The Homestretch

Maureen O'Hara is engaged to marry Glenn Langan, but falls for race horse owner Cornell Wilde. However the rich-one-day-broke-the-next causes a strain that grows greater to finally reach the snapping point.

It's definitely intended as one of those movies that as much a travelogue as a story film, with sequences at Ascot, Saratoga Springs, and Churchill Downs. Unfortunately, the copy I looked at seems to have been a chemical-print rerelease of the originally Technicolor movie, and the color values have shifted to a disconcerting lavender. If, like me, you're always happy to see Miss O'Hara in the silliest vehicle, you'll enjoy this, along with James Gleason, Helen Walker, and Henry Stephenson. But in the poor print that I saw, it was not particularly impressive.

I saw this movie when I was a kid, and it really impressed me. Of course, my tastes were simple; but I thought both Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara were gorgeous, and I was just beginning to "appreciate" the romance between a man and a woman. Also, I was still young enough to appreciate horses. It will live in my memory as one of my young favorites. I guess this movie was made in Cornel Wilde's "heyday." Maureen O'Hara seems to have had a longer "shelf life." She was still good in "Only the Lonely." I was sorry to see that Wilde died several years ago of leukemia. I read O'Hara's bio, "'Tis Herself," and enjoyed it. Also when I was a kid, I enjoyed O'Hara with Henreid in "The Spanish Main."

Some nice racetrack scenes from all over the world highlight this horse racing drama with Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. The part that Wilde has in the film had to have been originally written for Tyrone Power. It is just the kind of hero/heel that he specialized in over in his glory years at 20th Century Fox.

If Power wasn't available Cornel Wilde in his years at Fox was one of many leading men who ran second string to Zanuck's favorite. But in this case Wilde lucked out with a good part just as he did with Forever Amber around the same time.

Wilde comes from an old Maryland racing family that has fallen on hard times. He's a racetrack vagabond of sorts who picks up a young filly as part of an estate from Maureen O'Hara's late uncle. She's an uptight Boston brahmin set to marry diplomat Glenn Langan. Try as she might she can't resist that irresponsible charm that Wilde possesses in abundance. So off they go with their filly to conquer the racing world.

With establishing footage from all over the world where the call to the post is universal music, the two try to make a go of it. She gets into the game, but she'd like to settle down at his old Maryland homestead and make a go of it with some roots.

In her memoirs Maureen O'Hara said she liked working with Wilde in their two films this one and the swashbuckler At Sword's Point. She felt in the sword play department Wilde was the equal of both Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn. Probably the superior as Wilde was a member of the US Olympic fencing team at the 1936 Olympics.

Certainly the two had good chemistry in The Homestretch. Ethel Griffies as her puritan Boston aunt and James Gleason as Wilde's and his father's old trainer are standouts in the supporting cast.

For those of us who like racetrack pictures, The Homestretch will be a winner.

Great Performances from everyone...in this Horse themed film, in addition to British Coronation parade scenes, as well. A true gem of acting chemistry between Leading man Cornel Wilde and leading lady Maureen O'Hara, who performs an surprising emotional crying scene with perfection, even better than actress Halle Berry, Oscar winning 'Monsters Ball' cry scene. However, beautiful actress Helen Walker just about steals every scene she is in with her esquisite beauty, ultra-confident charm and Wit. Lastly, I was amazed by the 1940's era Cardboard Periscope binoculars being utilized as a device to view a parade from behind a massive crowd.

Leslie (Maureen O'Hara) seems to have a good life. She's rich, pretty and has a fiance who is a diplomat. However, when Jock (Cornel Wilde) enters her life, she throws away common sense and marries him instead...without really knowing him all that well. At first, everything seems okay but over time, it becomes obvious that Jock is a man-child...an irresponsible guy who is interested in buying racing horses but isn't so concerned whether he can afford them and their extravagant lifestyle. This worries Leslie and Jock promises to change, though being a man-child, Jock doesn't change in the least. Eventually, she gets sick of his irresponsible ways and leaves him. But there's something about the racing and the horses that Leslie cannot completely give up this life.

"The Homestretch" has a fatal flaw...that characters are difficult to care for and I found myself not caring if they grew up or not. Plus, the chemistry between Wilde and O'Hara certainly wasn't enough to overcome this plot problem. The film seems to want the audience to root for them...I certainly didn't.

By the way, there were two small things that annoyed me in this one. First, casting Henry Stephenson as a South American was ridiculous and his 'accent' was pretty limp. Second, considering the film is about horse racing, you'd think they'd pronounce the name of the race track 'Bowie' correctly. A bit of research and that couldn't have happened.

The bottom line is that this is a nice looking film with really superficial characters and plot. It's very watchable but really pretty shallow and predictable.