Thoroughbred (film)

1936 Australian film

Thoroughbred

Helen Twelvetrees during filming of Thoroughbred

Directed by| Ken G. Hall
Written by| Edmond Seward
Produced by| Ken G. Hall
Starring| Helen Twelvetrees
Frank Leighton
John Longden
Cinematography| George Heath
Edited by| William Shepherd
Music by| Hamilton Webber

Production
company

Cinesound Productions

Distributed by| British Empire Films

Release dates

* May 1936 (1936-05) (Australia)
* July 1936 (1936-07) (UK)

Running time

| 89 minutes
Country| Australia
Language| English
Budget| £25,000[1] or £21,000[2][3]
Box office| £25,000[4]

Thoroughbred is a 1936 Australian race-horse drama film directed by Ken G. Hall, partly based on the life and career of Phar Lap. Hollywood star Helen Twelvetrees was imported to Australia to appear in the film. The film also stars Frank Leighton and John Longden.

## Plot summary

[edit]

A Canadian horse trainer, Joan, is the adopted daughter of horse trainer and breeder Ma Dawson. She buys an unwanted thoroughbred colt named Stormalong. Joan nurses the horse back to health with the help of Ma's son Tommy, and Stormalong starts to win races. He becomes the favourite to win the Melbourne Cup which attracts the interest of a gambling syndicate who try to dope the horse and kill it in a stable fire. They then kidnap Tommy prior to the race.

Stormalong manages to participate in the Cup, and although is mortally wounded by a sniper, lives long enough to come first place. Tommy escapes and helps the police capture the gangsters.

## Cast

[edit]

* Helen Twelvetrees as Joan
* Frank Leighton as Tommy Dawson
* John Longden as Bill Peel
* Nellie Barnes as Judy Cross[5]
* Elaine Hamill
* Ronald Whelan
* Les Warton
* Harold Meade
* Edmond Seward as Mr Terry

## Production

[edit]

The film was the first made by Cinesound after the studio ceased production in 1935 enabling Hall to visit Hollywood for a number of months. While in Hollywood there he signed contracts with American star Helen Twelvetrees and writer Edmond Seward to work on the film. (Sally Blane and Norman Foster had been originally considered).[6]

He also purchased a rear-projection unit which was used extensively in the film.[7] The budget was originally announced as £25,000.[8]

Twelvetrees was paid £1,000 a week, reportedly the highest salary ever paid by the Australian film industry to an actor.[9] (Another source said £200 a week.[10]) According to Filmink "There was a trend at the time to import third-tier Hollywood names to appear in Australian films; this would generate considerable publicity at home and possibly help overseas sales."[11]

Her co-stars would be Australian leading man Frank Leighton and English actor John Longden who was having an extended stay in Australia. According to Ken G. Hall, Twelvetrees and Leighton had an affair during filming, despite the actress having been accompanied to Australia by her husband and baby. Her husband found out and threatened to kill Leighton. Hall told Stuart F. Doyle who arranged for some detective friends to force Twelvetrees' husband to leave Australia.[12]

This was the first movie with Cinesound for actor Ron Whelan, who joined the company as assistant director and also worked as an actor in several films.[13]

Australia's Prime Minister Joseph Lyons visited the set during filming.[14]

The horses races were shot in part by a camera man being towed on a sled.[15]

The climax is similar to the 1934 Frank Capra film, Broadway Bill. Hall claimed he was unaware of this and blamed it on Seward.[16]

## Release

[edit]

The film was popular[17] although reviews were mixed, with some criticism of the script.[18] According to one account the film's box office "was a drop from the big figures of earlier days, but was still satisfactory, considering that an American programme picture will make only from £3,000 to £4,000 in Australia, a special feature up to £10,000, and a super-feature from £20,000 to £25,000, and American pictures cost four or five times as much to produce, compared with Australian. "[4]

The film received a release in the UK, but was subject to cuts from the censor on the grounds of scenes depicting cruelty to animals, in particular the stable fire.[19] The movie was not a success at the English box office.[17]

A novelised version of the screenplay sold out within three days, at a rate of 1,000 copies a day.[20]

## See also

[edit]

* List of films about horses
* List of films about horse racing

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "HELEN TWELVETREES". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 4 December 1935. p. 20. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
2. ^ Tomholt, Sydney (23 September 1950). "FILMS Cost of Australian Productions". ABC Weekly. p. 30.
3. ^ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 245.
4. ^ a b "CINESOUND CAVALCADE". The Home : an Australian quarterly. Vol. 18, no. 6\. 1 June 1937. p. 60.
5. ^ "CINESOUND FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 30 October 1935. p. 17. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
6. ^ "Prod Starts at Cinemsound". Variety. 27 November 1935.
7. ^ "DEMAND FOR LOCAL FILMS". The Examiner. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 11 October 1935. p. 9 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
8. ^ "RACING FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 25 October 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
9. ^ "Notes on the Screen." The Argus (Melbourne) 6 Nov 1935: 10 accessed 15 December 2011
10. ^ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 79.
11. ^ Vagg, Stephen (4 July 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: Lovers and Luggers". Filmink. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
12. ^ Hall p 105-108
13. ^ 'Versatile Ronald Whelan', The Mail (Adelaide), Saturday 29 May 1937 p 12
14. ^ "CINESOUND FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 14 December 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
15. ^ "AUSTRALIAN INGENUITY MEETS PROBLEM IN MAKING "THOROUGHBRED"". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 18 April 1936. p. 17. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
16. ^ Hall p108
17. ^ a b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 172.
18. ^ "FILM REVIEWS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 11 May 1936. p. 4. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
19. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 18 July 1936. p. 17. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
20. ^ "'Thoroughbred' Novel into Third Edition", Everyones, Wednesday, 25 March 1936, p7

## Notes

[edit]

Hall, Ken G. Directed by Ken G. Hall: Autobiography of an Australian Filmmaker, Lansdowne Press, 1977

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thoroughbred (1936 film).

* Thoroughbred at IMDb
* Thoroughbred at Australian Screen Online
* Thoroughbred at Oz Movies
* Correspondence relating to copyright of script at National Archives of Australia (including copy of shooting script)
* Review of film at Variety

* v
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Films directed and produced by Ken G. Hall

Feature Films|

* The Exploits of the Emden (1928)
* On Our Selection (1932)
* The Squatter's Daughter (1933)
* Cinesound Varieties (1934)
* The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934)
* Strike Me Lucky (1934)
* Grandad Rudd (1935)
* Thoroughbred (1936)
* Orphan of the Wilderness (1936)
* It Isn't Done (1937)
* Tall Timbers (1937)
* Lovers and Luggers (1937)
* The Broken Melody (1938)
* Let George Do It (1938)
* Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938)
* Gone to the Dogs (1939)
* Come Up Smiling (1939) (producer only)
* Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939)
* Dad Rudd, M.P. (1940)
* Smithy (1946)

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* Ghosts of Port Arthur (1933)
* Road to Victory (1941)
* Anzacs in Overalls (1941)
* Australia Marches with Britain (1941)
* 100,000 Cobbers (1942)
* Another Threshold (1942)
* Eleventh Hour (1942)
* Give Us This Day (1943)
* South West Pacific (1943)
* Fourth Liberty Loans: I Had A Son (1943)
* First Victory Loan: Return Journey (1944)
* Searchlight on Japan (1948)
* Can John Braund Cure Cancer? (1948)
* Thrill of the Surf (1949)
* Fighting Blood (1951)
* Australian Bushland Symphony (1952)
* South Pacific Playground (1953)
* Overland Adventure (1954)
* Music in Our Schools (1954)
* Haven on the Hill (1956)
* The Kurnell Story (1957)

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* The Bismarck Convoy Smashed (1943)
* R.A.A.F. Eagles Over New Guinea (1943)

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