This video collection should be called the William Wellman Edition. It is 3 discs with 2 films on each one. All the films are directed by William Wellman and have social statements to make concerning the Great Depression.
The films are all Pre-Production Code (1933 or older) and none shy away from volatile topics, such as morphine addiction in "Heroes for Sale", which deals with a wounded World War One Veteran and his stuggle to regain a normal life. Just as they do today, the returning Veteran needed help. And just like today, he didn't get it.
Barbara Stanwayck gets more than she bargained for, but gives more than she thought herself capable of, in "The Purchase Price" which explores the still ongoing practice of mail order brides and women as a commodity.
Another one of these outstanding films deals with the subject of unwed motherhood in "Frisco Jenny." This is the story of a woman who, through a series of circumstances, loses custody of her son. He is raised to be a fine upstanding citizen and becomes Head District Attorney in San Francisco. He lands a big case involving a Prostitution Ring and murderess. The woman charged in the crime, for which he has asked the death penalty, is his mother. He can save her if she will cooperate - but if she does and reveals herself as his mother then his life will be ruined. She is a woman forced to make the ultimate choice.
But the real gem of the whole collection is "Wild Boys of the Road." This one deals with the issue of child runaways during the Depression. They would form whole communities, usually around railroad yards. They actually had elected officials and routine job assigments such as collecting trash and keeping the area clean. They were places of refuge for families displaced economically. In "Wild Boys of The Road" these scenes are beautifully and realistically recreated. And when the police are ordered to tear gas and kick them out of their makeshift homes, it gives you a fair idea of the injustices being heaped upon the average displaced American of the Depression Era. Just think of the Vetran's Bonus Army and their March on Washington. It happened in the same year that this film was released.
William Wellman was a maverick director who said on film what was in his heart. The films are a subtle form of leftist propaganda, to be sure. But the heart and soul of William Wellman will live on in his films for centuries. They portray hope for the Human Condition. They are testaments to "man's better angels". And besides that, they're damn good films.
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