Down the Stretch (1936)

A jockey tries to overcome the reputation of his father, who once threw a race.

Director:

William Clemens

Writer:

William Jacobs (story)

Stars:

Patricia Ellis, Mickey Rooney, Dennis Moore

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Patricia Ellis	...	Patricia Barrington
Mickey Rooney	...	'Snapper' Sinclair, aka Fred St. Clair
Dennis Moore	...	Cliff Barrington
Willie Best	...	Noah (as William Best)
Gordon Hart	...	Judge Adams
Bill Elliott	...	Robert Bates (as Gordon Elliott)
Virginia Brissac	...	Aunt Julia
Charles C. Wilson	...	Tex Reardon (as Charles Wilson)
Joseph Crehan	...	Secretary C.D. Burch
Mary Treen	...	Nurse
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Nick
Charley Foy	...	Arnold Roach (as Charles Foy)
Crauford Kent	...	Sir Oliver Martin

Storyline

Jockey Snapper Sinclair has been having a hard time living down the reputation of his father, a crooked jockey. Patricia Barrington agrees to take custody of Snapper, who was sentenced to one year in the state reformatory for stealing when he was hungry. She does so out of gratitude when she recognized Snapper as the son of the man who helped make her father's stables successful. After some run-ins with the trainer, Tex Reardon, who likens humans to horses and says "like sire, like colt," Snapper prevents the sale of a fast but unruly horse called Faithful, and eventually rides him to victory in the Kentucky Derby. Using the pseudonym Fred St. Clair, Snapper has a successful career until he refuses to cooperate with gamblers, who frame him on a charge of attempting to throw a race, and he is suspended from racing in the United States for one year. He takes an offer to race for Sir Oliver Martin in London, and has a successful career there also. But Patricia brings Faithful to London ...

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Plot Keywords:

jockey | horse | kentucky derby | london england | self sacrifice | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

No Limite

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"About a Quarter to Nine"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played on the radio in the hotel room

User Reviews

Decent "B" Picture

Down the Stretch (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Questionable "B" picture from Warner about juvenile delinquent 'Snapper' Sinclair (Mickey Rooney), a kid who'd like to be a jockey but gets turned down everywhere because his father, also a jockey, threw a race and ruined the family name. A woman (Patricia Ellis) gives Snapper a second chance but sure enough he's caught up in a gambling racket where he's framed but this is where the film takes an even bigger turn. At just 66-minutes this film goes by fairly quickly and the cast keeps everything interesting but for the life of me I can't understand what the heck they were thinking with the final six-minutes of this film. I'm not going to ruin the ending but I'd love to hear any explanation as to why they ended the film the way they did as it pretty much goes against everything in the previous hour. For an entire hour we're given speeches about what's right and wrong and yet the film then does a complete turn and ends on such an idiotic nature that I really had to wonder if someone in the production lost a bet and had to come up with a dumb ending on purpose. Before that we've got a pretty good film as Rooney fits the role perfectly. I was a little surprised to see how laid-back and calm his performance was but it just shows that he doesn't have to be loud and cute to deliver a good performance. Ellis doesn't have the strongest role here but I enjoyed her when she was on screen. Dennis Moore has a small supporting role as does Willie Best but I'm sure most will probably be offended by his performance. The races in the film aren't shot too well and it's obvious when Rooney's stunt double is riding but this doesn't take away from the film too much. I think fans of Rooney will enjoy seeing his performance here but I think everyone will be scratching their heads once "The End" pops up on the screen.