Riding High

Broadway Bill? "He's the mostest horse we ever did have!" says his handler. He's a lot of movie, too. So much that in 1950, Frank Capra teamed with stars Bing Crosby and Coleen Gray for Riding High, a lively remake of Capra's 1934 gem Broadway Bill.

Der Bingle's fondness for the racetrack is evident throughout this story of a man who abandons the mansion for the stable. And the songs attest to the film's unbridled spirit. There's no need for an address, three square meals a day or luck when you can stay "Someplace On Anywhere Road," bake a "Sunshine Cake" or bet the nest egg on what "The Horse Told Me." Many of the 1934 stars reprise their roles here, and Oliver Hardy (minus sidekick Stan Laurel) has a memorable bit as a railbird desperate for a winner.

RIDING HIGH is Frank Capra's remake of his own 1934 film BROADWAY BILL, in which romance and comedy play out against the backdrop of thoroughbred horse racing. Real-life racing enthusiast Bing Crosby takes over Warner Baxter's starring role from the earlier film (Baxter was admittedly skittish about horses) and lends greater emotional resonance--as well as a few musical sequences--to the lighthearted story of a wealthy businessman who abandons his privileged lifestyle in favor of racing horses. While Coleen Gray replaces Myrna Loy as co-star, most of the original cast members reprise their supporting roles--including Clarence Muse, Raymond Walburn, Margaret Hamilton, and Douglass Dumbrille--and Oliver Hardy appears without Stan Laurel in a memorable cameo.

Frank Capra remade his own 1934 "Broadway Bill" almost twenty years later with songs, Bing Crosby in the lead, and several of the original actors in the same roles.
Horse lover Dan Brooks is engaged to rich businessman
J. L. Higgins's daughter. When the tycoon implores Dan to sell his prized thoroughbred and get a life, Dan makes off with his horse and enters him in a real competition.
Fate has a surprise or two in store for Bill -- and another of Higgins's daughters -- down at the race track!

Adventure | Classic | Horses | Love Story | Musical Sequences | Racing | Remake | Romance | Theatrical Release | Vintage

Genre:

• Comedy Movies

Movie Categories:

• Comedies

Product Groupings:

• Closed Captioned