I’m a little surprised that Letterboxd’s reaction to this one is so lukewarm; this is the Golden-Age Hollywood machine firing on all cylinders. Every image is storybook perfect, the characters are sweet, the race is thrilling, and MGM won the lottery with twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, who not only shines in every scene but who seems perfectly comfortable leaping on and off real live horses. To say that director Clarence Brown was a pro is an understatement.

I do admit that the story doesn’t have any edge or throw in any surprises, but it is a family movie, after all, and it’s never dull or cloying. Of course I may just be turning into a sentimental fool in my old age; I’m sure you kids are holding out for a horse girl movie by Gaspar Noé or Lars von Trier.