Kentucky

Tarnation, that Loretta Young is a mighty purty filly, and she darn near always wears a fetchin' ribbon, or sprig o' ivy, in her hair t' show off this here newfangled Technicolor process, y'all. But warn't thar a War Between the States? No'm. Tha's why ya still got yer two kinds o' nigra. First, thar's yer field nigra -- when he's not happy 'n' singin' like a chil', he's lazy 'n' stealin'. Then thar's yer house nigras -- a right reg'lar passel o' Uncle Toms 'n' Aunt Jemimas.

Surely this is not intended to represent the reality of Kentucky in 1938? Which century is this supposed to be? Blacks in the '30's had good reason to be concerned about how they were portrayed in Hollywood films. Then there's the whole silliness of the film's basic premise -- feudin', mansion-dwelling, horse-breeding aristocrats. And I certainly don't want to hear "My Old Kentucky Home" again any time soon.

In spite of everything, this corn pone still managed to make for an entertaining horseracing yarn however. Yes'm, it did.

Moroni Olsen plays his usual stalwart patriarch, and Walter Brennan is convincingly cussed 'n' ornery.

There is an unusual documentary sequence in mid-film showing and extolling the great racehorses of Kentucky, Man-O'-War included. And all in glorious early Technicolor.

The Yankee ransacking prelude more or less spells out the eventuality that years later Young is going to fall for Greene and that their respective families are going to trample the path of true love. Quite literally, as the updated story is now played out against a bluegrass background.

Get yourself into Hollywood mode and dispense with the logistics of script and story, and instead enjoy everything else. The performances, even though they embody strictly cliché and (predictably racial) caricature, are still marvellous for those who love a Fox-style wallow - Brennan won that year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The film is generally well and pacily edited, and the racing sequences are particularly exciting.

The real star of this show though, for me, was the sublime photography which I can honestly say offered the most richest and well-preserved example of pre-40s 3-strip Technicolor I have so far seen. Even after more than 50 years, its luminescence (at least in this Channel 4 print) was breathtakingly striking and full of lustre, with yellow in particular registering far more strongly than I have previously seen in a 30s Technicolor movie, and natural outdoor verdance looking as if it had been sprayed with kiwi fruit dye. No doubt deployed deliberately to enhance the otherwise routine nature of the story, it would still take a considerable kick of horsepower to elevate the film to the grandeur of, say, 'Gone With The Wind', to which it bears more than a passing dramatic resemblance.

There is a small prologue which depicts the beginning of the Civil war in a small Kentucky town; but most the action takes place in 1938 when both families are vying for the cups in horse racings:the Goodwin (check the name) and the Dillon.Whereas the Goodwin are almost broke -and they sell their stuff by auction- ,the Dillon affairs are thriving .Do not panic for Dillon jr (Greene) falls for gorgeous young Goodwin girl (Young) ;it could be Romeo and Juliet on the horse fields but it is not for the boy conceals his identity .Miss Young is eye candy in color, but the screenwriters seem more interested in horses than in love affairs .The great race is well filmed and in the last scenes you may need a box of kleenex.

This 1938 film is a real love letter to the Kentucky Derby and it's Southern rooted thoroughbred history. It begins just prior to and during the Civil War, which sets the stage for a feud between the Dillon Family and the Goodwin Family. Then fast forward to 1938 and two grandchildren of the Dillion and Goodwin Family meet, have conflict and fall in love all over training thoroughbreds and racing in the Kentucky Derby.

Jack Dillon, played by the handsome Richard Greene, returns home to the family ranch in Kentucky from London England where he had been studying to go into the banking business with his father. The problem is Jack doesn't want to be a banker, he wants to be a horse trainer...when he has a disagreement with his father at the bank, he goes incognito as a trainer with the Goodwin Family after setting eyes on the lovely Sally Goodwin, played by the beautiful Loretta Young. The Goodwin family has all their hopes pinned on a single horse that they win from the Dillon Family making this year's Kentucky Derby high stakes!

There is definitely some Hollywood-ized Southern flair to this film, but it is worth seeing for its beautiful time capsule of 1938 Kentucky Derby and all it's fanfare. Great film for a Kentucky Derby family night.

Terrific film dealing with the horse racing scene in Kentucky.

We are taken from the beginning of the civil war, when generations of feuding between families begin when a Goodwin is killed by a Dillon during the taking of horses for the union army.

The film then jumps to 1938 and the generations that followed these families. Naturally, Loretta Young and Richard Greene will become lovers and are from the different families with Greene hiding his Dillon name.

Walter Brennan is absolutely magnificent here as the older Peter Dillon, who cried hysterically at the time of his father's murder in 1861. He plays a crusty, cantankerous individual with a rare knowledge of horse breeding and with it all, a wonderful human heart. His Academy Award as best supporting actor was extremely well deserved here.

The blue grass of Kentucky was never more enjoyable in this sprawling film of great memories of a bygone era.