I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

A Disappointing Continuation

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

My take on this movie. 1944 had another horse movie, being National Velvet. We were in the middle of World War II, and I suppose this was another Americana type movie to take people's mind off the big conflict. Jeanne Crain would be seen the next year in another agri-country movie, State Fair. June Haver I had seen in Look for the Silver Lining, being a charming person and not the imp as in this movie. Walter Brennan I enjoyed seeing as a main character, not anyone's sidekick. Tuppy and Mo were just superb. Charlotte Greenwood I would see in Oklahoma, dancing at the train station, and also doing her famous high kicks in a 1930s movie with Eddie Cantor. I enjoyed seeing Ward Bond in a non-Western movie. He was a nice, decent man, as the trainer and also as father of Jeanne Crain. The race track looked like Washington County Fairgrounds, Ohio (a little). I wonder why the actor who played Sparke was not in the military service? I notice he had no mother, and neither did the two girls. Hope he ended up finishing his education. Nothing like an uneducated boob who thinks he knows everything. Maybe he later really got that second belting from his uncle. I'm sure that Cri Cri tried some more of her man-handling on him later, but the movie ended. This was an enjoyable piece of Americana. It was during WWII wartime, and I saw nothing about wartime shortages, gasoline and food rationing, Rosie-riveters working in the factories, but hey, this is a fantasy meant for people to feel good. 10/10

Starched and scrubbed-clean family film has delinquent, orphaned teenager going to live with his aunt and uncle, ditching school to hang out at the next-door horse ranch and learn how to harness race. Lovely color photography, beautiful autumnal locales, and fine racing sequences bolster this thin drama, which seems to be in favor of cutting classes as long as you have a passion for something else! Dimply Lon McAllister is entirely too polite and green in the lead, though his friendships with neighboring sisters June Haver (the bombshell) and Jeanne Crain (the tomboy) are entertaining, and his devotion to the horses is well-portrayed. Some amusing characters and sequences, but it doesn't have the scope or depth of something like "National Velvet" (released the same year). This Henry Hathaway-directed effort is far more innocuous and minor, but still enjoyable, especially for equestrians. **1/2 from ****

The trivia section states that the racing scenes for this movie were shot in Fremont, Ohio. That may be true for the early scenes, but the final race in which Maudine IV races after going blind were shot in Marion, Ohio at the Marion County Fairgrounds. Although it has changed a lot in recent years, I spent many of my early years playing in the stands at the fairground and even rang the "call to the post" bell that is rung in the movie. My mother told us stories of seeing the stars of the movie at the fairgrounds when they were filming. One of the older guys I used to work with claimed he dated June Haver when they were in town. Even if I didn't believe him, I have no doubt that my mother was telling me the truth.The list of filming locations does credit Marion, as well as several other locations where harness racing was one of the main local pastimesI do enjoy the movie and try to catch it whenever it is on (generally on the FOX movie channel).

I am old enough to have seen this movie first run. At the time I was blown away by this film because it had every thing in it any city kid would want to be able to do, which mostly was race horses and have a pretty girl interested in the same thing as a friend. Since this film was so important to me I feel compelled to correct an error in the cast listing by IMDb. Currently Jeanne Crain's character is listed as Char Bruce which is correct, but June Haver's character is listed as Cri-Cri Bruce which would make them sisters which they are not! Cri-Cri is the daughter of Godaw Boole, the owner of the horse farm where Char's father is the head trainer, soooooo Cri-Cri's last name should be Boole, not Bruce! I have no idea how this casting error crept into IMDb's data base, but as a movie fan interested in accuracy I'm requesting that IMDb correct this mistake. I know I am right in this because I've seen this film at least 20 times over the years and have read the book that the film is based on (The Phantom Filly).