Riding High (1950 film)
| Riding High | |
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| Directed by | Frank Capra |
| Produced by | Frank Capra |
| Written by |
Mark Hellinger (story) Robert Riskin Melville Shavelson (add. dialogue) Jack Rose (add. dialogue) |
| Starring |
Bing Crosby Coleen Gray |
| Music by | Victor Young (uncredited) |
| Cinematography |
George Barnes Ernest Laszlo |
| Edited by | William Hornbeck |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,920,000 |
| Box office | $2,350,000 (US rentals) |
Riding High is a 1950 black and white musical racetrack film featuring Bing Crosby and directed by Frank Capra. The songs were sung as Riding High was being filmed instead of the customary lip-synching to previous recordings. The film is a remake of an earlier Capra film called Broadway Bill (1934). While the film is generally a light musical comedy, it has an unexpected tragic turn in its story.
Yale grad Dan Brooks (Bing Crosby) is expected to marry wealthy boss J.L. Higgins' (Charles Bickford) daughter Margaret (Frances Gifford) and join the family box-making business. He is far more interested in racing a horse he owns, Broadway Bill.
Doing poorly at work, Dan and his groom Whitey (Clarence Muse) leave town to enter Bill in the Imperial Derby, but first must find money for the entry fee. He and old pal Professor Pettigrew (Raymond Walburn) each try to con the other out of a few bucks, then end up singing the Yale school song to get out of a restaurant tab they can't pay.
Maggie's younger sister Alice (Coleen Gray) is secretly in love with Dan, so she offers him some money, pawning her belongings. Whitey is beaten up trying to win some in a craps game, and Broadway Bill is carted away because Dan doesn't pay his feed bill. Dan is jailed, too.
A rich man makes a bet on 100-to-1 shot Bill, leading to false rumors that the horse is a shoo-in. The odds drop fast, but gamblers and a crooked jockey try to make sure their own favorites win the race. Broadway Bill somehow manages to win, but collapses at the finish line and suffers a fatal heart attack.
A saddened Dan takes comfort in deciding to buy and race Broadway Bill II. His enthusiasm persuades Alice and even her dad to lend Dan a hand.
Oliver Hardy had an unbilled cameo appearance as a gambler at the racetrack.
Filmed from March 9th to May 1949. Some of the scenes in both Broadway Bill and Riding High were filmed at the Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno, California. The track burned to the ground in July 1964, just before it was to be demolished.
In order to raise funds for a sports stadium, Crosby arranged for the world premiere of the film to be held in Front Royal, Virginia on April 1st 1950. Crosby’s initial involvement came about on April 30, 1948 when after acting as grand marshal of the Grand Feature Parade of the 21st. Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia, he went on to Front Royal where he sang on the courthouse steps as part of a concert to help raise money for a new stadium. Bing was the first contributor to the Front Royal Recreation Center Building Fund when he donated $1,000. On April 1st 1950, Front Royal celebrated “Bing Crosby Day” and starting at 11 a.m., Crosby led a two-hour parade through the streets in front of a crowd of 20,000 to Recreation Park for the dedication of the baseball stadium. Park Theater was the venue for the official world premiere of Riding High at 8:30 p.m. where Crosby entertained the audience with several songs. During his appearance at the Park Theater, Bing wrote out a personal check for $3,595 to bring the gross receipts of the day to $15,000.
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