A cocky young jockey who gets mixed up with some crooked gamblers befriends an English lad with a fast horse and the niece of a woman who runs a boarding house for jockeys.A cocky young jockey who gets mixed up with some crooked gamblers befriends an English lad with a fast horse and the niece of a woman who runs a boarding house for jockeys.A cocky young jockey who gets mixed up with some crooked gamblers befriends an English lad with a fast horse and the niece of a woman who runs a boarding house for jockeys.
Ernie Alexander
- Racetrack Usher
- (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow
- Man Seated Behind Mr. Sloan
- (uncredited)
Lionel Belmore
- Calverton's Butler
- (uncredited)
Marie Blake
- Hospital Telephone Operator
- (uncredited)
Don Brodie
- Racetrack Teller
- (uncredited)
Francis X. Bushman
- Racing Steward
- (uncredited)
George Chandler
- Jim - Racetrack Usher
- (uncredited)
Chester Clute
- Man with Toupee
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film, the first of 10 to feature both Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, is also the only one in which she is billed ahead of him. It was also the first film in which she received top billing.
- GoofsIn the final race Frankie Darro is wearing no. 4 in the starting gate. Later in a close up he is wearing no. 7. Then at the finish he is again wearing no. 4.
- Quotes
Jim - Racetrack Usher: Listen here, lady, I'm the usher!
Mother Ralph: Well go on and ush!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sports on the Silver Screen (1997)
- SoundtracksGot a Pair of New Shoes
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Arthur Freed
Played as background music and sung by Judy Garland during the opening credits
Played on piano and reprised by Judy Garland again
Played on guitar and reprised by Judy Garland once more
Played as background music at the end and sung again by Judy Garland
Featured review
Mickey and Judy, not yet together
A rum affair. Always noted as Judy's first teaming with Mickey Rooney, but her love interest is Ronald Sinclair, and the plot is more interested in the boys', ahem, friendship. I am bored by constant readings of old movies as coded gay, but you can't ignore the scenes when the boy owner and his jockey move together on horseback, or a protracted episode of Timmie massaging Roger's legs and trying to keep Cricket out of the room. As a jockey Timmie specialises in 'coming from behind'.
Another mystery concerns casting. MGM's first thought was to reunite their British boy wonder, Freddie Bartholomew, with C. Aubrey Smith, reprising the grandfather-grandson relationship of 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'. Barthlomew reportedly dropped out due to a contract fight; yet he stars in the trailer introducing Sinclair, falsely, as an old pal. Judy wrote that he had been dropped when his voice broke.
Sinclair was a New Zealander and not quite as veddy veddy British as most kids from over the water in pre-war Hollywood. Though obliged to wear short pants in most scenes, he does okay in the puppy-love passages with Judy, but soon faded as an actor, transforming into the editor of Roger Corman's horror films.
Rooney, already in the Jolson class for self-confidence, breezes through the plot's twists (one of them, involving his crooked dad, is ingenious) and displays his gift for emoting without seeming soppy. The great C. Aubrey is only in the first half but scores in contriving to make Timmie hitch a ride on The Pookah. Did Cricket get her unusual monicker as a play on the ball game Smith and the English Colony brought to California?
Judy's role is undercooked: her showbiz ambitions remain unfulfilled and her main task is to feed Sophie Tucker, repeating their double act in 'Broadway Melody of 1938'. Again Tucker is cast as a den mother: she does some sleuthing but no singing. Judy's only song, delivered while barred from the massage, is 'Got a Pair of New Shoes'. This was later picked up by Eleanor Powell, star of 'BM38', for her cabaret tap dancing; also Smith and Tucker reappeared in Powell's last vehicle, 'Sensations of 1945'.
A poignant note: uncredited as one of the track stewards is Francis X. Bushman, the rival of Ramon Novarro in 'Ben Hur', MGM's biggest silent picture. From chariot race to horse race in 12 years: a long way down.
In nine subsequent movies Garland and Rooney would cement their status as America's prototypical teenagers- but not yet in this jolly little programmer.
Another mystery concerns casting. MGM's first thought was to reunite their British boy wonder, Freddie Bartholomew, with C. Aubrey Smith, reprising the grandfather-grandson relationship of 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'. Barthlomew reportedly dropped out due to a contract fight; yet he stars in the trailer introducing Sinclair, falsely, as an old pal. Judy wrote that he had been dropped when his voice broke.
Sinclair was a New Zealander and not quite as veddy veddy British as most kids from over the water in pre-war Hollywood. Though obliged to wear short pants in most scenes, he does okay in the puppy-love passages with Judy, but soon faded as an actor, transforming into the editor of Roger Corman's horror films.
Rooney, already in the Jolson class for self-confidence, breezes through the plot's twists (one of them, involving his crooked dad, is ingenious) and displays his gift for emoting without seeming soppy. The great C. Aubrey is only in the first half but scores in contriving to make Timmie hitch a ride on The Pookah. Did Cricket get her unusual monicker as a play on the ball game Smith and the English Colony brought to California?
Judy's role is undercooked: her showbiz ambitions remain unfulfilled and her main task is to feed Sophie Tucker, repeating their double act in 'Broadway Melody of 1938'. Again Tucker is cast as a den mother: she does some sleuthing but no singing. Judy's only song, delivered while barred from the massage, is 'Got a Pair of New Shoes'. This was later picked up by Eleanor Powell, star of 'BM38', for her cabaret tap dancing; also Smith and Tucker reappeared in Powell's last vehicle, 'Sensations of 1945'.
A poignant note: uncredited as one of the track stewards is Francis X. Bushman, the rival of Ramon Novarro in 'Ben Hur', MGM's biggest silent picture. From chariot race to horse race in 12 years: a long way down.
In nine subsequent movies Garland and Rooney would cement their status as America's prototypical teenagers- but not yet in this jolly little programmer.
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- Oct
- May 6, 2020
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Född till gentleman
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer