Our resident movie aficionado digs deep into the archive for a pair of 1930s pictures
Spendthrift (1936)
directed by Raoul Walsh; starring Henry Fonda, George Barbier, Edward Brophy
Wings of the Morning (1937)
directed by Harold D. Shuster; starring Henry Fonda, Annabella, Leslie Banks
The name of Henry Fonda is not likely to come up when the conversation turns to racing pictures. Rated number six among the male actors on the AFI’s list of greatest American film legends, Fonda is more familiar as the American president in Fail-Safe, the voice of reason in 12 Angry Men, Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, and Mister Roberts in the movie of the same name.
Fonda had no love of horses, either, famously telling one interviewer that he’d never get on one unless he was paid. Yet there is Fonda on horseback, looking born to the saddle, in more than a dozen films spread across his half a century in the business, playing every kind of dust and sagebrush character from Wyatt Earp to Frank James to the all-time baddest villain this side of Anton Chigurh in Once Upon a Time in the West.
Still, it was an entertaining surprise to discover a young Hank Fonda in a pair of reasonably entertaining movies with racing motifs, offered back-to-back when he was a blue-eyed ingenue to the business after making just enough of a name on Broadway to take the leap to Hollywood.
The studio system put him right to work with three movies released in 1935 and another 14 before the end of the decade. Among them were the high society comedy Spendthrift, complete with a sprinkling of Runyonesque patter, and the woozy romance Wings of the Morning, which gave US audiences a healthy dose of the French starlet Annabella, in her first English-speaking role.
Fonda plays pretty much the same guy in both films – a wide-eyed, decent charmer who is pathetically dim when it comes to the opposite sex.
In Spendthrift he is Townsend ‘Towny’ Middleton, blissfully spending his multi-million dollar inheritance on parties, yachts and, of course, racehorses, without so much as a glance at the dwindling ledger. One of those horses is a filly named Black Mamba, a sure thing for the Kentucky Derby, as well as Towny’s ticket to financial salvation.
In Wings of the Morning, Fonda is Kerry Gilfallen, a Canadian aristocrat – if there is such a thing – who is training a stable of Irish steeds, among them a sure thing for the Epsom Derby named Destiny Bay. Around the barn, Gilfallen is on and off horses w
ith the ease of Roy Rogers.
Circling females
In Spendthrift, Middleton is beset by a trio of circling females: the Irish trainer’s daughter ‘Boots’ (Pat Paterson), who quietly swoons every time Towny walks by; the wise-cracking Topsy (June Brewster), more a flinty pal than a pursuer; and the gold-digging fraud Sally Barnaby (Mary Brian), who snags Towny in marriage and proceeds to surpass even his profligate spending.
Towny finally goes bust, gets a job as a sports announcer, and buys off his bitter bride with a divorce negotiation that would do the Teamsters proud. Black Mamba, who dumped her rider at the start of the Derby, recoups her reputation by winning the Handicap by the narrowest of margins, which inspires Towny to propose marriage to Boots as soon as the race is official.
In Wings of the Morning, Gilfallen is smitten by Maria, a Romani princess – if there is such a thing – but not before we get a little mild gender-bending in a horse rescue romp featuring the young woman in a smart suit and tie (picture Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria) traipsing through the woods and spending the night in a barn with the oblivious Kerry.
The horse is Wings Of The Morning, a Thoroughbred of indeterminate lineage somehow owned by Maria’s family, whose matriarchal grandmother made a fortune in Spain and betrothed her granddaughter to a monied stiff called Don Diego.
That’s not fair. He’s a nice enough guy. But when it looks like Wings Of The Morning might be disqualified after winning the Derby, he calls off the marriage because, well, what’s a bride without a dowry?
Maria fails to shed a tear, seeing as Kerry is her true love, and just like that, the stewards leave the number up. Before you know it, the couple are horsing around in a forest pond back in Ireland, where Maria proposes to Kerry in a switch that everyone saw coming.
Noteworthy director
Spendthrift is noteworthy for its director, Raoul Walsh, who was on his way to legendary Hollywood status for such classics as High Sierra, White Heat, and They Died With Their Boots On. He was also a dedicated Thoroughbred owner whose British colt, Sunset Trail,was trained by his brother George Walsh and finished 16th in the 1937 Kentucky Derby won by War Admiral.
(Walsh’s racing background might have come up while directing The Naked and the Dead in 1958 with bit player Edwin Gregson, whose family was steeped in the sport. Gregson later trained Derby winner Gato Del Sol, once he figured out he could not act his way out of a feed tub.)
Most of the fun in Spendthrift comes from the character actors given most of the best lines. Edward Brophy plays Middleton’s pal and all-around gofer with plenty of his own bootlegging money and Brooklyn-flavored patter at the ready.
George Barbier, of the Sidney Greenstreet mold, plays Middleton’s uncle, as rich as he is cantankerous, with a soft spot for horseflesh that makes him the reluctant hero of the piece. Their scenes together are a hoot.
Harold Shuster was a respected editor but only 33 when he replaced the original director of Wings of the Morning, who was fired. From that first feature he went on to a long career that included the feature My Friend Flicka and a bounty of TV shows, including episodes of The Twilight Zone and Death Valley Days.
Technicolor first
In Wings Of The Morning, Shuster was stuck with a cast of rigid former stage actors, mostly British, who were primarily props for Fonda and Annabella in what was the first technicolor movie of the English cinema.
Both Fonda films are very much of their time, with Wings Of The Morning especially prone to obsessing over prevailing attitudes toward the Romani culture and its gypsy stereotypes. The racing stuff is noteworthy for featuring legendary jockey Steve Donoghue, the 10-time British champion who retired in 1937. Wisely, it was not to pursue a career as an actor.
Spendthrift, to its credit, steers clear of the hoariest racetrack cliches. Indeed, it was music to this viewer’s ears to hear Boots at the barn report to Towny: “I worked her myself this morning. She did the first eighth in 11, quarter in 23, the half in 47, and the mile in 1:36.” Paterson delivers the splits with such knowing ease, I was looking for a place to bet.
• YouTube has a good versions of both films, but to fully appreciate the dawning of the technicolor age in Wings Of The Morning, there is a much more vivid copy available on the free Tubi.com service
• Read all Jay Hovdey's features in his Favorite Racehorses series
‘A bulletproof, gold-plated classic’ – Jay Hovdey on Let It Ride
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