bruce
Burgeson
Minor Watson
Doc Thomas
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Sports
Release Date
1937
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Synopsis
During Calton College's football season, star quarterback Val Webster faces harsh criticism from his coaches and local sports reporter Red Watson for his cavalier attitudes and sloppy play execution. Val, who is forced to scalp game tickets in order to make financial ends meet, complains to his girl friend, Frances Thomas, the daughter of his head coach, Doc Thomas, about the hypocrisy of collegiate athletics, which insists that the players maintain amateur status. When Val's best friend, Ted Calkins, is accused of playing as a "ringer" on another college team and is thrown out of football, Val defends him to his fellow players and coaches. In spite of Val's support, Ted is unable to overcome his shame and commits suicide. Soon after, Val's scalping network is exposed by Thomas, and Val is expelled from the team by President Hammond. When Val threatens to expose the rest of the team to the press, however, Hammond decides to re-instate him, and Frances, whom Val had wrongly accused of betraying him, rushes to tell Val the news. Before Frances finds him, Val calls Red at the newspaper just as Hammond and Thomas arrive to discuss Val's threats. In a misinformed attempt to help Val, Red threatens Hammond with exposure, and Hammond reneges on his offer. Furious at Hammond, Val leaves Calton and convinces Weston, a smaller neighboring college, to hire him as an assistant coach. Val makes a deal with Weston's president, Horace C. Mitchell, that if he leads Weston's luckless football team to victory against Calton, Mitchell will lead the crusade in compensating college athletes with paychecks. Aided by Red's headlines, Val primes his new team for an upset victory, while Red maneuvers to reunite Val with Frances by inviting her to the big game. As promised, Weston defeats Calton, and Mitchell, who had bet with Hammond that if his team won, Hammond would have to join the crusade, carries out his pledge. After the game, Val, who has matured from his experiences, reunites with the devoted Frances.
Director
Edward Killy
Director
Cast
Van Heflin
Val Webster
Marian Marsh
Frances Thomas
Richard Lane
Red I. Watson
Alan Bruce
Burgeson
Minor Watson
Doc Thomas
Frank Jenks
Dubrowsky
Willie Best
Sam
Walter Miller
Coach Banks
Crawford Weaver
Baker
George Irving
President Hammond
John Arledge
Ted Calkins
Dick Hogan
Freshman
Al St. John
Andy Jones
Charles Trowbridge
President Horace C. Mitchell
Crew
Samuel J. Briskin
Executive Producer
Howard Campbell
Art Director Associate
Charles Kaufman
Screenwriter
Frederic Knudtson
Editing
Nicholas Musuraca
Photography
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Renié
Costumes
Maxwell Shane
Contr to Screenplay const
David Silverstein
Screenwriter
Robert Sisk
Producer
George Templeton
Story
Richard Van Hessen
Recording
Paul Yawitz
Screenwriter
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Sports
Release Date
1937
Technical Specs
Duration
60m
Articles
Saturday's Heroes
This sports picture, made early in Van Heflin's career at RKO, reveals the seamy underbelly of college football circa 1937: Val Webster (Van Heflin), most valuable player for Calton College, can't meet his student expenses without scalping tickets because the college insists he keep his "amateur" status. Meanwhile, higher-ups are making millions on college bowl games and the backs of young athletes. But when his friend (John Arledge) is driven to suicide, Val starts a crusade to expose the economic hypocrisy of college football to the world. Saturday's Heroes's radical ideas about college athletes being alienated from the fruits of their labor has less in common with heroic football stories like Knute Rockne All American (1940) and more in common with contemporary movies about the dirty business of football like Any Given Sunday (1999).
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Saturday's Heroes
This sports picture, made early in Van Heflin's career at RKO, reveals the seamy underbelly of college football circa 1937: Val Webster (Van Heflin), most valuable player for Calton College, can't meet his student expenses without scalping tickets because the college insists he keep his "amateur" status. Meanwhile, higher-ups are making millions on college bowl games and the backs of young athletes. But when his friend (John Arledge) is driven to suicide, Val starts a crusade to expose the economic hypocrisy of college football to the world. Saturday's Heroes's radical ideas about college athletes being alienated from the fruits of their labor has less in common with heroic football stories like Knute Rockne All American (1940) and more in common with contemporary movies about the dirty business of football like Any Given Sunday (1999).
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to Hollywood Reporter, Rochelle Hudson was first slated to star in the picture. Hollywood Reporter news items add Donald Kerr, Bud Taggert, Sam Hayes and Rodney Bell to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. The Film Daily reviewer noted that staged football scenes were intercut with stock football footage.
