Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Although the fine version from 2003 about Seabiscuit that Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire brought to the screen is far more factual, this B film that stars Barry Fitzgerald and Shirley Temple should please fans of the sport of kings. Considering what the costs are to maintain horse racing as a sport only royalty or those considered royal in their societies can afford to participate other than at the $2.00 parimutuel window at the track.For reasons not quite clear Barry Fitzgerald together with niece Shirley Temple are brought over from Ireland because stable owner William Forrest has heard of Fitzgerald's legendary ability to judge thoroughbred horseflesh. Of course that brings him into contact with Donald MacBride who is already Forrest's trainer and they disagree over a yearling that Fitzgerald sees promise in and MacBride doesn't. Barry leaves and goes to work for Pierre Watkin and Rosemary DeCamp and later on they acquire the horse now named Seabiscuit. A young jockey played by Lon McCallister, the part Tobey Maguire played in 2003 is interested in Shirley Temple and the fictional romance doesn't interfere with Seabiscuit's legendary exploits on the track. Newsreel footage of the famous match race with Triple Crown winner War Admiral is shown in its entirety with Clem McCarthy's famous call of the race. Including McCarthy who was one of the great sports announcers of all time really captures the flavor of the period. McCarthy's voice is also the one covering the famous second and very short Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Horse racing was his first love however and McCarthy covered and called every major race in a 20 year period.It's not as good as the newer film, but The Story Of Seabiscuit while its characters are superficial does capture the racing scene of the time.

when the truth is so much more interesting, this movie was pretty much a waste of time. the real characters were also more interesting than these two dimensional characters. the only redeeming quality was the newsreel footage of some of the actual races. fortunately, the recent Laura Hillebrand book and the recent movie corrected some of the nonsense. in real life, the great Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Charles Howard, Tom Smith, and even Red Pollard were all much more interesting characters than those in this stinker. perhaps there were problems getting the rights to use the real names of real people who were alive at the time of filming. there is no doubt that Shirley Temple was very cute when they made this abomination, and probably was cuter than Red Pollard's own wife, the nurse. There was also no need to use such lame stereotypical characters for the non-white cast members. for a degenerate race track gambler like myself, the racing footage was worth enduring the rest of it.

I happened to catch this movie by accident while clicking through the cable channel and the story of sea biscuit caught my eye!The movie's cinematography was excellent and the back drops were pure eye candy for the movie buffs.It seemed as though Barry Fitzgerald "stole" EACH and EVERY scene he was in and made all the other actors go begging for drama coaching with the exception of Rosemary Decamp who seems to always know where the camera was and especially when it was trained on her.The acting of Shirley Temple was horrendous and unprofessional. It was if she either did not believe in the character she was portraying or just wanted to be somewhere else. (ala, gregory peck in duel of the sun).I believe the only thing that saved each and every scene of hers from the cutting floor was the fact that she does have (a very pretty face)and since she was uh... 'Little Shirley Temple' how could she possibly be bad?Her acting and the general camp acting of the other players seem to muddle the storyline. The Great cinematography and the scene-stealing mastery of fitzgerald is the only reason I kept the recording.And last but not least the great historical footage of the horse (seabiscuit)who also helped salvage some of the last 2 reels.

I remember this movie from my childhood and recently saw it on cable. What I don't understand is why do I remember this very forgettable film. It's really a loser. The horse(s) who played Seabiscuit get the highest acting credits from me. And Rosemary is always deCamp!