Ride, Kelly, Ride
Cast & Crew
Norman Foster
Eugene Pallette
Marvin Stephens
Rita Quigley
Mary Healy
Richard Lane
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While on their way to the Cabrillo Park racetrack in California, horse owner Dan Thomas and his trainer, Morton "Duke" Klopstock, stop at a ranch for a drink of water. They watch as teenager Corn Cob Kelly breaks in a wild horse, then offer to take the boy with them to California when he is fired by the callous foreman. Upon reaching Cabrillo Park, Duke begins training Corn Cob to be a jockey. Corn Cob, who received his nickname because of his love for corn, is an excellent rider, although he does not fare as well at the school lessons that all of the younger jockeys must attend. He makes friends with Skeeziks O'Day, a brash but friendly jockey who has much experience despite his young age. Corn Cob travels with Dan and Duke to various race tracks around the country as he continues his training. Soon they return to Cabrillo Park and Corn Cob rides in his first official race. On the day of the race, Corn Cob, who is a bit clumsy when not on a horse, bumps into pretty Ellen Martin, whose father Bob has a horse running in the same race. Corn Cob almost wins the race despite interference from another jockey, Tuffy Graves, and his efforts impress Bob, who asks Dan for Corn Cob's services in a race the following weekend. Dan agrees, for he plans to have Tuffy ride his prize horse, "Candy King," in that race. Dan asks Corn Cob to throw the race, as Bob's horse, "Black Return," is the only serious competition, but Corn Cob refuses. During the big race, on which the Martins have wagered almost all of their money, Tuffy again interferes with Corn Cob, who suffers a broken shoulder after he is thrown. Angry with Dan's unethical dealings, Duke quits and tries to comfort Corn Cob, who is told by the doctor that he cannot ride again for several months if he is to fully recover. Skeeziks and the other jockeys decide to help Corn Cob with his medical bills by staging a "boat race," in which all the riders place heavy bets on a long shot and conspire to let that horse win. Tuffy, who will be riding for Bob, informs Dan of the jockeys' plan, and Dan gets his mobster cohorts to place a huge wager on the longshot, which will be ridden by Skeeziks. Corn Cob also learns of the scheme, although all he hears is that Tuffy intends to throw the race. Determined to help the Martins, Corn Cob sneaks out of the hospital by stealing an ambulance, which is carrying the gout-ridden mayor, and returns to the race track. Corn Cob and Duke get Tuffy out of the way and Corn Cob, despite his broken shoulder, rides Black Return. Skeeziks tells him about the boat race, but Corn Cob still rides to win. While Corn Cob is in the winner's circle, Dan is taken away by the gangsters, Mrs. Martin tells Bob that they will take Black Return to the derby, and Corn Cob receives a kiss from Ellen.
Director
Norman Foster
Cast
Eugene Pallette
Marvin Stephens
Rita Quigley
Mary Healy
Richard Lane
Charles D. Brown
Chick Chandler
Dorothy Peterson
Lee Murray
Frankie Burke
Cy Kendall
Hamilton Macfadden
Walter "spec" O'donnell
Ernie Adams
Edwin Stanley
Edward Keane
Edward Earle
Hank Worden
Tom Mcguire
Charles Middleton
Syd Saylor
Bert Roach
Cyril Ring
Jimmy Aubrey
Eddie Dunn
Billy Wayne
Jack Mower
Harry Strang
George Watts
Lyle Moraine
Sarah Edwards
Kenneth Lundy
Walter Tetley
John Elliott
Cecil Weston
Fay Helm
Eddie Acuff
Charles Wilson
Jack Mulhall
Leyland Hodgson
Fern Emmett
Barbara Pepper
Crew
William Conselman Jr.
Lewis Creber
Irving Cummings Jr.
Richard Day
Herschel
Peter B. Kyne
Harry M. Leonard
Thomas Little
Louis Loeffler
Virgil Miller
Emil Newman
Sam Schneider
E. Clayton Ward
Sol M. Wurtzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Corncob Kelly's Benefit. Some contemporary sources do not use commas in the title Ride, Kelly, Ride. According to the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, Robert E. Kent and Arthur Lewis worked on a screenplay for the film in May 1939, but the extent of their contribution to the completed picture has not been determined. According to the picture's pressbook and a Hollywood Reporter news item, some scenes were shot on location at Triunfo, California, and the Hollywood Park Race Track in Los Angeles. Although Peter B. Kyne's original, unpublished story was also the basis of the 1926 Fox Film Corp. picture The Shamrock Handicap, directed by John Ford and starring Janet Gaynor and Leslie Fenton, the plot of the 1926 film bears only a passing similarlity to Ride, Kelly, Ride (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.4955).
