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The Thoroughbred

  • 1930
  • 57m
IMDb RATING
4.3/10
43
YOUR RATING
Judith Barrett and Wesley Barry in The Thoroughbred (1930)
Drama

Riley and Donovan, racehorse owners and trainers who have been rivals and enemies for years, seek to befriend Tod Taylor, a jockey, and Ham, a retainer. Tod elects to work for Riley, incurri... Read allRiley and Donovan, racehorse owners and trainers who have been rivals and enemies for years, seek to befriend Tod Taylor, a jockey, and Ham, a retainer. Tod elects to work for Riley, incurring the enmity of rival jockeys. Riley's daughter Colleen sympathizes with Tod and cares fo... Read allRiley and Donovan, racehorse owners and trainers who have been rivals and enemies for years, seek to befriend Tod Taylor, a jockey, and Ham, a retainer. Tod elects to work for Riley, incurring the enmity of rival jockeys. Riley's daughter Colleen sympathizes with Tod and cares for his bruises. Trying to befriend Donovan, Tod wins a match between Riley's colt, Reckless... Read all

  • Director
    • Richard Thorpe
  • Writer
    • Jack Natteford
  • Stars
    • Wesley Barry
    • Judith Barrett
    • Pauline Garon
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    4.3/10
    43
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Richard Thorpe
    • Writer
      • Jack Natteford
    • Stars
      • Wesley Barry
      • Judith Barrett
      • Pauline Garon
    • 3User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos5

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    Top cast11

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    Wesley Barry
    Wesley Barry
    • Tod Taylor
    Judith Barrett
    Judith Barrett
    • Colleen Riley
    • (as Nancy Dover)
    Pauline Garon
    Pauline Garon
    • Margie
    Larry Steers
    Larry Steers
    • Tom Drake
    Robert Homans
    Robert Homans
    • Riley
    Walter Perry
    • Donovan
    Onest Conley
    • Ham Tolliver
    Mildred Washington
    Mildred Washington
    • Purple Washington
    Madame Sul-Te-Wan
    Madame Sul-Te-Wan
    • Sacharine
    George Cleveland
    George Cleveland
    • Detective
    • (uncredited)
    Clarence Muse
    Clarence Muse
    • Stablehand
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Richard Thorpe
    • Writer
      • Jack Natteford
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews3

    4.343
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    Featured reviews

    2planktonrules

    Horrible even for a very early talkie.

    I have seen a ton of old films. So, I realize that a very large portion of the early talking pictures are poor films when you see them today. They're often too talky and stilted. However, even for one of these films, "The Thoroughbred" is a terrible film in many ways--so terrible, I wouldn't waste my time with it.

    The film is a very formulaic race horse film. All throughout the movie, I could predict exactly what was going to happen because it was so familiar. However, I cannot fault it completely for this. After all, as an early film, it might represent an early form of the formula. But what I cannot get past is the slapdash way this is handled as well as the painfully racist elements in the movie.

    The picture, if you bother seeing it, is about two friends. One (Todd) is a nice-guy jockey looking for work. The other is his black friend who is only there as comic relief. It's sad, as the film COULD have been interesting because of this relationship but it fails because nearly every horrible stereotype of the era is in the film--such as watermelon and fried chicken eating as well as the black folks in the film all seeming amazingly servile and stupid. It's also sad because Todd goes from being a nice guy to becoming a fat-headed jerk almost instantly. Had this slowly and realistically occurred, the film might have made more sense. At it is, he goes from treating his black friend fine to treating him like something he just scraped off his shoe! All in all, a terrible film made much worse due to horrible pacing, one-dimensional characters and poor writing.
    4boblipton

    Filling Out the Field

    This is pretty much a stock racetrack movie filled with stock battling Irishmen, young love and crooked gamblers. If it had been made at MGM, it would have starred William Haines, but this was Tiffany, a Poverty Row producer, albeit an ambitious one, so there are some points of interest.

    One is the camera-work. Director Richard Thorpe was famous for his cheap way of shooting scenes interestingly; he would start shooting a scene in a long shot, then as takes were blown, he would have the camera move in and continue. In this one, DP Max DuPont is more ambitious and manages some limited moving shots to show off the sets. Some of the ambitions are greater than ability. In the opening scene, when Wesley Barry and Onest Conley -- he was the real life son of Madame Sul-Te-Wan, with whom he has a couple of scenes -- are hoping for a job, they imagine Barry as a jockey riding Conley as a horse. It doesn't work, alas.

    One scene that does work is the picnic scene. It looks like it was a pick-up scene, shot to bring the movie up to length. It doesn't make the movie good, but it is a pleasantly shot interlude. It's scenes like that that got Thorpe from Poverty Row to MGM.

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This film received one of its earliest documented telecasts in San Francisco Thursday 26 August 1952 on KRON (Channel 4).

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 10, 1930 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Last Race
    • Production company
      • Tiffany Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      57 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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