Thoroughbreds Don't Cry

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.

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.

Roger Calverton is an English boy, grandson of famous Lord Sir Peter Calverton, who has come to America eager to race his horse. He wants cocky Timmie Donovan (Mickey Rooney) to be his jockey. He befriends aspiring-actress Cricket West (Judy Garland) whose aunt Mother Ralph runs a boarding house for young jockeys.

This is a great trio of young actors playing great characters. I'm going to make an unusual comparison. They're the Star Wars original trio. Roger is the young idealist. Timmie is the cocky brigand. Cricket is the sassy princess. They have some fun scenes together. They even have a sweet puppy love triangle. It's more notable for being the first film to team up Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Their chemistry is undeniable. Garland's career is just ramping up as the new It girl as she films this and Everybody Sing at the same time. The story could use a little more work but it's simple and effective. I just love the three young actors starting with the fight to the slapstick massage and the diner. They're great together.

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.

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.