''Sweepstakes'' is a 1931 American pre-Code

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Albert S. Rogell Albert S. Rogell (August 21, 1901 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - April 7, 1988 Los Angeles, California) was an American film director. Rogell directed more than a hundred movies between 1921 and 1958. He was the uncle of producer Sid Rogell. Filmogr ...

from a screenplay written by Lew Lipton and Ralph Murphy. The film stars Eddie Quillan, James Gleason,

Marian Nixon Marian Nixon (born Marja Nissinen; October 20, 1904 – February 13, 1983) was an American film actress. Sometimes credited as Marion Nixon, she appeared in more than 70 films. Career Born in Superior, Wisconsin, to parents of Finnish descent, N ...

, Lew Cody, and

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

, which centers around the travails and romances of jockey Buddy Doyle, known as the "Whoop-te-doo Kid" for his trademark yell during races. Produced by the newly formed RKO Pathé Pictures, this was the first film Charles R. Rogers would produce for the studio, after he replaced

William LeBaron William LeBaron (February 16, 1883February 9, 1958) was an American film producer. LeBaron's film credits included '' Cimarron'', which won the Academy Award for Outstanding Production at the 4th Academy Awards ceremony for 1930/1931. LeBaron ...

as head of production. The film was released on July 10, 1931, through

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

Plot

Bud Doyle is a jockey who has discovered the secret to get his favorite mount, Six-Shooter, to boost his performance. If he simply chants the phrase, "Whoop-te-doo", the horse responds with a burst of speed. There is a special bond between the jockey and his mount, but there is increasing tension between Doyle and the horse's owner, Pop Blake (who also raised Doyle), over Doyle's relationship with local singer Babe Ellis. Blake sees Ellis as a distraction prior to the upcoming big race, the Camden Stakes. The owner of the club where Babe sings, Wally Weber, has his eyes on his horse winning the Camden Stakes. When the issues between Pop and Doyle come to a head, Pop tells Doyle that he has to choose: either he stops seeing Babe, or he'll be replaced as Six-Shooter's jockey in the big race. Angry and frustrated, Doyle quits. Weber approaches him to become the jockey for Rose Dawn, Weber's horse, and Doyle agrees, with the precondition that he not ride Royal Dawn in the Camden Stakes, for he wants Six-Shooter to still win the race. Weber accedes to that one precondition, however, on the day of the race, he makes it clear that Doyle is under contract, and that he will ride Rose Dawn in the race. Upset, Doyle has no choice but to ride Rose Dawn. However, during the race, he manages to chant his signature "Whoop-te-doo" to Six-Shooter, causing his old mount to win the race. Furious that his horse lost, Weber goes to the judges, who rule that Doyle threw the race, pulling back on Rose Dawn, to allow Six-Shooter to win, and suspend Doyle from horse-racing. Devastated, Doyle wanders from town to town, riding in small local races, until his identity is uncovered, and he is forced to move on. Soon, he is out of racing all together, and forced to taking one odd-job after another. Eventually, he ends up south of the border, in Tijuana, Mexico, working as a waiter. Doyle's friend, Sleepy Jones, hears of Doyle's plight. Jones gets the racing commission to lift the ban, by proving Doyle's innocence. He then, accompanied by Babe, gets a group to buy Six-Shooter from Pop, and they take the horse down to Tijuana, where there is another big race in the near future, the Tijuana Handicap. Doyle is reluctant to ride at first, however, he is eventually cajoled into it by Sleepy and Babe, and of course, his bond with Six-Shooter is there. He rides the horse to victory, re-establishing his credentials as a rider. The film ends by jumping a few years into the future, which shows Doyle and Babe happily married, with a child of their own.

Cast

(Cast list as per AFI database) * Eddie Quillan as Bud Doyle * Lew Cody as Wally Weber * James Gleason as Sleepy Jones *

as Babe Ellis *

King Baggot William King Baggot (November 7, 1879 – July 11, 1948) was an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He was an internationally famous movie star of the silent film era. The first individually publicized leading man in America, B ...

as Mike *

as Cantina Bartender * Clarence Wilson as Mr. Emory * Frederick Burton as Pop Blake * Billy Sullivan as Speed Martin *

Lillian Leighton Lillianne Brown Leighton (May 17, 1874 – March 19, 1956), known professionally as Lillian Leighton, was an American silent film actress. Leighton started her career in Chicago. Leighton was born in Auroraville, Wisconsin, on May 17, 187 ...

as Ma Clancy * Mike Donlin as The Dude

Production

Critical response

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave a very non-committal review of this film, with neither much praise or criticism. While he gave no indication of what he thought about the quality of the film, he enjoyed the performances of James Gleason and Lew Cody, and he called Quillan's performance as Doyle "original".

References

External links