Extremely heart-warming depression era movie by director Frank Capra about a big-hearted race-horse who ran his heart out to the point that it burst leaving those who believed and loved him, in the audience as well as those in the movie, in tears: Broadway Bill. Marrying into money Dan Brooks, Warren Baxter, just couldn't take being big business tycoon J.L Higgins' son-in-law anymore and left him as well as his wife Margaret, Helen Vinson, to go back to his life on the racetrack with his horse Broadway Bill and his horses groom Whitey, Clarence Muse. Dan got Broadway Bill into a number of low purse money races at the local Imperial Racetrack to get the horse, if he won them, into the big race at the track The Imperial Derby against Kentucky Derby favorite Gallant Lady. With that wonderful Frank Capra spirit the movie is about the little man standing up to the powerful establishment and with both his hopes and dreams prevail against the establishments money and power in the end. Warren Baxter and Myrna Loy were both wonderful as Broadway Bill's owner trainer and Dan's sister-in-law Alice who, unlike her older sister Margaret, saw the good that Dan had inside of him. A goodness that was reflected on Dan's caring and feeling for the horse and for the people who, unlike Alice's father, had to live day by day with no hope for the future but for their next meal and a place with a roof over their heads to sleep overnight.Everything was stacked against Broadway Bill in the movie but like the champ that he was he overcame all of them and ended the film with a heart-stopping as well as heart-breaking finish on the racetrack. Re-made 16 years later in 1950 with Bing Crosby in the movie "Riding High" which even has a number of scenes from the movie " Broadway Bill" inserted into it but the original is still by far the best of the two and the one to watch. Noble and uplifting with Frank Capra using the betting at the racetrack to make a point about the conditions in the country at that time, 1934. With most of those betting on Broadway Bill being down on their luck and looking for the gallant and courageous equine to give them back the hopes and dreams that they lost because of the Great depression that hit America as well as the world after the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929. Tremendous final race sequence with a both heart-lifting as well as heart-breaking stretch run that will leave you totally speechless as well as reaching for your handkerchief. Incredibly up-lifting ending that only Frank Capra could have dreamed up with Dan's hopes and dreams as well as Broadway Bill's courage and determination making even Dan's father-in-law the greedy and unfeeling J.L Higgins finally see the light in that being a kind and giving human being was worth more that all the wealth that he had."Broadway Bill" has everything going for it: a great story with great acting and directing and last but not least a great star Broadway Bill.

Dan Brooks is tired of his dull life as the manager of a paper box manufacturing company, given to by his father in law, J.L. Higgins, a man obsessed with acquiring as many businesses and properties as he can. The only thing Dan seems to enjoy is racing his horse, Broadway Bill. When Higgins forces Dan to choose between his work or the horse, Dan continues the movie by choosing the latter, which causes his wife, Margaret, to stay behind and be disowned by the family. Dan, along with his stablehand Whitey, plans to race Broadway Bill in the $25,000 sweepstakes (and show Higgins that he wasn't wasting his time working on Broadway Bill), but needs to come across $500 for the entry fee. Dan, Whitey, Margaret's sister Alice (who really has a crush on Dan) and one of Dan's old friend's from his racetrack days, Col. Pettigrew, come up with every trick they know to get the money, while still dealing with a gambling syndicate trying to clean up on a rival horse by driving up the odds, Broadway Bill suffering from a cold, and Dan locked up for failing to pay the stable & feed bill. Very good film, but lacks the magic Capra had with his other films (It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, etc.) Baxter is good as Dan, but just doesn't seem right for the hopeful characteristics needed. Loy is a delight as Alice/Princess, Connelly repeats the same role he played in It Happened One Night, & Muse, Walburn, & Overman lend fine support as Whitey, the Colonel, and Happy respectively. Good script, using nice humorous touches, and a touching ending. Rating, 8.

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.

This movie is a pleasure, from start to finish. The supporting cast is a pleasure, Warner Baxter gives a fine performance and Myrna Loy made this movie just before she played Nora Charles in THE THIN MAN -- Capra figured out how to direct her and MGM reaped the benefit.