Turner Classic Movies Horse Racing Film Festival

May 1-2, 1998

Turner Classic Movies plans to show nothing but horse racing movies for the entire 24-hour period leading up to the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 1998. The movies will start Friday at 4:30pm EDT and conclude at Saturday at 4:30pm EDT just as ABC starts their coverage of the Derby. Stock up on video tape as some of these show up very rarely on TV. If you want to find out more about horse racing movies, check here for my list of all of them I have found so far.

Below is the schedule with stars and capsule descriptions plus links to a detailed online review and cast list. If there is a video tape icon beside a movie, you can click on that to order a copy through Amazon.com. (Note: Amazon.com is solely responsible for fulfillment of orders placed through these links.)

Friday, May 1

4:30 p.m. Thoroughbreds Don't Cry, 1937 (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney). Racehorse story with Rooney as a young jockey and songs by Garland.

6:00 p.m. A Day at the Races, 1937 (Marx Brothers, Maureen O'Sullivan). Racehorse owner O'Sullivan and the Marx Brothers in a musical/comedy with a racetrack setting.

8:00 p.m. National Velvet, 1944 (Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney). Story of a girl who rides her horse to victory in the Grand National with Rooney as the trainer.

10:15 p.m. The Black Stallion, 1979 (Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney). A boy becomes a jockey and rides his horse to victory at Santa Anita with Rooney as his mentor.

12:30 a.m. Gypsy Colt, 1954 (Donna Corcoran, Ward Bond). MGM's clever reworking of Lassie Come Home with a girl and her horse substituting for the boy and his dog.

2:00 a.m. International Velvet, 1978 (Tatum O'Neal, Nanette Newman). Newman plays the adult Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor's role in the original) in this sequel to National Velvet. O'Neal is her hostile niece who goes on to become an international horsewoman at the Olympics. Not a horse racing movie but shows up here because Turner owns the MGM library and it is an MGM movie.

4:00 a.m. The Story of Seabiscuit, 1949 (Shirley Temple, Barry Fitzgerald). Fictionalized account of the legendary horse in which Temple plays the niece of trainer Fitzgerald.

Saturday, May 2

6:00 a.m. Big Boy, 1930 (Al Jolson, Claudia Dell). Jolson plays a jockey who is given the chance to ride a horse named Big Boy in the Kentucky Derby.

7:30 a.m. Sporting Blood, 1931 (Clark Gable, Ernest Torrence). Story of a horse who passes through various owners before racing to victory in the Kentucky Derby.

9:00 a.m. Pride of the Bluegrass, 1939 (Edith Fellows, James McCallion). Story of a horse that loses the Kentucky Derby and goes on to win the Grand National.

10:15 a.m. My Brother Talks to Horses, 1946 (Butch Jenkins, Peter Lawford). A boy (Jenkins) who can talk to horses finds himself in demand by racetrack gamblers and bookies.

Noon Down the Stretch, 1936 (Mickey Rooney, Patricia Ellis). Rooney is adopted by a family that breeds horses. After becoming a jockey, he rides his horse to victory in the English Derby.

1:15 p.m. Fast Company, 1953 (Howard Keel, Polly Bergen). Bergen inherits a racehorse and falls in love with trainer Keel.

2:30 p.m. Glory, 1955 (Margaret O'Brien, Walter Brennan). Bluegrass family fare in which horse owner O'Brien enters her filly in the Kentucky Derby and wins.

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