Thoroughbreds Don't Cry

Director: Alfred E. Green Alfred E. Green

Overview

This romantic comedy is the first film pairing of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. He plays a young jockey who deliberately loses a race so his neer-do-well father can pay off his many debts. Afterward the owner of Pookah, the horse he rode, drops dead from heart failure. The poor jockey feels terribly guilty and wants to restore his good reputation. He then asks his father to loan the owner's grandson $1,000 of his winnings so the late owner's grandson can run a different race, but his father refuses. In desperation, the youth steals the money from his father. Unfortunately, he finds out about the theft and reports the lad to the track officials. Fortunately, throughout his ordeal his good buddy Judy sticks by his side. Occasionally she also bursts into song.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/29/2011
UPC:	0883316326305
Original Release:	1937
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:20:00
Sales rank:	37,673

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mickey Rooney	Timmie Donovan
Ronald Sinclair	Roger Calverton
Judy Garland	Cricket West
Sophie Tucker	Mother Ralph
C. Aubrey Smith	Sir Peter Calverton
Forrester Harvey	Wilkins
Helen Troy	Hilda
Charles D. Brown	Click Donahue
Frankie Darro	Dink Reid
Henry Kolker	Doc Godfrey
Francis Bushman	Race Steward
Elisha Cook Jr.	Boots Maguire
William Axt	Composer

Technical Credits

Alfred E. Green	Director
Harry Rapf	Producer

Editorial Reviews

First time viewers of Thoroughbreds Don't Cry may be surprised to discover that Judy Garland is hardly the star of the movie -- indeed, she's not too much more than a featured supporting player. But that's of little matter -- she does enough with that role, and the screen time that she does have to hold her own with Mickey Rooney, and the chemistry between them is there, albeit in embryonic form. Alfred E. Green brings the same mix of energy and sincerity to this movie that he later brought to The Jackie Robinson Story, only with great force and potency, and with a good script -- Mickey Rooney gets a very juicy part and runs with it for all it's worth -- the picture is pretty engrossing on its own terms. The character relationships are interesting, the portrayals are very good, and the fact that this was the first pairing of Rooney and Garland in the same picture is almost incidental to its appeal. Sir C. Aubrey Smith and Ronald Sinclair play key roles that are just as important as either of their parts, as does Sophie Tucker in a meaty role as a boarding house owner. Between the lively horse-racing background and the charismatic players, this remains one of the most enjoyable of MGM's mid-1930's vehicles. Additionally, Garland -- then all of 14 years old -- is so charming, that the movie is worth seeing just for her. And the movie offers a glimpse of Ronald Sinclair, a child actor who didn't quite make it to major stardom, in one of his more pleasing and well-written roles.