WIth 1933's Heroes for Sale Wellman goes for the throat. A thematic chaser for the previous year's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Heroes tells the harrowing story of Tom Holmes (Richard Barthelmess), a WW1 soldier shot and captured by the Germans. They give Tom morphine to ease his pain, creating a drug dependancy. When Tom is repatriated, he's reunited with the soldier who thought he died and took credit for his heroic action.

The law won't allow doctors to help Tom with his addiction. The stigma of his condition leads to an undeserved stint on a prison farm. When he's released, Tom makes good working for a laundry. He marries the wonderful Ruth (Loretta Young, still gorgeous) and has a son. Together with a German immigrant inventor who happens to be a slogan-spouting Red (Robert Barrat), Tom introduces a timesaving invention to the laundry assembly line. The laundry's new owners use the invention to lay off 75% of the work force. Tom unfortunately tries to stop the angry mob of workers when they face off with the cops ... and disaster ensues.

The social horrors of Heroes for Sale never seem to end. Tom Holmes is the victim of every injustice under the sun, and a few more thrown in for good measure. He suffers a horrible personal loss and wanders the land living under bridges, like Tom Joad: the publication of The Grapes of Wrath was still six years away. Tom eventually meets the same man who "stole" his medals for bravery. When the bank failed, the "hero" was also reduced to a hobo.

Some details are just goofy. The Commie loudly proclaims that "the workers have nothing to lose but their chains," until he becomes wealthy, and suddenly changes his tune. That subplot was probably included so that Heroes for Sale can rail against injustice without appearing pro-Boshevik. The Commie shares his invention royalties 50-50 with Tom, but Tom gives the money to the Earth-Mother type played by Aline McMahon to feed the poor and care for his little boy. The ruthless Red Squad police harass and threaten Tom, so that he's forced to leave town. Yet when Tom expresses his opinion of America, he's insistent that the country he loves will pick itself up and be once again prosperous and just.

Wellman's direction keeps this grim parade going at a good pace. It's truly affecting, especially with the soulful Richard Barthelmess (one of D.W. Griffith's favorite actors) as the deserving, mostly uncomplaining hero. With its suppression of stories about drug addiction, the Production Code surely contributed to the American perception of addicts as criminals. Heroes for Sale presents a U.S. in economic collapse and seemingly on the verge of revolution.