ST. JAMES THEATRE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 126, 31 May 1938, Page 5

ST. JAMES THEATRE.

"Thoroughbreds Don't Cry."

• Thrills of Si great 'horse race and inner machinations of racetrack crooks and intrigue of the betting ring provide a thunderous background for a gripping story of friendships and loyalties of youth in "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry," which commences on Friday at the St. James Theatre. Great races are run, with hundreds of people watching famous jockeys and racehorses. Yet the central theme is the loyalty of three youngsters and the friendship of a woman keeping a racetrack boarding-house. The simple human theme overshadows the surging competition of the track. The new picture presents a newly-discovered English boy actor, in his first important role. A clever actor, distinctive in his appeal, he is teamed with Judy Garland and Mickey Ronney. who plays a young jockey. The sympathetic boarding-house keeper is superbly played by Sophie Tucker. The story deals with the British grandson of a racing sportsman who carries on after his grandfather's death to race "The Pookah," and his friendship for a young jockey and the niece of a boarding housekeeper. The young jockey, tricked into betraying his friend and "throwing" a race, through his remorse undergoes a dramatic regeneration ahd exposes the crooks, though it means his own ruin, while the English boy rides his horse to victory. The racing thrills, amazingly photographed, were staged at the Santa Anita race track. Clever character players include C. Aubrey Smith. Forrester Harvey, Charles D. Brown, Frankie Darro, Henry Kolker, and Helen Troy. Hun-1 dreds appear in the racing crowd se-1 cuences, and details of the race were I intimately filmed by a specially designed camera car which even filmed ciose-ups of racehorses running at top speed. 4