The Great Dan Patch

Yes, generally this was a "nice" classic-era tale, the kind you don't often see post-1960s film but as a big, big fan of horse racing, I was disappointed.

Since "Dan Patch" has such a famous name in his sport, I was hoping to see all the details on film. Instead, what I got was mainly melodrama, a story about a guy (Dennis O'Keefe as "David Palmer") married to a social- climbing wife (Ruth Warrick as "Ruth Treadwell") but really more interested in another woman. The latter, "Cissy Lathrop," is a nicer, warmer lady whom the male lead should have married in the first place, but, she didn't come along early enough in the man's life. He had already committed to the annoying and too ambitious "Ruth."

Anyway, the only good thing about the romance angle was seeing the pretty face of Gail Russell (Cissy), but I'd rather have witnessed a lot more horse racing story in here than what was found. By the way, has there ever been a stable hand that looked Russell? I doubt it.

At least she, the old harness racing buggies, a few of the racing scenes and fairgrounds-type atmosphere were all nostalgic. But, it really wasn't much of a "sports film," which was I hoped to see.