Golden Hoofs (1941) Poster

(1941)

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5/10
The corn is golden too.
mark.waltz9 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The 14 year old Jane Withers looked like a young lady even in her early teens, appearing taller than she probably was and was certainly adapting to changes more than Shirley Temple who continued the same acting styles as she reached her teens. In this rural comedy drama christened as one of many "Styx pic's", Jane is a vivacious country lass whose first love seems to be the horses she looks over. Worried about the titled horse, Withers buys him from its owner, Buddy Rogers, and strives to get her grandfather George Irving to ride him in a buggy race. But a promise that Irving made his late wife threatens to previous Golden Hoofs from riding in the race.

A sweet subplot has Withers' young black friend being injured the day of the race and is one of those rare moments where a black character had a moment like that. Real life siblings of recent Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel (Sam and Etta) appear as his kinfolk. Withers gets one song to sing and a surprise twist makes for a touching finale. Withers is less "Little Miss Fix-It" this time around, yet her sunshine personality brings about joy foe everyone surrounding her.
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5/10
Horses in race country and a lite comedy, mostly for kids
SimonJack1 May 2023
"Golden Hoofs" is a comedy that is set in horse racing country. In this case, it's the trotting horses of the world of harness racing. Jane Withers has the lead as Jane Drake. The rest of the cast are mostly actors of the early to mid-20th century known mostly for second tier films, often referred to as B films. This movie would more naturally be considered a kid's movie. Not only for the younger roles of Jane Drake and Philip Hurlic as Mose, but for the simplistic plot and quite hokey screenplay.

Where children wouldn't be so wont to wonder who the owners of the Yankee Stud Farm might be, or why they are never named or seen, that's a nagging question to an adult from the earliest scenes. And what is Jane Drake's relation to them? And why does she seem to have free run of the place? Well there are a number of hokey things about this film. And, it doesn't have funny dialog anywhere or much more than lightly humorous situations.

People who like horses or are interested in horse racing or history might enjoy this film. Otherwise, its appeal would be mostly to young children - at least those who can sit still long enough without a palm pad.

The best line in the film comes from the young Mose, who responds to a comment by Jane. He says, "Seein' ain't gonna help none. What we need is doin'."
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