World War I vet Richard Barthelmess can’t catch a break in this prime piece of Depression-era cynicism. His war heroism, his altruism, his compassion, his forgiveness, his concern for the working class—ALL of it comes back to bite this guy in the balls here. Despite having a heart so pure that it bleeds spring water, Barthelmess is either poor, homeless, wrongly imprisoned, or a desperate morphine addict throughout the story. And this is a pre-Code Warner Bros. film, so it’s not shy about some of the seedy details. It starts with the war and ends with The Depression. Director William A. Wellman was a former fighter pilot himself and his war scenes are anything but glamorous. He goes out of his way to show the terror of it all.
In the world of this film, all ideologies are full of shit. Capitalists are dirtbags. Socialists become fascists once they taste power. America’s not gonna save you, even if you’re a veteran. All that matters is that you’re true to yourself. It won’t make you rich. It won’t make you comfortable. It may not even keep you out of the rain. But it’s all you’ve got. I can hang with that.
A bleak classic, short and not so sweet.