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Saratoga

Director: Jack Conway (Dir) Release Date: 23 Jul 1937 Production Date: 22 Apr--26 Jun 1937 Duration (in mins): 94 Duration (in reels): 10			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Clark Gable	(Duke Bradley)
	Jean Harlow	(Carol Clayton)
	Lionel Barrymore	(Grandpa Clayton)
	Walter Pidgeon	(Hartley Madison)
	Frank Morgan	(Jesse [Kiffie] Kiffmeyer)
	Una Merkel	(Fritzi [Kiffmeyer])
	Cliff Edwards	(Tip [O'Brien])
	George Zucco	(Dr. Harmsworth)
	Jonathan Hale	(Frank Clayton)
	Hattie McDaniels	(Rosetta)
	Frankie Darro	(Dixie Gordon)
	Henry Stone	(Hand-Riding Hurley)
	Carl Stockdale	(Boswell)
	Ruth Gillette	(Mrs. Kelly)
	Charley Foy	(Valet)
	Robert Emmett Keane	(Auctioneer)
	Edgar Dearing	(Medbury)
	Frank McGlynn Sr.	(Kenyon)
	Margaret Hamilton	(Maizie)
	Lionel Pape	(Horse owner)
	Pat West	(Horse owner)
	John Hyams	(Horse owner)
	Sam Flint	(Judge)
	Walter Robbins	(Limpy)
	Harrison Greene	(Clipper)
	Irene Franklin	(Passenger on train)
	Bill Carey	(Passenger on train)
	Ernie Stanton	(Passenger on train)
	Franklyn Ardell	(Passenger on train)
	John "Skins" Miller	(Passenger on train)
	Hank Mann	(Passenger on train)
	Nick Copeland	(Passenger on train)
	Bert Roach	(Passenger on train)
	Forbes Murray	(Pullman steward)
	George Reed	(Butler)
	Billy McClain	(Butler)
	Si Jenks	(Gardener)
	Herbert Ashley	(Bartender)
	George Chandler	(Cameraman)
	Drew Demorest	(Cameraman)
	Mel Ruick	(Tout)
	Patsy O'Connor	(Kelly's kid)
	Charles R. Moore	(Bartender)
	Fred "Snowflake" Toones	(Train porter)
	Hooper Atchley	(First bidder)
	Edward James Flanagan	(Second bidder)
	Gertrude Simpson
	Joseph E. Bernard	(First attendant)
	The Esquires	(Quartet in "Saratoga" number)
	Grace Saxon	(Singer in "Saratoga" number)
	Gus Reed	(Baritone in "The Horse with the Dreamy Eyes" number)

Summary:

Bookie Duke Bradley reluctantly accepts the deed to his friend Frank Clayton's horse farm out of fondness for him and Clayton's crusty father, Grandpa. When Clayton dies of a heart attack during an important race, just after his daughter Carol returns from a long stay in Europe, Duke offers to forgive the debt. Her fiancé, millionaire Hartley Madison, wants to pay Duke, but Carol vows to repay the loan to Duke before she marries, through her own efforts as a handicapper. Although they are frequently at odds, Duke and Carol fall in love as they travel from track to track on the "racing special" train. Despite his feelings for Carol, Duke is trying to coax Hartley into betting huge sums as recompense for money that Hartley won from him years before. As a result, Carol is suspicious of Duke's feelings and tells Hartley that she will marry him as soon as her horse wins the big Saratoga race. Hartley makes the race even more important when he places a large bet with Duke on Carol's horse, even though the favorite is a horse owned by Fritzi Kiffmeyer, an old friend of Duke's who is now married to a cosmetics tycoon. The race is a "photo finish," which necessitates projection of the motion picture footage of the finish line to determine the winner. As the spectators of the race results are cheering on their horses, Carol suddenly begins to cheer for Fritzi's horse because she doesn't want Duke to be ruined. When Fritzi's horse is proclaimed the winner, Duke and Carol take each other's hands. Finally, Carol and Duke are riding on another "racing special," happy to be together.

Production Company:	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.	(Loew's, Inc.)
Distribution Company:	Loew's Inc.
Director:	Jack Conway	(Dir)
	Tom Andre	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Bernard H. Hyman	(Prod)
	John Emerson	(Assoc prod)
Writer:	Anita Loos	(Scr and orig story)
	Robert Hopkins	(Scr and orig story)
Photography:	Ray June	(Photog)
	Clyde De Vinna	(Saratoga background photog)
Art Direction:	Cedric Gibbons	(Art dir)
	John Detlie	(Art dir assoc)
Film Editor:	Elmo Veron	(Film ed)
Set Decoration:	Edwin B. Willis	(Set dec)
Costumes:	Dolly Tree	(Ward)
Music:	Edward Ward	(Mus score)
Sound:	Douglas Shearer	(Rec dir)
Production Misc:	O. O. Dull	(Asst to prod)
Stand In:	Mary Dees	(Stand-in for Jean Harlow and fill-in actress in the role of Carol Clayton after Harlow's death)
Country:	United States

Songs:	"Saratoga" and "The Horse with the Dreamy Eyes," music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by Bob Wright and Chet Forrest.
Composer:	Walter Donaldson
	Chet Forrest
	Bob Wright

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer COrp.	19/7/1937 dd/mm/yyyy	LP7354	Yes

PCA NO:	3534
Physical Properties:	b&w;:
	Sd:	Western Electric Sound System


Genre:	Comedy-drama
Sub-Genre:	Horse race

Subjects (Major):	Bookies
	Financial crisis
	Horseracing
	Romance
	Saratoga (NY)
	Wagers

Subjects (Minor):	Auctions
	Cosmetics
	Deception
	Jockeys
	Millionaires
	Trains

Note:	According to various contemporary news items, Robert Hopkins submitted his treatment of Saratoga , based on his original story, in late Jul 1935 as a vehicle for Jean Harlow. In Dec 1936, HR reported that the picture was to star Clark Gable and Joan Crawford after a deal with Paramount to borrow Carole Lombard for the picture fell through. Harlow was again reported as the star in the early Spring of 1937. Other news items note that photographer Clyde De Vinna filmed background locations for the film in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky and in Saratoga, New York, along with assistant producer O. O. Dull and assistant director James Dugan, and that seven-month-old triplets, Jann, Kathleen and Sheila Andrews were to be in the film. Although some babies were seen in the viewed print, none of the Andrews triplets are mentioned in any cast lists and their participation in the released film has not been confirmed. Walter Pidgeon was borrowed from Universal for the film. This was his first picture for M-G-M, a studio to which he would go under contract in 1938 and continue to work for until the mid-1950s. According to a HR production chart, John Eldredge was also in the cast, but he was not in the released film. Harlow died on 7 Jun 1937 at the age of twenty-six, before completion of this film. According to news items in trade papers of the time, M-G-M was planning to shelve the picture or re-shoot Harlow's scenes with another actress, possibly Virginia Bruce or Jean Arthur. The decision to recoup the $300,000 negative cost of the film was reported in HR on 11 Jun 1937. News items in HR mentioned that a preview of the film in late June encouraged M-G-M executives that audiences would not be adverse to seeing the film with the recently deceased star. They decided to complete it as shot using Harlow's stand-in, Mary Dees, in some of the scenes. On 31 Jul, M-G-M took out an ad in HR thanking the public for the outpouring of fan mail encouraging them not to shelve the picture and to edit it in "record time" for a July release. Most reviews were positive on the film but did note the sadness of seeing Harlow on screen after her death. According to modern sources, during film on Saratoga , Gable brought the actor billed in the CBCS as "Edward James Flanagan," to the attention of studio executives as a potential star. Flanagan acted in several additional "bit" parts in 1937, either as Bud Flanagan or Edward James Flanagan, until he received a co-starring role under the name Dennis O'Keefe in The Bad Man of Brimstone in late 1937 (see above).

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Daily Variety	14 Jul 37	p. 3.
Film Daily	19 Jul 37	p. 10.
Hollywood Reporter	25 Jul 35	p. 2.
Hollywood Reporter	18 Dec 36	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	6 Feb 37	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	21 Apr 37	p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter	26 Apr 37	p. 3, 11
Hollywood Reporter	27 Apr 37	p. 2.
Hollywood Reporter	6 May 37	p. 1.
Hollywood Reporter	8 Jun 37	p. 1, 9
Hollywood Reporter	9 Jun 37	p. 1.
Hollywood Reporter	11 Jun 37	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	19 Jun 37	p. 2.
Hollywood Reporter	29 Jun 37	p. 4.
Hollywood Reporter	1 Jul 37	p. 1.
Hollywood Reporter	14 Jul 37	p. 3.
Motion Picture Daily	15 Jul 37	p. 4
Motion Picture Herald	24 Jul 37	p. 46.
Motion Picture Herald	31 Jul 37	pp. 38-39.
New York Times	23 Jul 37	p. 16.
Variety	14 Jul 37	p. 10.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.

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