Thoroughbreds Don't Cry

The casting in this film is rather unusual. While Freddie Bartholomew was apparently supposed to be in the movie, he was either in a contract dispute or in seclusion until his voice changed (according to Judy Garland)...and the studio tried to find a Bartholomew-like actor to take his place. That is why Ronald Sinclair (a New Zealander) was chosen to appear in this film...one of only a small number of films in which he acted. Interestingly, Sinclair has quite a few Hollywood credits--most of them as an Editor!

"Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" is monumental because it is the first pairing of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. They'd go on to make many more films together...and this being the first might explain why Rooney does NOT play a typical sort of part for a Garland-Rooney film. Instead of the usual likable guy, he's a fat-head jockey--one that definitely needs to be taken down a peg or two. As for Garland, she 's a nice girl who likes to find excuses to sing...and so her role is very typical of their later films.

When the movie begins, Sir Peter Calverton is preparing to take his prize horse, the Pookah, to America for some big race. No, this IS a horse and it's NOT invisible...despite the name for the creature being the same as Harvey in the famous Jimmy Stewart film! His grandson, Roger (Sinclair) accompanies him and eventually makes friends with Timmie (Rooney) and Cricket (Garland). But alas, things do NOT go swimmingly--and I won't say more because I don't want to spoil the plot. Suffice to say that Timmie and Cricket need to work together to help poor Roger and his horse.

Overall, this is a very entertaining film--one that would probably appeal more to kids but still have appeal to all ages. It has all the typical MGM polish and the story well worth seeing. I particularly liked that there wasn't that much singing and no dancing...unlike many of the other Garland- Rooney films. I know some folks like the singing and dancing, but to me it often got in the way of the story...and that's why the story here is stronger than I expected.

By the way, there is a hospital scene where Timmie talks to the receptionist. This lady is none other than Marie Blake ('Blossom Rock' from "The Addams Family")....who also played the hospital receptionist in the Dr. Kildaire films (also from MGM).

Left insolvent in America by the death of his grandfather, a young English lad learns that THOROUGHBREDS DON'T CRY. Now it's time for his new buddies, an irrepressible girl & an excitable jockey, to help him make his race horse a winner.

This little film, with a horse race plot both contrived & convoluted, is mere entertainment fluff. Its real significance is that it was the first movie to co-star Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland. Rooney is hyper-energetic & Garland exhibits her wide-eyed exuberance; together they hint at much better films to come in the future. Ronald Sinclair receives equal billing with them, and he does a good job with his role, but up against the Dynamic Duo he never really stood a chance. His celebrity would prove to be rather transitory.

Forrester Harvey does fine in a small performance as a jolly horse trainer. Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith lends a touch of class to his role as an English gentleman. But it is the inimitable Sophie Tucker who steals the film as Garland's mother, a big sharp-tongued woman you wouldn't want to trifle with. For some unfathomable reason, the script gives her no chance to sing. Unbelievable! At the very least, a Tucker/Garland duet could have made the film truly memorable.

Movie mavens will recognize Lionel Belmore as a butler & Elisha Cook, Jr. as a jockey, both unbilled.

A `pookah', by the way, is an Irish ghost horse.

Young English boy (Ronald Sinclair) wants a jockey (Mickey Rooney) to ride his horse in an upcoming race. But the jockey's an arrogant jerk who doesn't want anything to do with the kid. Enter cutie Judy Garland, the niece of Rooney's landlady. She befriends Sinclair and gets Rooney to agree to ride his horse. Things are complicated when Mickey's crooked dad asks him to throw the race.

A rather pedestrian plot sparked some by the delightful Judy and energetic Mickey. This was the very first movie Mickey and Judy Garland did together. Nice support from C. Aubrey Smith and Sophie Tucker, who sadly does not sing. A watchable flick but nothing special.

The first film to feature Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland came up short in the music department as there was only one song written for the film Got A Brand New Pair Of Shoes and it was Judy's. I've a feeling that a lot might have been left on the cutting room floor because Sophie Tucker was also in this film as Judy's grandmother and she sung not a note.

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry features Mickey as a jockey famous for his daring come from behind wins in the stretch and Judy the granddaughter of Sophie Tucker who runs a jockey's boardinghouse where Mickey resides. Into their lives comes C. Aubrey Smith and his young grandson Ronald Sinclair who are titled, but cash poor with only one asset, a prize winning stakes horse called The Pooka. Yes, I do believe it is named for that spirit who manifested himself as a six foot white rabbit in Harvey.

Mickey's the best there is at his profession, but he's fatally compromised because of a no-good gambler of a father in Charles D. Brown who pretends he's on death's door. That's to extort a pledge from Mickey to throw the race The Pooka is running in. Mickey does it and finds out he's been framed. He's put everybody in a jackpot because of this and there is one death that results from it.

Ronald Sinclair substitutes nicely for Freddie Bartholomew who this role was originally intended. But the chemistry with Mickey and Judy was readily apparent and MGM would team them several more times until Words And Music in 1948 which was Mickey's last film for MGM.

But I like more singing and dancing when I see Mickey and Judy and I think more was originally intended. Just the mere fact that Sophie Tucker was in the film leads me to believe she must have had a number that ended up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps one day we'll see a director's cut.

The racing sequences at Santa Anita were handled well, the track was only a few years old at the time and the movie land crowd were frequent visitors and owners of race horses out there. I've seen newsreel footage of Mickey Rooney enjoying the sport of kings there when he was not on a shooting schedule.

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry is a good start for a most auspicious star team, but a whole lot better was to come.

When Mickey Rooney died last month, I got a jones to watch some of his movies so when I went to the library, and this was among the films there, I had to get it especially since I knew this was the first one he made with Judy Garland. He plays a jockey and Ms. Garland plays the niece of the owner of the boardinghouse for jockeys. But the main character is played by Ronald Sinclair, another teen who's from England (actually Sinclair was from New Zealand), who has a horse he wants to enter into the America's Cup race. I'll stop there and just say it was quite fascinating watching Rooney and Garland bicker and also helping Sinclair in his troubles. Ms. Garland had one song she performed a few times in the movie. Her character dreams of stardom which, of course, is what happened to Judy in real life. Legendary singer Sophie Tucker plays her aunt but she doesn't have a number for some reason. All in all, Thoroughbreds Don't Cry was quite an entertaining programmer.