With the buzz out on "Seabiscuit " being an Oscar shoe-in for best picture of 2003 and the Sport of Kings once again grabbing the spotlight and the invaluable boost the film is giving the sport of horse-racing, most of us may have forgotten what makes this particular formula the odds on favorite at the boxoffice. That a horse, blinded in one eye and too small to compete with other thoroughbreds, is not enough to sustain any film on the subject alone but rather the grit and determination of those who believe enough, have faith enough, to turn a 'dark horse' into a champion. For if you take on consensus that the horse, with the possible exception of man's best friend-(and there have been enough films on that subject as well), is one of the noblest creatures God ever placed on this green earth than the formula worked equally as well for the 'Pi' in "National Velvet" (1945) and a dozen more films on that order such as "Saratoga" (1937), e.g., to name only a few. "Broadway Bill" is a classic of this tried oft-tested formula with a decidedly down beat ending. It was meant to be for after all it is a tear-jerker. But "Bill" like "Seabiscuit" have much in common. Both horses are regarded as past their prime and ready for stud. Both films have a people who believe enough in the 'underdog' (Bill or Seabiscuit in this case) to commit one final act of atonement on the animals behalf, "one for the Gipper" so to speak. Where the two films diverge is in the finale. Bill gives his all on the racetrack to prove his mettle where his heart bursts literally a winner in a dead heat to the finish. We're touched by Bill's determination in justifying his trainer's faith in him that it's almost impossible not to grab a handy box of Kleenex to daub away all those unbridled tears. "Broadway Bill" was actually made a total of three times, the formula was that successful. Once with Bing Crosby in the Warner Baxter role and, naturally, it is der Bingle after all, with a few musical numbers added. 'Bill" has been inducted into the classics. "Seabiscuit" as yet to stand the test of time but somehow I've an instinct that it will, for, you see, both films and their striking similarities have become a wake-up call to Hollywood. In an age of CGI generated Neo's and the dark demented young minds who try to emulate his violently aggressive behavior, "Broadway Bill' and this new film on the life and times of "Seabiscuit" is like a day at the races where you can be sure both will emerge a champion because, as you may have already guessed, it's the kind of movie they just don't make anymore.
Review of Broadway Bill
