SPORTING BLOOD
1931 MGM

Directed by Charles Brabin.
Screenplay and dialogue by Willard Mack and Wanda Tuchodc, 
from the novel Horseflesh, by Frederick Haalitt Brennan. 
Photography by Harold Rosson.
Editor: William Gray.
Release date: August 8, 1931.
Running time: 82 minutes.

CAST: Clark Gable, Ernest Torrence, Madge Evans, Lew Cody, Marie Prevost, Harry Holmw, Halam Cooley, J. Farrell MacDonald, John Larkin, Eugene Jackson.

SYNOPSIS: Jim Rellence (Ernest Torrence), who sells the fast horses he breeds instead of racing them himself, reluctantly sells "Tommy" to rich Jerry Hardwick (J. Farrell MacDonald). Jerry wins a lot of money with Tommy but is forced to sell the horse to Angela (Marie Prevost) and Phil Ludeking (Harry Holman), a gambler.

His new owners overwork Tommy, who loses a race he should never have run. Angela is furious about losing and Phil goes to Tip Scanlon's (Clark Cable) gambling place to win the money back. He loses heavily and is forced to give the horse to Tip as payment.

Tip races Tommy honestly for a while, then has Tommy pulled to win big on the loss. Ruby (Madge Evans) and Warren (Lew Cody), dealers at Scanlon's gambling joint, object to Tip's intention to use dope to spur Tommy to win under great strain. When the horse loses, unplanned, Ti p is in big trouble with dangerous mobsters who bet heavily on him. To cover himself Tip transfers Tommy to Ruby who takes the horse back to Jim Rellence. Under Jim's care, Tommy goes on to win the Kentucky Derby, despite all crooked attempts to stop him. Warren, who brought warning of the "fix," takes Ruby for his wife.

REVIEWS:

Time: Horses and nonsense. With a plot that one can nearly guess the turns and happenings; only the race sequences offer any promise to the fan. This one is indulitably not Mr. Gable's best work, though far from. his worst.

Films in Review: Clark Gable heads the cast, but Torrence, as the head of the family of horse breeders,steals the show.  Mr. Gable should not take it hard to be up-staged by so line an actor in a show where even the horses feature prominently. The screenplay is just barely adequate, carried almost entirety by the high grade of acting and direction of Charles Brabin.


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