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I had never heard of the film, BOOTS MALONE, but William Holden has always stood as one of my all time favorite actors, so I decided to watch it - and, boy, am I glad I did!, because in the process I hit upon a superlative example of unpretentions filmmaking and peerless direction.

In addition, I had the great pleasure of watching one of Holden's career-best shows. Here, he is a near-bum horseracing jock agent, moneyless and ready to steal candy from the comparative babe that is Johnny Stewart, a boy who lost his father and is on the run from his Paris, France-based business-running dictatorial mother, and just wants to realize a personal dream of running as jockey.

Holden is a gray hero. He takes a beating for causing racetrack bet losses to a heavy, seemingly does not have the moral force to get even, and instead trains the opportunity spotlight on the youngster... but Holden is the one who gets taught a lesson.

In keeping with his two- or three-timing character, at the end Holden is on the run from the mob for failing to throw the race, and he catches the train of opportunity - his American Dream may yet be in Paris, France... even if Stewart's mother looks a bit too shrewish for comfort!

Fitting, realistic cinematography, strong dialogue, solid acting across the board make this a must-see. 8/10.

I only watched "Boots Malone" because it was one of William Holden's early starring roles. However, I was not excited about having to watch a film that seemed like a B-movie about horse racing...a topic I couldn't care less about in the first place. However, I was shocked....despite a relatively low budget and a no-name actor in one of the leads, it was terribly entertaining.

Boots Malone (Holden) is a down and out agent for jockeys. He apparently lost his big money jockey and has hit upon hard times...and is forced to sleep in the stables with his buddy, Stash (Stanley Clements). Their fortunes change when a rich runaway teen (Billy Pearson) joins up with him and wants to learn the business.

The movie is like a behind the scenes look at the folks who are often overlooked in the horse racing industry and it never failed to keep my interest. Very well written and a nice film with heart...an excellent film and one which shocked me in so many positive ways.

By the way, it's odd that newcomer Pearson was billed around 8th in the movie...he was clearly the co-star of the picture.

Personally, I enjoy two atmospheres in life. Ballparks and racetracks. Baseball movies are usually about individual efforts, I've never seen one that captures the atmosphere of the game itself. But Boots Malone better than any other film I've seen about racing until last year's Seabiscuit, captures the whole flavor of the track itself.

You can literally smell the manure (and I don't mean that as a comment on the film) when you watch this thing. The characters in and around the track are Damon Runyon like, but not romanticized in the way he usually did.

There just the everyday folk you find there, working hard at something they love.

A lot of the movie depends on the chemistry of the four principal players. That this film has in abundance. Bill Holden as the cynical jockey's agent, Stanley Clements as the over the hill jockey who's now an exercise rider, Basil Ruysdael as the owner of a claiming horse with hidden promise and finally Johnny Stewart as the naive teenage kid who runs away from boarding school to hang around the track, all of them work very well in the scenes they have that's about half the film.

Bill Holden had three years earlier established himself as an actor to be reckoned with in Sunset Boulevard. No more nice guy parts, he's a tough cynical character. His Boots Malone is like Joe Gillis, a cynical survivor, also like Sefton in Stalag 17. Unlike those other two characters, we're shown the reason for Malone's cynicism and alienation, his wife and kid were killed several years earlier in a car crash.

The kid, Tommy Gibson played by Johnny Stewart, get to Malone. Bit by bit as Holden shows him the ropes around the racetrack community they develop a strong bond. Some of the best scenes in the film are those with Holden teaching Stewart the fundamentals of the jockey trade.

Johnny Stewart should have had a major film career. He had charisma and good acting skills in abundance. After this he made one more film and then left Hollywood to resume acting on the Broadway stage. I would love to know whatever happened to him.

I love this film very much and if you love the racetrack this film is a must.

I was actually amazed how much I enjoyed this movie. William Holden makes most people think about "The Bridge on the River Kwai", for me I think of "Stalag 17" -- but this was a great fit.

If you have ever spent any time at the track, you will love this movie. The work out back, being with the horses and the people, the training and the thrill of the races, every part of the this movie brought back great memories and a smile to my face.

The supporting characters all felt perfect, and even the run-away boy being a natural rider idea is pure fun. Highly recommended for everyone.

One of the best horse, jockey and racing stable films ever made. An enjoyable Lassie Comes Home film with racehorses instead of dogs. It illustrates with great accuracy the thoroughbred race horse-world with what appears to be authentic been there- done that background talk and which transports the viewer into the somewhat risky world of the small County Fairs travelling race horses trainers, hired on the spot track-jockeys and conscientious track officials. Apart from the star Wm Holden the casting was superb, Holden's acting and city-gent physical-appearance did not fit the horse-trainer role he played. In my view the actor who played the blacksmith role a Mr Basil Ruysdael was by far the best actor for this Boots Malone role (a likeable, friendly and honest horse trainer) Holden should have played the winning horses wealthy upmarket owner with the champion to be boy-jockeys screen mother playing the part of Holden loveable wife and the wannabe -jockey boys mother. This is a 9 star film, and I award a Golden Horse Shoes to all the cast. Johnny Stewart the boy actor/newcomer was exceptional. With very few script changes you have here a Classic Box Office Winner here. Thank you to the producers and the 'gamblers' who financed this 1952 Boys Town with Horses Film. Watch it and shut up and escape the dreaded Covid-19 news for 1-hour 45 minutes, this is a good film, and its made for children everywhere and code-approved!