Riding High (1950)

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

05 Mar 2007 11:47 AM

This predictable Bing Crosby movie had a lot of build-up and a whole lot of let-down. I don't know about you, but when I hear that a movie has a big name in it, like, oh, I don't know - Bing Crosby, I tend to think that it's going to be a decent film. I also think that I'm going to hear some really good singing. Oh, I'm so naïve. Hollywood sometimes misses the mark, and when the actors are under contract to star in whatever movie they're told to take, there is no guarantee.

Bing plays Dan Brooks, a man with a dream. He's longed for years to train a winning horse, but finances got in the way and he had to sell his stables. He kept one horse, Broadway Bill, unable to part with him for sentimental reasons. But now things are looking up for Dan. He's engaged to marry Margaret (Frances Gifford) and her father, Mr. Higgins, has made him the manager of the Higgins Paper Box Company. It would seem that Dan's future is set, but his thoughts and dreams keep wandering out to that horse and wondering (as he wanders) what if. The only person who seems to understand his obsession with Broadway Bill is Margaret's little sister Alice (Coleen Gray) who helps Dan time Bill's laps around the track.

Mr. Higgins has all his sons-in-law on a noose, yanking their ropes and keeping them in line. Because he owns all the businesses in town, and has given his sons-in-law jobs in them, he thinks he can control their lives as well. Dan takes exception to this, and when Mr. Higgins tries to tell him that he has to give up his dreams of horse racing, he rebels. Leaving the Higgins home and hoping Margaret will follow, he loads up the horse and heads for the track, planning to show everyone what Bill can do. Margaret doesn't follow, but Alice does.

You can pretty much guess the rest, and you'd be smack on. Bill, after a whole lot of trouble, wins the race and proves everyone wrong. Dan finally realizes that Alice is in love with him and he returns the favor. He comes out rich and happy at the end.

What you didn't predict, though, was that Bing did not have one decent ballad in the movie. He sings a little ditty here and there, and one really long, boring, stupid song about making a sunshine cake. That was it. We never once saw a close shot of him emitting those velvet tones for which we so love him. It was injustice. If there's no great song, why even have Bing play the role? They could have gotten anyone to do it.

Additionally, this movie never did get going. We spent the entire film waiting for the race, which didn't take place until the very end, and the plot moved slower than molasses on a winter day. They could have done away with a lot of dialogue, a certain stupid cake song, and a lot of longing looks on Alice's part, and it would have greatly improved the film.

Side note: Coleen Gray was twenty-eight when she made this movie, opposite Bing, at the age of forty-seven. Bit of an age difference there, methinks.

This film is not rated.

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Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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