| Thoroughbreds Don't Cry | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Alfred E. Green |
| Produced by | Harry Rapf |
| Written by | Eleanore Griffin (story) J. Walter Ruben (story) Lawrence Hazard Dalton Trumbo (uncredited) Harold Gould (uncredited) |
| Starring | Ronald Sinclair Judy Garland Mickey Rooney C. Aubrey Smith Sophie Tucker |
| Cinematography | Leonard Smith |
| Editing by | Elmo Veron |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | December 3, 1937 |
| Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937 film) is a film directed by Alfred E. Green, and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their first film together.
Cricket West (Garland) is a hopeful actress with a plan and a pair of vocal chords that bring down the house. Along with her eccentric aunt, she plays host to the local jockeys, whose leader is the cocky but highly skilled Timmie Donovan (Rooney). When a young English gentleman comes to town convincing Donovan to ride his horse in a high stakes race, the plot breaks into a speeding gallop. Donovan is disqualified from racing, but Cricket wins the race.
The first film to feature Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland had only one song written for the film, which was "Got A Brand New Pair Of Shoes" by Garland.
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry features Rooney as a jockey famous for his daring come from behind wins in the stretch and Judy as the granddaughter of Sophie Tucker, who runs a jockey's boardinghouse where Rooney resides. Into their lives comes C. Aubrey Smith and his young grandson Ronald Sinclair who are titled, but cash poor with only one asset, a prize winning stakes horse called The Pooka.
Donovan's the best there is at his profession, but he's fatally compromised because of a no-good gambler of a father in Charles D. Brown who pretends he's on death's door. That's to extort a pledge from Mickey to throw the race The Pookah is running in. Mickey does it and finds out he's been framed. He's put everybody in a jackpot because of this and there is one death that results from it.
Ronald Sinclair substitutes for Freddie Bartholomew who this role was originally intended. But the chemistry with Mickey and Judy was readily apparent and MGM would team them several more times until Words and Music in 1948 which was Mickey's last film for MGM. The film features a cameo appearance from Frankie Darro as Dink Reed.
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