The Mick is the son of a jockey who was disgraced and banned from riding and ended up dying in debt. The orphaned Rooney is threatened with reform school when old acquaintances of his father's take him in and make him a jockey. Rival horse owners set Mickey up to be banned from being a jockey, and he ends up in England. There, he runs into his old mentors after becoming one of England's top jockys, and scandal once again follows. Will Mickey be able to clear his name in time? This is an alright, but not great "B" picture from Warners in the mid 30's and is saved by a rather lowkey performance by Mickey who was hamming it up over at MGM, here pre-Andy Hardy and Judy Garland. He is given fine support by black comic Willie Best, here billed as "William", previously known as Snow Flake. Worth a look and enjoyable, but not much more. Still short enough to avoid boredom.
Review of Down the Stretch
Down the Stretch
(1936)
Not bad "B" picture with a restrained Mickey Rooney.
15 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers