The title character of Boots Malone, played by William Holden, is a jockey trainer with his hands full with pupil Johnny Stewart, a rich kid desperate to make a life on the track. Mixed with tough talk and sentiment, this takes the favorite world of uninvolved veteran writer Damon Runyeon to a different level, showing Stewart go from naive newcomer to tough talking show-off, taking it on the chin, literally. To get his hands on the reins, he buys his own horse, claims Holden to be his father (mainly to hide his identity), and has to learn how to deal with young jockey hopefuls tougher than him.
At times, the mood of this film seems a bit like an A list Bowery Boys film (Stanley Clements, one of the vets of that series, appears in this), and at others, it's overly dramatic with the Elmer Bernstein music dominating the action. But it is a film that manages to get better as it goes along, and it's easy to see why it attracted Holden, then one of the biggest stars in films after a decade of not being taken as seriously as he would be after "Sunset Blvd." and "Born Yesterday". Stewart gets better too as the film goes along, developing from overly enthusiastic to fully fleshed out and likeable.
The direction of William Dieterle helps this film develop its mood in spite of starting out with some odd silliness and unnecessary melodrama. A great supporting cast includes Harry Morgan, Ed Begley, Basil Ruysdael, Carl Benton Reid and in the only substantial female role Texas theater/restaurant owner Ann Lee (not Anna) as Stewart's mother. The film gains tension as Stewart's identity threatens to be exposed as an underage runway, threatening to get Holden in trouble legally. This really could have been great if the beginning had been set up with the consistency of the last three quarters.
At times, the mood of this film seems a bit like an A list Bowery Boys film (Stanley Clements, one of the vets of that series, appears in this), and at others, it's overly dramatic with the Elmer Bernstein music dominating the action. But it is a film that manages to get better as it goes along, and it's easy to see why it attracted Holden, then one of the biggest stars in films after a decade of not being taken as seriously as he would be after "Sunset Blvd." and "Born Yesterday". Stewart gets better too as the film goes along, developing from overly enthusiastic to fully fleshed out and likeable.
The direction of William Dieterle helps this film develop its mood in spite of starting out with some odd silliness and unnecessary melodrama. A great supporting cast includes Harry Morgan, Ed Begley, Basil Ruysdael, Carl Benton Reid and in the only substantial female role Texas theater/restaurant owner Ann Lee (not Anna) as Stewart's mother. The film gains tension as Stewart's identity threatens to be exposed as an underage runway, threatening to get Holden in trouble legally. This really could have been great if the beginning had been set up with the consistency of the last three quarters.