WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD

(1933) Instead of burdening their penniless families, Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, and Dorothy Coonan (soon to be Mrs. Wellman) decide to ride the rails, dodging train detectives in search of jobs and shelter. Preserved by the Library of Congress.
3:55, 6:40, 9:25

HEROES FOR SALE

(1933) Richard Barthelmess’ trip to Calvary, from the trenches of WWI to the breadlines and railroad ties of 1933, encountering communism, welfare capitalism, drug addiction, Red Squads, police brutality and riots along the way.  Preserved by the Library of Congress.
2:30, 5:15, 8:00

REVIEWS

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WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD
“A mesmerizing portrait of the Depression landscape… With its Hooverville warfare and righteous socialism, the film never forgets that its tough-talking protagonists are still children in way over their heads… Darro is a revelation of shame-faced sympathy beneath the proto-Cagney demeanor of the day.”
– Michael Atkinson

“Completely undated, well-paced, surprisingly well acted by the youthful players, and graced by photography that is both grimly realistic and strangely beautiful at the same time.”
– William K. Everson

“One of Wellman’s very best.”
– Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

HEROES FOR SALE
"Artfully overstimulated... Takes its protagonist from the trenches of World War I to a crazily up-and-down business career at the beginning of the Great Depression in a head-spinningly brisk 68 minutes."
– Terrence Raffterty, The New York Times

“A powerful and offbeat work… A major filmic reflection of the depression. One of the very few Depression films not to cop out.”
– William K. Everson

“Remains a scalding Job’s-tale litany of American degradation, from being wrecked on the fields of WWI to morphine junkiehood to getting screwed by the new capitalism to being a Depression hobo.”
– Michael Atkinson