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Saratoga

1937, Movie, NR, 94 mins

Saratoga: Review

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Jean Harlow gave her last screen performance--one of her best--in this sharp-witted and charming trackside comedy that pairs the actress with Clark Gable. Harlow, who died before the film's completion, stars as Carol Clayton, the daughter of a horse breeder (Jonathan Hale) who through gambling loses his Saratoga farm to his bookmaker friend Duke Bradley (Clark Gable). After her father dies of a heart attack, Carol forbids her stockbroker fiance, Hartley Madison (Walter Pidgeon), to make any more trackside wagers--much to the chagrin of Duke, who had planned to win back the money he lost to Hartley at Belmont. While Carol and Duke carry on a love-hate flirtation, the bookmaker schemes with his old friend Fritzi (Una Merkel) to recoup his losses, persuading top jockey Dixie Gordon (Frankie Darro) to ride Fritzi's horse in an upcoming race against Hartley's steed. By now Carol has fallen for Duke and broken off her engagement, but Duke nobly ends their budding romance, respecting her late father's wishes that she be sheltered from the wicked ways of the track. Heartbroken, Carol purchases Frankie's contract from Fritzi, and the stage is set for Duke's ruin until kind-hearted Fritzi saves the day. After Harlow died in June 1937, it was decided to use a stand-in for her remaining scenes, in which Mary Dees and Geraldine Dvorak are photographed from behind while wearing a large floppy hat, with Paula Winslow speaking for the character (whom screenwriters Anita Loos and Robert Hopkins gave a cold and cough). leave a comment
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