Heroes for Sale (1933)
Their challenges don't end there once the fighting is over. Roger, given a medal for the raid he didn't complete, gives Tom a job at his father's bank out of guilt. However, Tom's addiction gets him fired and when he's put away in an asylum for the morphine, his mother dies of shame. After his treatment, Tom doesn't give up on life; he feels he's been spared for something. He moves to Chicago and at a friendly boarding-house, meets lovely Ruth (Loretta Young), another resident. Things finally start to look up for Tom, a real go-getter.
The plot from this point is a roller-coaster of events and circumstances I do not want to give away here. There are Communists (1920's variety), labor unrest, good turns done by honest souls, cruel misunderstandings, with tragic and incredible consequences on the turn of a dime. Roger does return to the story and it is has a redemptive yet painful twist. The Bonus Marchers were still fresh in the audience's mind and I am certain the hope of FDR's recent election were shared in this torn-from-the-headlines human interest tale. Not to be missed for the social history take on the Twenties alone and you get an amazing tale in the bargin. You will need tissues for the ending.
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
First night out, the boys run into a girl, Sally (Dorothy Coonan) who is posing as a boy for her own protection and also riding the rails and she has more to fear from Rail bosses and grown men than Eddie and Tommy who respect her motives. The three find life on the road very difficult and unforgiving, being judged as worthless by the adults and authorities around them, victimized by others down on their luck, and the boy's parents back home? We do not know, which feeds our sense of being heartbroken and worried.
They encounter people wanting to abuse them, threats of violence and very dangerous conditions. I don't want to ruin it for you, but the story is unrelenting, takes some very dark, suspenseful, and sad turns; we see that riding the rails is no lark for these three.