Salty O'Rourke

Alan Ladd is at his best here as the title character, a bad apple who hangs around the racetrack. He and his pal Smitty (William Demarest) have one month to pay the money they owe a tough fellow gambler--or else. Needing to get rich quick, they buy a fast horse that's sold to them cheaply because it's considered unridable by all but Johnny Cates (Stanley Clements), who has been banned from riding in the US. They convince the 22-year-old Cates to use his teenage brother's birth certificate in order to qualify to race. Cates is appalled when he learns that he must also go to the school run by the track for under-18 jockeys but warms to the assignment somewhat when he...