SHE WENT TO THE RACES

US, 1945, 86 minutes, Black and white.
James Craig, Frances Gifford, Ava Gardner, Edmund Gwenn, Sig Ruman, Reginald Owen, Charles Halton.
Directed by Willis Goldbeck.

One of the main reasons for seeing She Went to the Races is the early performance by Ava Gardner, in her early twenties, assured on the screen, full of glamour. She is matched with James Craig, a solid and regular lead in rather smaller-budget MGM films along with Frances Gifford who appeared in such films as Little Mr Jim and Our Vines Have Tender Grapes. There is amusing support by a group of older actors who portray a group of scientists who, when one of them is fired from his post, decide to use scientific methods for races in order to bet on a horse and get the money to continue the laboratory work. Edmund Gwenn, two years before he won the best supporting actor Oscar for Kris Kringle in The Miracle on 34th Street, is the professor. There is humorous support from Sig Ruman (often a comic German on screen) and the very British Reginald Owen and the diminutive Charles Halton as the other professors.

The film is a descendant of the screwball comedies of the 1930s presented with MGM gloss and perhaps a touch more realism even though the plot is rather absurd when one considers the eccentric professors, the ups and downs of the romance between the scientist, Frances Gifford, and the horse owner, James Craig.

Nevertheless, it is an amusing if slight film from MGM at this period.

1. The MGM values, black and white photography, the locations, the laboratories, the hotels the racetracks?

2. The title, the overtones of the screwball comedy? Battle of the sexes?

3. The introduction to Ann, her uncle Homer, the laboratories and the experiments? Homer and his losing his grant? Ann and her being upset? The other three doctors and their concern? Homer and his disappearance in disappointment?

4. The issue of the races, spotting winners, using scientific evidence to plot who would be the winners? The character of Doctor Gurke and his Germanic tone? Doctor Pembroke and his very British tone? Doctor Collyer and his being small but objective and scientific?

5. The hotel situation, the room, Steve and his arrival, his being charmed by Ann, her tricking him? Everybody staying? The issue of the horses, the scientific methods to understand the wind, the weight…? The conclusion that Mr Mc Gillicuddy would win? Steve’s horse? The importance of cutting off his tail so that it would not drag in the mud?

6. Ann, going to the stable, with the scissors, the encounter with the horse, Steve rescuing her? The interactions between the two? Love and attacks? The jockey, the trainer? The comment about Steve backing his own horse? The situation with the money, the doctors giving all their money, Steve and his advice, Ann and her backing the wrong horse? Thinking that Steve had deceived her?

7. Hilda Spotts, Ava Gardner and her glamour, horse owner, marrying the count, the romance with Steve? The battle of the sexes with Ann? Steve going to her on the rebound? Ann finding them together? At the races, the verbal sparring? The bet?

8. Steve, ordinary citizen, horse owner, at the hotel? His advice for the bet? Ann and her disappointment? Turning against him?

9. Steve, the drinks at the bar, the bartender and the specials, with Hilda? His moving out? Ann and her determination, her judgment?

10. Homer, his being found, reunited with the doctors, their studies? Mr Mc Gillicuddy as the future winner? Their making the mistake with the information, the arithmetic? The bet on Hilda’s horse? The enjoyment of the race, the win?

11. The importance of the money, Homer being reinstated? The money not mattering in view of true love?

12. The romantic aspects of the film, the horse-racing and betting aspects, the eccentric scientists? A pleasant combination?