I had previously made an effort to watch movies featuring Barry MacKay, who portrayed Fred in MGM's 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol," as for years I only knew him from that one role.
So, when the 1937 MGM movie "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" popped up on TCM, I thought I should take a closer look at Ronald Sinclair, who was featured in that film and also played young Scrooge for MGM the next year.
"Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" is basically a programmer, but just about any MGM film from the 1930s has good productions values and good performers and this is no exception.
The most notable thing from an historic standpoint is that "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" is the first movie in which both Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney appear!
That combination of stars is one of the greatest in movie history, but it's more happenstance that they're both in this movie, as they don't play opposite each other, if you will, and only interact in a couple of scenes. They do work well, together. though!
Judy is billed first in the cast listing, which would be the only time she was billed over Mickey, but Mickey wasn't quite MICKEY ROONEY yet.
The lead role in the movie is actually played by Ronald Sinclair and he's the (puppy) love interest for Judy here and he's also the first actor you see on screen at the start of the credits!
That may seem odd to have an unknown such as Ronald featured so prominently, but as you watch the film, it's obvious that he's playing a part that was meant for the then-popular Freddie Bartholomew.
As I understand it, Freddie had an aunt who was his guardian and said aunt often locked horns with the MGM brass. Presumably MGM had "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" ready to go as a vehicle for Freddie with up-and-comers Mickey and Judy in support, but had to cast a different lead due to aunt trouble!
With this in mind, the trailer for the movie is quite intriguing:
Freddie was back in the fold to film the trailer. I don't buy for a second that he's happy that his "pal" is in the movie instead of him, just as I don't buy that Lionel Barrymore handpicked Reginald Owen to replace himself as Scrooge!
Whatever the case, I think Ronald Sinclair is very good in "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry," holding his own against Mickey and Judy, but I guess MGM didn't need him once they smoothed things over with Freddie Bartholomew, as his only other appearance in an MGM film is in the small role of young Scrooge.
As for "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry" itself, it's a fun movie, only about 80 minutes long, so it doesn't outstay its welcome. I don't know if I'd say it's a "gripping drama of extraordinary goodness," though!
This is only Judy Garland's second film for MGM, following her breakthrough role in "Broadway Melody of 1938," and she's quite delightful. Oddly, she only gets one song, "Got a New Pair of Shoes," but she sings that one song multiple times!
As I mentioned, Mickey Rooney wasn't a big star yet, but you can see this kid had the goods. I kind of prefer him in the somewhat-shady secondary roles he played before the "Andy Hardy" persona took over, but he was good in whatever role he played.
Sophie Tucker plays Judy's aunt and she tosses off some great one-liners. I understand that she wasn't pleased with the direction in which MGM was pushing her (i.e. non-singing Marie Dressler-type parts), but she's a pro and interacts quite well with the kids.
Sir C. Aubrey Smith plays Ronald's grandfather and he's always awesome, but I don't think his title drop from the trailer is in the movie!
And one more thing as evidenced by the poster at the top of the page. For such a prestigious studio, MGM had dreadful artwork on their theatrical posters!
No comments:
Post a Comment