A Modern Hero
Towards the end of 1933, Pabst headed out west to make a movie in Hollywood, perhaps hoping to emulate Murnau's success a few years before with Sunrise. Sadly, A Modern Hero was not to be a classic. Adapted from a novel by Louis Bromfeld, it was set in the Midwest, alien territory for a director who had but scant knowledge of American provincial life. Richard Barthelmess, a matinee idol in the silent era with credits ranging from Tol'able David to DW Griffith's Broken Blossoms, was Pabst's star. The now forgotten Florence Eldridge was cast opposite Barthelmess. The allegorical story concerned the adventures of an ambitious capitalist entrepreneur who, starting from lowly beginnings, shimmies up the ladder all the way to Wall Street. The problem, some critics feel, is that the film is every bit as glib as the character it seeks to satirise. Geoffrey Macnab
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