''The Story of Seabiscuit'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by David Butler and starring

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

and

Barry Fitzgerald William Joseph Shields (10 March 1888 – 14 January 1961), known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as ''Bringing Up Ba ...

in a semi-fictionalized account of racehorse Seabiscuit, the top money winner up to the 1940s. The screenplay was written by

John Taintor Foote John Taintor Foote (March 29, 1881 – January 28, 1950) was an American novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and screenwriter. Foote studied at Kenyon Military Academy, Gambier, Ohio. He began as a writer of sporting stories. His first ...

, uses the actual racehorse names, but changed the names of people involved. Though shot in Technicolor, the film incorporates actual black-and-white footage of Seabiscuit in races, 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.

Plot

The film is a fictionalized account of the career of the 1930s racehorse Seabiscuit (1933–1947), with a subplot involving the romance between the niece (Temple) of a horse trainer (Fitzgerald) and a jockey ( Lon McCallister).

Cast

as Margaret O'Hara *

as trainer Sean O'Hara * ''co-starring'' Lon McCallister as jockey Ted Knowles * ''with'' Rosemary DeCamp as Mrs. Charles S. Howard * Donald MacBride as George Carson *

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the b ...

as Charles S. Howard * William Forrest as Thomas Milford

Production notes

In July 1940 David Butler was taking technicolor footage of Seabiscuit for a film called ''Blood Will Tell'' for RKO. This included footage of Seabiscuit's win at Santa Anita against Kayak after Seabiscuit had recovered from a ruptured suspensory ligament. The cast was to include Lucille Ball, Edna May Oliver and Leon Errol.

Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...

was going to play the lead then

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

; the title was changed to ''True to Form''. Wayne fell out and

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...

and

James Craig James or Jim Craig may refer to: Entertainment * James Humbert Craig (1877–1944), Irish painter * James Craig (actor) (1912–1985), American actor * James Craig (''General Hospital''), fictional character on television, a.k.a. Jerry Jacks * ...

were considered for the film. Eventually it was not made. Butler was friends with Charles Howard. A common friend, Phil Hall, told Butler that Howard was ill and would love to see a film made out of Seabiscuit. Butler approached Jack Warner, who was a horse owner, and pitched the project, saying Barry Fitzgerald would be ideal for the role of Tom Smith the trainer. In August 1947 Warner Bros announced they had done a deal with C. S. Howard, owner of the horse, to make ''The Story of Seabiscuit''. Butler would direct in color from a scenario which included material from Howard. Butler got John Traintor Foote, who wrote the horse riding film '' Kentucky'', to write the script. In November the studio said Foote had written a script and that Barry Fitzgerald would play the lead alongside Geraldine Brooks, with William Jacobs to produce and filming to begin in December. However filming was delayed and Brooks dropped out. In March 1949, Shirley Temple and Lon McAllister were signed to co star alongside Fitzgerald, and the title was ''Always Sweethearts''. The same month Warners completed a deal with RKO worth a reported $25,000 for the 10,000 feet of color footage of Seabiscuit shot in 1940. Filming started in April 1949. Temple was coached in an Irish accent by Arthur Shields. The role of Seabiscuit was played by two of his children,

Sea Sovereign Sea Sovereign was an American Thoroughbred stallion racehorse foaled in 1942, sired by 1930s winner Seabiscuit, for owner Charles Howard. Although Sea Sovereign achieved moderate success as a racehorse, he is most famous for being part of the lin ...

and Sea Gamble. The bulk of the film was shot at Northridge Farms, a development established by

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

and her then agent Zeppo Marx, then sold to a syndicate. According to one report the Farm is "used pretty generally when Hollywood is trying to look like the blue grass country of Kentucky." It was also shot at Santa Anita, Burns Park and Burns Ranch in Woodland Hills.Butler p. 235 The part of the film where Seabiscuit races War Admiral was shown in black and white because Butler could only source black and white news footage of that race. Butler says a copy of the finished film was sent to Howard in Hawaii. "He was very sick there, but he got a big kick out of it", said Butler. "That was one of the nicest things that ever happened to him."Butler p. 235 The film's title was changed from ''Always Sweethearts'' to ''The Story of Seabiscuit''.

Reception

Box office

According to Butler "the picture caught on. In Europe it did the best business of any Warner picture that year. We had all the things in it that happened in Seabiscuit's life. The picture runs on television all the time. It didn't cost much to make – about $700,000 – and it made a fortune."Butler p. 235

Critical

'' The New York Times'' reviewer panned the film, stating, "the odds are that Seabiscuit's screen saga will prove an also-ran" and characterizing the subplot as "one of the season's dullest romances". AMC critic Christopher Null agreed, writing, "The only actual reason to watch this film ... is the black and white footage of Seabiscuit's actual races".

References

Notes

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Story of Seabiscuit, The 1949 films Films about horses Films directed by David Butler American horse racing films 1949 romantic drama films Films scored by David Buttolph Films set in Kentucky Films set in California American romantic drama films Warner Bros. films 1940s American films