I saw this film in 1951 when I was in high school. It was really depressing to some extent. It showed how the players were recruited and used only for the sake of football. I can somewhat remember how Steve was injured and how they gerry rigged a shoulder pad so he could play while injured. I also remember how he was rather a bright student in the class room. I only wish I could purchase the DVD or the VHS of this movie. I am not sure if it has ever been put out in that format. I think the movie when seen will seem like it just happened yesterday in that the situation in college football hasn't changed much over the last fifty years.
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jsw992 December 2005
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JohnSeal20 October 2008Saturday's Hero is an outstanding big business expose masquerading as a sports drama. John Derek stars as Steve Novak, a high school football star of Polish working class extract who finds himself being manipulated by both his coach and his benefactor. Derek is very good, as is an unbelievably young and lithe Aldo Ray as cynical teammate Gene Hausler, and the sadly forgotten Alexander Knox as English professor Megroth. Written by the great Sidney Buchman (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), beautifully shot by Lee Garmes, and featuring an early but already distinctive score by Elmer Bernstein, Saturday's Hero is one of the best films you've probably never heard of. Put it on your must see list today!
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We know all about college sports trumping academics and this picture does show that.
When the film begins with John Derek playing football, I immediately thought of that scene in "All the King's Men," when he is injured. I already knew that an injury was forthcoming.
The picture deftly shows how grades are "enhanced" when you play in sports and you become a school star.
John Derek fits the title role perfectly as the young man from a small N.J. town "duped" into going to Jackson College. While he does well the first year, his grades go down as he becomes more involved with the intricacies of promoting sports at the college.
Sidney Blackmer plays his benefactor and is vicious to the hilt. Donna Reed, as the spoiled rich niece of Blackmer, comes down to reality when she falls for Novak. (Derek)
The ending at least shows us that Novak valued education. -
dougdoepke14 June 2010Steve Novak's (Derek) a good kid from a factory town, making a local splash in high school football. Now he's got a chance at scholarships everywhere and at being his family's first college man. But instead of going to a big-time football school, he chooses a socially elite one.
Those scenes of getting acquainted with the other jocks are especially well done. Steve quickly fits in and drives the team to unexpected wins, catching the eye of high-powered businessman and alumnus Mc Cabe (Blackmer) who quickly sees an opportunity to build a big-time team around Steve. But doing that means bribing other key players including Steve into joining the big-time program. Now Steve's faced with a moral dilemma and we wonder how well his good down-home sense of right and wrong will stand up.
With his light camaraderie and banter, Aldo Ray (Hausler) shows he's a natural and darn near steals the movie. Derek however underplays throughout. As a result, I don't think we get the needed sense of inner conflict that his character must go through. Derek looks the part, but to me understating weakens the overall impact. Then too, Reed appears miscast (too old) as the spoiled rich girl in a rather poorly written part (the car scene with Derek, especially). Looks to me as if the writers weren't sure what to do with her part. Note too, that the movie ends with them hoping to be reunited and not in a conventional clinch, perhaps a compromise between studio and writers.
Nonetheless, the movie pulls few punches in showing the corruptive influence of big-time college football as it turns a game into a business and players into employees. I also like the way McCabe dangles important business-world contacts before Steve. Now Steve can not only leave his factory town behind, but leave it far behind. Perhaps the most corruptive influence, however, is easily overlooked. Note how grades are adjusted to keep players eligible even when their academic side is suffering. Thus, the corruption spreads even to the academic department.
1951 was the last year for "problem" movies before the hammer of McCarthy hearings fell on Hollywood and social-conscience screenwriters like Buchman went into exile. With few exceptions, films would cease to be socially relevant for at least a decade as Hollywood geared up to fight the Cold War. Nonetheless, this little "problem" film is as relevant now as it was then, maybe more so. And definitely merits a look-see.
(In passing—A similar expose with Van Heflin was made in 1937 with a similar title, viz., Saturday's Heroes.) -
SnoopyStyle13 November 2022Steve Novak (John Derek) comes from a Polish-American immigrant family in a small mill town. He gets a chance to go to play college football. His father is eager to have one of his sons escape the mill. He falls for Melissa (Donna Reed), the daughter of a wealthy school benefactor.
This is not the hardest hitting of college football expose movie. It has a few hard hits. Mostly, it shows that football is more important than everything else in the college world. There are a couple of big-ish names in the lead. Every knows Donna Reed. I know John Derek more as an 80's B-movie director with his sexpot wife. He has a fine face for a second-tier leading boy which fits this role very well. The football action is mostly fine and seem to be running at full speed. They do spend a lot of time on the field. All in all, this is fine as it tries to take a serious look at the college football world. -
mark.waltz12 September 2022When a student on a football scholarship decide that education is much more important than the sport, he finds many obstacles coming his way. John Derek, the son of Polish immigrants, has become a football hero, but as he realizes the truth about the goings on behind the scenes in college sports, his whole idea about what got him into college in the first place begins to change. In his film debut, Aldo Ray is a G. I. also in on a scholarship, and there's no way that he's making the grades to remain on the team. But destiny has a funny way of dealing with guys like Ray, and the ending of his story isn't the one he wanted.
Providing the romantic interest is Donna Reed, daughter of one of the school's major financers, Sidney Blackmer, more interested in the college's reputation for sports than its educational standing. Alexander Knox has a smaller role as a tough English teacher, impressed by Derek's skill in his class, initially cynical over the presence of Derek as an athlete he's supposed to monitor. While the focus on Athletics over education in the school system certainly isn't illegal, it definitely asks a lot of moral questions about the educational system and the priorities of some people in power. Performances are basically serviceable but the script makes this better than the average programmer. -
yenlo13 August 1999This movie was shown on a cable film channel a few years back. Most films made during this time period that dealt with sports either were humorous or light hearted with a little bit of drama thrown in. Saturday's Hero looks at a local high school football star played by John Derek who comes somewhat from the wrong side of the tracks so to speak. The local college successfully recruits him to play for them on a scholarship. He accepts their offer and begins playing and the team soars with him as its star then something happens which changes everything.
Although the film came out in 1951 it surprisingly is not dated in its subject matter. When movies about football are thought of The Longest Yard, M*A*S*H, SemiTough, North Dallas Forty, Knute Rockne All American, The Program, All the Right Moves, Everybody's All American are some which come to mind. Don't however over look this early 50's film about college football and the sometimes-nasty business behind it. -
You know how media always likes to portray the current outrage -- in this case Big Money corrupting college football - as just having been hatched recently?
Yah, well, feast your eyes on Saturday's Hero. Within the first five minutes we meet the local sportswriter acting as a player agent (illegal), alumni/boosters paying to attract players (illegal) and a high school star who insists he's gonna study as if he's pursuing a legitimate degree (extremely unlikely outside the Ivy League) and the recruiter who pretty much laughs in his face.
Kid heads off to Jackson A&M Polytech, where he goes to orientation (full of Polyanna rules), meets his jaded faculty advisor (English prof who hates the fraud of ''student/athlete"), gets assigned a ''no show'' job, meets his new teammates and gets one brief speech from the hard-bitten head coach who basically tells them they're all nobodies. Next time we coach he's telling the team doc to shoot up John Derek the star player with novocaine so he goes back in the game despite obviously having a broken clavicle or dislocated shoulder. We learn later he was hit by an opposition player who admitted they put a bounty on Derek (take him out by injuring him) which is something that came to light under Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints. Then we get Mr. Bigtime Booster who pretty much controls the coach and pressures Derek to playing despite being seriously hurt. And then he loses his scholarship, just like Nick Saban pulls the scholarships of players he promised full rides to at Alabama.
The sportswriter-cum-player agent actually lobbies for players to be paid out of the obscene profits the college rakes in on football. In 1951! It only took another 71 seasons for the NCAA to fold under Congressional pressure to allow players to benefit from their Names, Images and Likeness. Progress!!
Despite the hard-hitting subject matter, it comes across as A Very Special After School Special. Certainly doesn't help that John Derek is a total stiff and Donna Reed (who I adore) simply does not excite me here. And the players come across as amateur actors (to be charitable).
The key quote is from the cynical player who suffered the career-ending injury: ''Look kid, do they let people in to see the games for free? It's a racket." That guy knew the score.
One question: Why do these sports movies about guys who come out of Palookaville, NJ, always feature immigrant families who talk pidgen-English? Just once I want pops to be a high school math teacher fourth-generation Quaker. -
mark503200125 September 2012I just watched this film on AMC on a rare Tuesday off of work. I was surprised at how good it was. What struck me first was the cinematography, outstanding! Lee Garmes really understood how to frame a football game and uses some innovative mobile camera work to take you right into the action. His camera angles are very similar to ones you see covering football today and I wonder if he was a pioneer in this effort.
The story flowed well and kept you interested. It's somewhat disheartening that the underlying thread in the story (the dark (money)side of big time college football) is still so relevant. When Aldo Ray's character say's to John Derek's character "...do you think the fans get in for free?, It's a racket..." and you consider it is 1951 you wonder at how far we have really come. -
jarrodmcdonald-11 March 2014John Derek had a supporting role as a football player role in Columbia's earlier production All the King's Men. He heads back on to the field for more action in this highly engaging coming- of-age drama. He plays a young man caught up in a new life, to the point that he nearly betrays his values.
If that is not enough to sustain interest, there are plenty of subplots that just might. First, there are the scenes of the team, and the scenes with the literature professor (nicely played by Alexander Knox). Next, our star athlete visits his hometown. Then, there is a storyline about a friend who is being expelled from school. Indeed, the character and the audience get pulled in all sorts of directions, but John Derek's calm, soulful presence makes it enjoyable to watch.
Other strong performances bolster the production. Sidney Blackmer is on hand as the somewhat mercurial T.C. McCabe, and Aldo Ray (billed as Aldo DaRe) appears as a team member. The love interest is played by Donna Reed, who in real life is five years older than John Derek. At times, Miss Reed seems almost too mature for her role and certainly too mature for her costar. However, a great many elements coalesce to make Saturday's Hero a decent motion picture. -
planktonrules26 October 2022"Saturday's Hero" is a film about the experience of one college football player as well as the ugliness of the college football business.
Steve Novak (John Derek) is a star high school football player. Not surprisingly, he's recruited by many top universities and he chooses Jackson University. Once there, he's a serious student and star athlete but he also seems to be constantly refusing a variety of illegal payoffs...ways 'benefactors' of colleges make sure the athletes are paid for their services. It soon becomes obvious that college football is a business...one that cares little about the student athletes...especially when they no longer are profitable.
This is a most unusual football film for 1951, as instead of the usual film glorifying the sport and making college seem like a game, it shows some of the darker sides of the sport. It also is very somber in tone and, sadly, mostly true of college football today. Overall, well made and surprisingly frank...and John Derek did a surprisingly good job in the lead. -
jgcorrea26 November 2019When movies about sports are thought of, no masterpiece comes to mind. But don't ignore completely this flick about college football and the often nasty business behind it. Lee Garmes' cinematography, for a start, is outstanding. A flat, but sobering and amusing movie, this approach to college sports' dark side captures John Derek in his new life. He's about to betray his acquired values. As always in Hollywood sports stories, the pattern is as follows: young man joins the fray, succeeds, and then begins to question his traditional values. There are plenty of subplots which flow well and keep the interest. It's when Aldo Ray says to Derek "this IS a racket! Did you think the fans got in here for free?" that you realize you are in 2019 and therefore wondering how global those rackets have really become. Aren't players yet recruited and used not exactly for the sake of football?