The American movie-going public and Will Rogers said a mutual farewell to each other when in November of 1935 In Old Kentucky was released by the newly formed 20th Century Fox studio. Rogers died on August 11, 1935 in the infamous plane crash that also killed aviation pioneer Wiley Post. Probably he was the most beloved entertainer America ever produced and his humor has never really been replaced. Rogers had the good fortune to be directed by George Marshall in one of his first acclaimed comedies.
The role of the horse trainer caught in a family feud between two Kentucky racing families fits Rogers homespun personality perfectly. During the course of the film Rogers switches sides and trains the winner of the big handicap and squares accounts all around.
The biggest problem with the horse Rogers trains is that he loves the mud and Kentucky has had a dry spell for a while. Not to worry Rogers and owner Charles Sellon hire eccentric rainmaker Etienne Girardot to make it rain. They do get their muddy track kind of sort of.
And woman's liberation gets a boost as Dorothy Wilson granddaughter of Sellon rides in the handicap. She also wins a young veterinarian's heart that of Russell Hardie.
Sellon almost steals the film from Will as the cantankerous owner who goes around with a shotgun shooting it at anything that resembles one of the members of the rival family. This turned out to be his last film as well. You might best remember him as the blind man who wreaked havoc on WC Fields general store in It's A Gift.
This was the Rogers that America loved and knew best. In Old Kentucky was a good film for a farewell to the movie-going public.
The role of the horse trainer caught in a family feud between two Kentucky racing families fits Rogers homespun personality perfectly. During the course of the film Rogers switches sides and trains the winner of the big handicap and squares accounts all around.
The biggest problem with the horse Rogers trains is that he loves the mud and Kentucky has had a dry spell for a while. Not to worry Rogers and owner Charles Sellon hire eccentric rainmaker Etienne Girardot to make it rain. They do get their muddy track kind of sort of.
And woman's liberation gets a boost as Dorothy Wilson granddaughter of Sellon rides in the handicap. She also wins a young veterinarian's heart that of Russell Hardie.
Sellon almost steals the film from Will as the cantankerous owner who goes around with a shotgun shooting it at anything that resembles one of the members of the rival family. This turned out to be his last film as well. You might best remember him as the blind man who wreaked havoc on WC Fields general store in It's A Gift.
This was the Rogers that America loved and knew best. In Old Kentucky was a good film for a farewell to the movie-going public.