While trying to shoot a reenactment of the famous race with War Admiral, Butler encountered some difficulties. Director David Butler did strive for accuracy in representing Seabiscuit's most famous races, however, including the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap and the 1938 match race against rival War Admiral, which is still considered by many to be the greatest horse race of all time. While Seabiscuit and some of the people portrayed in the film such as owner Charles Howard and jockey George Woolf are based on reality, most of the characters including Margaret and Ted are fictional and had no part in the real Seabiscuit's life. As far as historical accuracy, the film takes great liberties with the facts. Meanwhile, his niece Margaret falls in love with jockey Ted Knowles (Lon McCallister), but fears the dangers of his risky profession.ĭespite the title, The Story of Seabiscuit really focuses on the romance between Margaret and Ted. The two come from Ireland to live on a California horse ranch where Shawn casts his eye on Seabiscuit and focuses his efforts on turning the unconventional horse into a racing champion. In it, former child star Shirley Temple plays Margaret, the niece of horse trainer Shawn O'Hara (Barry Fitzgerald). The 1949 feature The Story of Seabiscuit was the first movie that attempted to bring Seabiscuit's tale to the silver screen. Named Horse of the Year in 1938, Seabiscuit's determination and spirit made him a symbol of optimism for the entire nation. He shattered speed and attendance records at horse tracks all over the country. Seabiscuit's lightning speed and tenacious personality made this small knobby-kneed underdog racehorse an American cultural icon during the latter part of the turbulent 1930s. There was more news coverage on Seabiscuit in 1938 than on FDR, Hitler, Mussolini or Clark Gable. Seabiscuit was such a celebrity in his day that he was regularly featured in magazines like Time, Life and Newsweek. If you've never heard of Seabiscuit, perhaps it's because you weren't around during The Great Depression. A statue of Seabiscuit is later erected at the track, and Ted leaves racing to marry Margaret and become a trainer. Now that she understands, Margaret relents, and Seabiscuit wins the Santa Anita Handicap on 2 March 1940, establishing a new track record. Ted then tells her that he is willing to leave racing, but that he wants to leave as a winner. Shawn offers Ted a position as his assistant, and Ted accepts so that he can marry Margaret however, when George is unavailable to ride a recovered Seabiscuit, Ted takes over. Howard, Shawn agrees to attempt to cure Seabiscuit, and against all odds, he succeeds. Disaster strikes, however, when the horse develops a career-ending problem in one leg. While Ted is recuperating, jockey George Woolf rides Seabiscuit in more winning races. Margaret admits that she returns Ted's love and agrees to marry him if he will give up racing. After Ted is injured in a race at Santa Anita, Shawn arranges for Margaret to be his nurse. Using a new training method, Shawn finally makes Seabiscuit a winner. He also persuades the Howards to buy Ted's contract. Howard and his wife to buy Seabiscuit from Millford. Shawn convinces racehorse owner Charles S. After Shawn takes ill, Margaret takes him to California. Shawn tries many tricks to increase the horse's speed, but finally Millford refuses to spend more time on the horse. Despite Shawn's faith in Seabiscuit, his initial performance is poor. When Ted approaches Millford with an offer, however, Millford suspects that Shawn is behind it and agrees to keep the horse for his stubborn employee. Ted asks Shawn to intervene on his behalf, and Shawn agrees, provided Ted will buy Seabiscuit. Meanwhile Millford's jockey, Ted Knowles, flirts with Margaret, but she has determined never to fall in love with a jockey and rebuffs his advances. Later, when Shawn, Carson and Millford cull the yearlings, Shawn begs Millford to keep Seabiscuit, but on Carson's advice, Millford turns him down. This night, as on several previous occasions, the winner is an unprepossessing horse named Seabiscuit. One night, when Margaret is home from nursing school, Shawn shows her a trick for appraising a horse: He holds out a carrot to a group of yearlings and looks for the first one to claim the reward. Shawn left Ireland after the death of his nephew, Margaret's brother, during a steeplechase race made him reluctant to train jumping horses. Millford has hired Shawn because of his reputation for judging the potential of racehorses early in their development. Upon arriving at Millford Farms in Kentucky, Irish horse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his niece Margaret, who is studying to be a nurse, are greeted by Thomas Millford and his other trainer, George Carson.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |