Tom finds his way to Chicago in the mid 1920s. He meets some interesting characters in a family-run soup kitchen (Charles Grapewin is the father; playing his daughter is the wonderful Aline MacMahon, who falls love with Tom from a distance). They are so much fun to watch. Loretta Young brings some romance to the story, and she is so lovely in this; there's a tender and humourous love-at-first sight moment.Throughout the film are scenes that were considered heavily political for its time, including a scene of an angry mob and several Red Squad sequences. One character espouses a number of communist sympathies, yet over time he evolves, which is interesting to watch. It's as if the character was written to represent various political extremes under certain circumstances.
This movie reminded me of The Best years of Our Lives, the widely acclaimed film that defined the experience of returning American vets after WWII. Heroes For Sale has similar themes, and is one of the few films dealing with returning WW1 vets. References to newly elected president Roosevelt, lots of authentic signs and billboards: "Keep Moving: No Work Here". This is the kind of film that has the stories that your grandparents or great grandparents might tell you if they were in America during this time.
Directed by William Wellman. Highly recommended. Available on DVD in the box set series, "Forbidden Hollywood Volume 3". For another perspective, the blog Movie Classics has a great review of this film here.
