Thundering Hoofs

Peggy O'Day has just returned from college when Francis Ford explains that he is not really her father; he and James Kelly rescued her from Indians when she was an infant and he wants her to marry his nephew, played by his real-life son, Phil Ford. She immediately falls in love with Francis. Meanwhile, Phil wants to marry another girl, but he is dependent on his uncle for his living. However, if the Francis' horse, on which they have bet a lot of money, can win the big race, then everyone can have whom they want.

There's certainly a lot of charm in turning the usual if-we-win-the-race-we-can-get-married plot on its head, but it's rendered mush by the essential idiot plotting of the piece. No one ever bothers to explain to anyone what they really want. Of course, if they did, then the movie would be unnecessary. Which, it seems, it is anyway.

Phil Ford would follow his father and his uncle, John Ford, into directing, mostly in television. Francis Ford's career would slide into starring support roles and eventually into nice bits into his brother's movies. The others in cast and crew would vanish into obscurity.