Racing Movies

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by Bullet Plane

However, a real good test, to really know if you are a true racing fan..

Do you love Let It Ride?

If you do, then you are a racing fan.

If you don't, then you are not a real fan.

Find another sport.

But if you are a real bettor how do you get past Dreyfuss betting a bazillion dollars and not affecting the odds?

[barn32]

I can't believe people are dissecting Let it Ride for historical and technical accuracy. It was a brilliant piece of comedic parody that allows you to overlook it's obvious flaws.

This is my favorite scene in the movie, especially the part where they share a cigarette.

YouTube

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by barn32

I can't believe people are dissecting Let it Ride for historical and technical accuracy. It was a brilliant piece of comedic parody that allows you to overlook it's obvious flaws.

People?

Subtle mistakes in movies are forgivable. In the Seabiscuit movie when the horses were in the walking ring at Santa Anita there was a statue of a horse in the middle of the ring. That horse was, of course, Seabiscuit. That was clearly a "who cares" moment.

There were a few other errors in Let it Ride that I overlooked. But the point is that the story and the scene didn't have to change an iota as long as the tote board flash reflected the bet. It's lazy and ignorant writers not doing their job knowing that 95% of people wouldn't know anyway.

[garyscpa]

Originally Posted by HalvOnHorseracing

But if you are a real bettor how do you get past Dreyfuss betting a bazillion dollars and not affecting the odds?

Watch again. Robbie Coltrane even estimates what the bet will do to the odds.

They must have had a giant pool, though.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by HalvOnHorseracing

People?

Subtle mistakes in movies are forgivable. In the Seabiscuit movie when the horses were in the walking ring at Santa Anita there was a statue of a horse in the middle of the ring. That horse was, of course, Seabiscuit. That was clearly a "who cares" moment.

There were a few other errors in Let it Ride that I overlooked. But the point is that the story and the scene didn't have to change an iota as long as the tote board flash reflected the bet. It's lazy and ignorant writers not doing their job knowing that 95% of people wouldn't know anyway.

My problem with Seabiscuit wasn't the minor errors, but the fact that they screwed up the fundamental story. The fact that he lost the Big Cap twice, and his stablemate even won it in his absence, is a gigantic part of why 1940 meant so much.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by mountainman

Intend to blog on racing flicks. personal fave is boots Malone...will include casey's shadow..secretariat.. seabiscuit..phar lap...any other's (aside from the inane "let it ride") deserving??

Sorry. I thought Let it Ride was hilarious.
Look, I get it. Fans of Horse racing want movies about or featuring racing to be serious. Its a sensitive subject with some....I look at Let It Ride not as a horse racing movie, but a comedy that had a base in horse racing.
One could say the same thing about The Marx Bros "Day at the Races"....
Anyway....
Phar lap is a good one. So is "Champions"....Secretariat was meh..Ok....
Seabiscuit I liked because of Gary Stevens. He did a very good job.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by barn32

I can't believe people are dissecting Let it Ride for historical and technical accuracy. It was a brilliant piece of comedic parody that allows you to overlook it's obvious flaws.

This is my favorite scene in the movie, especially the part where they share a cigarette.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VosZzVlqxTg

How anyone could not like this movie is a mystery

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by garyscpa

Watch again. Robbie Coltrane even estimates what the bet will do to the odds.

They must have had a giant pool, though.

ya..Not taking into account the $2400 Trotter dumped in to the horse's win pool....Then again, this was the early 80's. When big crowds were common at major tracks. Some scenes were shot at Hialeah....

[barn32]

Originally Posted by HalvOnHorseracing

People?

I beg your pardon. Please allow me to rephrase.

Despite the many obvious flaws in the movie Let it Ride, it is still a brilliant piece of comedic parody.

By the way, the complaint about the odds not changing is something I didn't even notice. My biggest complaint about a flaw in the movie was in the scene that I posted. $50 betting windows went out when the modern form of Totalisator machinery was installed circa 1981.

Dreyfus could have bet the entire $63,000 on one ticket. But had they done that not only would a lot of the jokes (Cheeseburger, et al) been lost, but also they would have lost the building of the drama in purchasing those 48 $50 win tickets. I can forgive them for that. When they light up the cigarettes it is of course a substitute for a sexual release. Robbie Coltrane was perfect. It's a great scene.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by barn32

By the way, the complaint about the odds not changing is something I didn't even notice. My biggest complaint about a flaw in the movie was in the scene that I posted. $50 betting windows went out when the modern form of Totalisator machinery was installed circa 1981.

In Southern California, we had "large transaction" windows ($50 or higher) that lasted well in the 1990's and long after we got the TM-300 machines (we got those at Hollywood Park in 1978).

What went away with the TM-300 was the separate seller and cashier windows, as well as the windows for separate denominations and forms of wager (i.e., $2WPS, $5WPS, Exacta, Daily Double, etc.).

[Racetrack Playa]

And They're Off-

YouTube

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by barn32

I beg your pardon. Please allow me to rephrase.

Despite the many obvious flaws in the movie Let it Ride, it is still a brilliant piece of comedic parody.

By the way, the complaint about the odds not changing is something I didn't even notice. My biggest complaint about a flaw in the movie was in the scene that I posted. $50 betting windows went out when the modern form of Totalisator machinery was installed circa 1981.

Dreyfus could have bet the entire $63,000 on one ticket. But had they done that not only would a lot of the jokes (Cheeseburger, et al) been lost, but also they would have lost the building of the drama in purchasing those 48 $50 win tickets. I can forgive them for that. When they light up the cigarettes it is of course a substitute for a sexual release. Robbie Coltrane was perfect. It's a great scene.

I'll agree that it wasn't a chore to watch the movie once. Dreyfus was, of course, as solid as he always is. Now I have to watch the end because I remember the tote board flashing and the odds not changing.

[garyscpa]

Originally Posted by Racetrack Playa

And They're Off-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPuosRqCsDU

A lot of Vic Stauffer in that movie.

[jahura2]

Originally Posted by mountainman

Intend to blog on racing flicks. personal fave is boots Malone...will include casey's shadow..secretariat.. seabiscuit..phar lap...any other's (aside from the inane "let it ride") deserving??

Though not a Horse Racing movie I have always love "The Sting" especially the part in Paul Newmans bookie operation where they set up and took illegal bets from Narragansett, Lincoln Park and other tracks.

[cj]

Originally Posted by oughtoh

Longshot with Tin Conway

Let It Ride cracks me up, but this one is more funny in my opinion.

If you've never seen it, definitely worth a look:

YouTube