Pride of the Blue Grass | |
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Directed by | William C. McGann |
Screenplay by | Vincent Sherman |
Produced by | Bryan Foy |
Starring | Edith Fellows James McCallion Granville Bates Aldrich Bowker Arthur Loft William Hopper |
Cinematography | Ted D. McCord |
Edited by | Frank DeWar |
Music by | Howard Jackson |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 65 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Pride of the Blue Grass is a 1939 American drama film directed by William C. McGann and written by Vincent Sherman. The film stars Edith Fellows, James McCallion, Granville Bates, Aldrich Bowker, Arthur Loft and William Hopper. The film was based on an actual 15-year-old blind horse, Elmer Gantry, who was co-billed as a star and played himself. Gantry was bought and trained as a show horse by wrangler Eleanor Getzendaner but became blind at the age of 13 following two years of experiencing periodic ophthalmia, after which she patiently trained him to jump. [1]
The film was released by Warner Bros. on October 7, 1939. [2] [3] [4]
This article needs an improved plot summary.(September 2015) |
When his father, a disreputable trainer of thoroughbred horses, is killed in a barn fire, young Danny Lowman is able to save the colt Gantry the Great. He gives the new colt to his friend Midge Griner, whose father Colonel Griner owns a stable.
Years pass as Danny moves west and grows up. Frustrated in an attempt to become a jockey, Danny is accused of illegally activities similar to his late father's and faces jail until Midge vouches for him, persuading her dad to give Danny a job. He is reunited with the colt, which has been violently abused by trainer Dave Miller.
The horse responds to Danny's presence in the saddle and begins winning races, saving the Griner stable, which had fallen on hard times. But its narrow defeat in the Kentucky Derby casts suspicion on Danny's effort. Later realizing that the horse has gone blind, possibly from Miller's harsh treatment, Danny and Midge still enter Gantry Jr. in a Grand National steeplechase race in England, where they are victorious and save the family farm.
My Friend Flicka is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his mustang horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead (1943) and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946). The popular 1943 film version featured young Roddy McDowall and was followed by two other film adaptations, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945), and Green Grass of Wyoming (1948), both based on O'Hara's novels. A My Friend Flicka television series followed during 1956–1957, which first aired on CBS, then on NBC, with reruns on ABC and CBS between 1959 and 1966. The Disney Channel re-ran the program during the mid-1980s.
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Kentucky Pride is a 1925 American silent drama film from Fox Film about the life of a horse breeder and racer, directed by the famed film director John Ford and starring Henry B. Walthall. It is among Ford's lesser-known works, but has been praised for sweetness and charm and its beautiful depiction of the life of horses and the relationship between the protagonist and his daughter. Several well-known thoroughbred racehorses appear in the film, including the legendary Man o' War. A print of Kentucky Pride is in the Museum of Modern Art film archive.
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Sir John Layton Jarvis was a British trainer of racehorses. Born into a racing family, Jarvis had a brief but successful career as a jockey before taking up training. He was one of the most prominent British trainers of the mid 20th century, winning nine British Classic Races and being the British flat racing Champion Trainer on three occasions. In 1967 he became the first trainer to be knighted for services to horse racing.
Elmer Gantry is a 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis.
Edith Marilyn Fellows was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her screen debut at the age of five in Charley Chase's film short Movie Night (1929). Her first credited role in a feature film was The Rider of Death Valley (1932). By 1935, she had appeared in over twenty films. Her performance opposite Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas in She Married Her Boss (1935) won her a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures, the first such contract offered to a child.
Granville Bates was an American character actor and bit player, appearing in over ninety films.
Pride of the Blue Grass is a 1954 American drama film directed by William Beaudine and starring Lloyd Bridges, Vera Miles and Margaret Sheridan. It is also known by the alternative title Prince of the Blue Grass. It was the last feature film shot in Cinecolor.
Guy Owen Wilkerson was an American actor, known primarily for his roles in Western B movies. With his tall, lanky frame, he often played sidekick or comedy relief parts.
Blue Grass of Kentucky is a 1950 American sports drama film directed by William Beaudine and starring Bill Williams, Jane Nigh, and Ralph Morgan.
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