Long Shot (1939)

Harry Davenport has had a string of terrible losses and has lost his stable and his ranch. He wills his last good horse to niece Marsha Hunt and pal Gordon Jones, sets the horse free, and fakes his own death. Miss Hunt and Mr. Jones proceed to figure out what to do, with the usual misunderstandings along the way.

I'm reminded of a story about Al Jolson. He was touring in a show about horse racing. In the middle, he stopped the show and turned to the audience. "Folks," he said, "The horse wins the race and the boy gets the girl. Would you rather see that or do you want me to sing?"

Given the muddled script with the subpar writer Ewart Adamson credited, I didn't expect much. However, competent B director Charles Lamont has an interesting cast, including C. Henry Gordon, George Meeker, George E. Stone and Tom Kennedy. With them, he has taken a a bog-standard script and pushed a little life into it. It's not a good movie by any means, but it's worth watching to the end once.