Heroes for Sale
Encyclopedia
Heroes for Sale is a Depression
-era film directed by William Wellman, starring Richard Barthelmess
, Aline MacMahon
, and Loretta Young
, and released by Warner Bros.
A veteran of World War I
, Thomas Holmes, struggles to make his way in civilian life in almost every way imaginable. In the opening scene of the movie, Tom and his friend are on a mission to gather intelligence by capturing a German soldier. Tom's friend, in terror, refuses to leave the shell hole. Tom volunteers to go alone. He captures a German, but is wounded and captured himself. His friend returns the safety of American lines with the captured German soldier and is rewarded for his supposed heroism. During Tom's captivity, German doctors treat his pain with opiates. He becomes addicted. He returns after the war and his cowardly friend offers him a job at his father's bank out of shame.
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era film directed by William Wellman, starring Richard Barthelmess
Richard Barthelmess
Richard Semler "Dick" Barthelmess was an Oscar-nominated silent film star.-Early life:Barthelmess was educated at Hudson River Military Academy at Nyack and Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut...
, Aline MacMahon
Aline MacMahon
Aline MacMahon was an American actress. Her career began on stage in 1921. She worked extensively in film and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed .-Early life:Aline Laveen MacMahon was born...
, and Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
, and released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
A veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Thomas Holmes, struggles to make his way in civilian life in almost every way imaginable. In the opening scene of the movie, Tom and his friend are on a mission to gather intelligence by capturing a German soldier. Tom's friend, in terror, refuses to leave the shell hole. Tom volunteers to go alone. He captures a German, but is wounded and captured himself. His friend returns the safety of American lines with the captured German soldier and is rewarded for his supposed heroism. During Tom's captivity, German doctors treat his pain with opiates. He becomes addicted. He returns after the war and his cowardly friend offers him a job at his father's bank out of shame.
Cast
- Richard BarthelmessRichard BarthelmessRichard Semler "Dick" Barthelmess was an Oscar-nominated silent film star.-Early life:Barthelmess was educated at Hudson River Military Academy at Nyack and Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut...
as Thomas Holmes - Aline MacMahonAline MacMahonAline MacMahon was an American actress. Her career began on stage in 1921. She worked extensively in film and television until her retirement in 1975. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Dragon Seed .-Early life:Aline Laveen MacMahon was born...
as Mary Dennis - Loretta YoungLoretta YoungLoretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
as Ruth Loring Holmes - Gordon Westcott as Roger Winston
- Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Max Brinker - Berton ChurchillBerton ChurchillBerton Churchill was a Canadian actor.Born in Toronto, Ontario. As a young man interested in the theater, he appeared in stock companies as early as 1903 and later headed to New York City where he began an acting career that soon put him on the Broadway stage...
as Mr. Winston - Grant MitchellGrant Mitchell (actor)Grant Mitchell was an American stage actor on Broadway and character actor in many Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s...
as George W. Gibson - Charles GrapewinCharles GrapewinCharley Ellsworth Grapewin was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in MGM's The Wizard of Oz and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath ....
as Pa Dennis - Robert McWade as Dr. Briggs
- G. Pat Collins as Leader of agitators
- James MurrayJames Murray (actor)James Murray was an American movie actor.-Background:Born in The Bronx, New York, James Murray went to Hollywood in the 1920s to try to succeed as an actor. After several years of work, mostly as an extra, with little hope of a starring role, he was "discovered" by director King Vidor, who saw...
as Blind soldier