I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Saturday's Heroes is a film starring Van Heflin and he's one of the many college football players who pack the stands and earn money for the colleges they attend. But they themselves are held to an almost impossible standard to maintain amateur status. It's a problem we still face today.The problem has also been dealt with far better in films like The Program and Johnny B. Goode that are of more recent vintage. This was a B picture for RKO and either the script was bad or in the editing this film got butchered. At times it was incoherent and some of Van Heflin's character motivations made no sense.Best performance in the film was a former college football player John Arledge who was caught at professionalism and drummed out of school. His scene with Heflin was most effective.Better films were done on this issue although Van Heflin is never bad in anything he does.

While Van Heflin was 27 years-old when he made this film and the film had a very muddled message about sportsmanship, at least the film was different and it was nice to see that Heflin had already developed a nice screen presence--one of apparent grace and ease. While not a great film, it is worth a peek.Heflin plays a star football player for a team that hasn't lost a game in three years. However, Heflin and some of the players are fat-heads. Heflin is by far the worst, as he earns extra money by selling his complementary tickets to scalpers (a clear violation of NCAA rules). When he is caught, he hypocritically starts a bizarre plot into motion--one that tries to expose the rampant rules violations condoned by the universities who should be policing themselves. Having Heflin be the man to lead this crusade is like having Bill Clinton leading a crusade against sexual harassment!! But despite this, the film is solidly entertaining throughout and although some elements of "the big game" are silly (such as spotting the other team a touchdown). It's not great entertainment and the message certainly is muddled, but somehow it manages to keep your interest.Sadly, the reforms suggested by the film are pretty good and school pretty much are apparently the same way now as they were then. A new reworking of this story (without such a totally flawed and hypocritical hero) would be a nice to see.

"Saturday's Heroes" is a 1937 programmer starring a very young Van Heflin as a college football hero. And what better time for TCM to show this film than on Super Bowl weekend? As others more knowledgeable than me have pointed out, the issues raised in the film exist today: college football is big business and filled with inequities for the players. In this film, Heflin and some other players scalp tickets so that they can make some money. They have scholarships, and the Heflin character complains that because of a heavy training schedule, they're not even getting the promised education.These programmers were used to groom future stars, and Heflin here is as excellent as he is in movies like "Johnny Eager." He was not a standard hunky leading man, though he was attractive and could handle romantic leads such as in "Possessed" as well as character roles. We lost him too soon.Interesting for early Heflin and for the timeliness of the film.

Still timely and with a strong supporting cast. Outspoken college football star Val Webster (Van Heflin) sounds off against collegiate political corruption. He is basically fed up with amateur athletes betting on games, scalping tickets and accepting subsidies. The same goes for the college board of directors, who pocket most of the profits. Webster is expelled but is aided by sportswriter Red Watson (Richard Lane) to expose them. And by winning the big game against them as the rival coach, he proves himself right and them wrong. He also wins the girl, of course. Heflin was well cast as an athlete as he was an accomplished swimmer, fisherman and sailor.