''Saturday's Heroes'' is a 1937 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Edward Killy Edward Arthur Killy (January 26, 1903 – July 2, 1981) was an American director, assistant director and production manager in films and television. He was one of the few individuals to be nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best ...

from a screenplay by Paul Yawitz, Charles Kaufman, and David Silverstein based on George Templeton's story. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the film stars

Van Heflin Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...

Marian Marsh Marian Marsh (born Violet Ethelred Krauth; October 17, 1913 – November 9, 2006) was a Trinidad-born American film actress and later an environmentalist. Early life Violet Ethelred Krauth was born on October 17, 1913, in Trinidad, British ...

, Richard Lane, Alan Bruce, and

Willie Best William Best (May 27, 1913 – February 27, 1962), known professionally as Willie Best or Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African American film actors and comedians to become well kn ...

Plot

Val Webster is the quarterback of Calton College's football team, but besides dealing with criticism of his play, Val needs money, which he gets by scalping tickets to the games. A teammate, Ted Calkins, commits suicide after being caught moonlighting at a job, and Val's ticket scheme is exposed as well, causing university president Hammond to expel him. Disgusted by the hypocrisy in college athletics, where the school reaps hundreds of thousands of dollars while the athletes stay broke, Val teams with sportswriter Red Watson to bring attention to the matter, with girlfriend Frances providing moral support. Val lands a job coaching for a rival college. When its game against Calton comes up, the outcome convinces Hammond and others that something must be done to change the unjust way student-athletes are rewarded for their play.

Cast

as Val Webster *

as Frances Thomas * Richard Lane as Red I. Watson * Alan Bruce as Burgeson *

Minor Watson Minor Watson (December 22, 1889 – July 28, 1965) was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included '' Boys Town'' (1938), ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942), ''Kings Row'' (1942), '' Guada ...

as Doc Thomas *

Frank Jenks Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an acid-voiced American supporting actor of stage and films. Biography Early years Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his ...

as Dubrowsky *

as Sam * Walter Miller as Coach Banks * Crawford Weaver as Baker * George Irving as President Hammond *

John Arledge Johnson Lundy Arledge (March 12, 1907 – May 15, 1947) was an American film and stage actor. Biography He played dozens of supporting roles in the Hollywood movies of the 1930s–1940s, including the tractor driver who destroys a house in ''Th ...

as Ted Calkins *

Dick Hogan Dixon Howard "Dick" Hogan (November 27, 1917 – August 18, 1995) was an American actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his 12-year career he appeared in over three dozen films, in roles which varied from unnamed bellhops to featured and starring ...

as Freshman *

Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...

as Andy Jones *

Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1915 and 1958. Biography Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the ...

as President Horace C. Mitchell (cast list as per

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

database)

References

External links

* 1937 films 1937 drama films American black-and-white films American drama films American football films Films set in universities and colleges RKO Pictures films Films directed by Edward Killy 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-drama-film-stub