Main Cast: Loretta Young, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan, Douglas Dumbrille, Karen Morley
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
The blue grass of Kentucky was seen in three-strip Technicolor for the first time in this rambling racetrack drama. Sally Goodwin (Loretta Young) falls in love with Jack Dillon (Richard Greene), but the arrangement is complicated by a decades-old feud. Sally's uncle Peter (Walter Brennan, who won his second Academy Award for this appearance) has hated Jack's family ever since sides were chosen up in the Civil War. Jack secretly trains Peter's horse for the Kentucky Derby, causing the old man to nearly withdraw from the event out of pique. All is forgiven when the horse wins, but Brennan dies of the excitement, and his eulogy is read by a member of the family with whom he'd been feuding for nearly 70 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
It hasn't aged as well as the bourbon that shares its name, but Kentucky still has enough charm to make many viewers overlook its defects. The biggest one, related to the time in which it was made, is its stereotypical view of race relations; it's not as offensive as many other films from the 1930s, but there's enough here to make many viewers a bit uncomfortable. Kentucky's other big drawing card -- 3-strip Technicolor -- also is not the novelty it once was, but the colors here really are vivid and give the picture genuine beauty. And speaking of beauty, a youthful Loretta Young has rarely looked more enchanting. She fairly sparkles and is filled with a vivacity that is contagious. Her performance is every so slightly self-conscious in places; this was one of her first starring parts, and she's still feeling her way occasionally. But overall, it's a winning and lovely performance. Walter Brennan is also in fine form, even if his work is not necessarily Oscar-worthy, and Richard Greene makes a fine match for Young and reluctant sparring partner for Brennan. The screenplay -- an updating of Romeo and Juliet, basically -- varies in quality, but it's generally solid, and David Butler's well-paced direction takes advantage of the setting and the yummy colors to very good effect. Even if Kentucky is somewhat flawed, it does offer some rare glimpses of some incredibly gorgeous racehorses. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Lewis H. Creber - Art Director, Bernard Herzbrun - Art Director, Gwen Wakeling - Costume Designer, David Butler - Director, Irene Morra - Editor, Louis Silvers - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, Ray Rennahan - Cinematographer, Gene Markey - Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck - Producer, Thomas K. Little - Set Designer, Lamar Trotti - Screenwriter, John Taintor Foote - Screenwriter, John Taintor Foote - Book Author
During the Civil War, Thad Goodwin (Charles Waldron) of Elmtree Farm, a local horse breeder resists Capt. John Dillon (Douglass Dumbrille) and a company of Union soldiers confiscating his prize horses. He is killed by Dillon and his youngest son Peter (Bobs Watson) cries at the soldiers riding away with the horses.
75 years later, in 1938, Peter (Walter Brennan) now a crotchety old man, still resides on Elmtree Farm and raises horses with his niece Sally (Loretta Young). Dillon's grandson Jack (Richard Greene) and Sally meet, her not knowing that he was a Dillon. Thad Goodwin dies when his speculation on cotton drops. The Goodwins are forced to auction off nearly all their horses and Jack offers his services to Sally, who does not know he is a Dillon, as a trainer of their last prize horse, "Bessie's Boy", who falls ill.
Sally eventually loses the farm, and Mr. Dillon makes good on his original bet with Thad and offers her any two year old on his farm. She picks "Blue Grass" instead of the favorite, "Postman", and Peter trains him for the Derby. She eventually learns of Jack's real identity. During the race, Blue Grass runs neck and neck with the Goodwin's horse Postman, but Blue Grass wins. Sally embraces Jack, but Peter collapses before the decoration ceremony and dies. At his funeral, Dillon eulogizes him and of the American life of the past, as "The Grand Old Man of the American Turf".
Notes
Walter Brennan won his second Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) in his role as Peter Goodwin.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):[1]
