Good start, but then it gets ruined

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Although it is a nice, warm, charming story/plot it is a let down considering. The fact that some of the main characters in this version are completely fictional (the O'Haras) bothered me throughout the entire movie.I did love that it had some actual B&W footage of some of Seabiscuit's races. And being a sucker for almost any animal movie (especially horses) I utterly enjoyed all the scenery and all the shots of the horses. The only reason I would watch this again is for that, not for the plot or the actors. But I'm fairly sure that this one is going to collect dust on my DVD shelf.If you are going to watch a movie about Seabiscuit, I advise to see the amazing 2003 version and skip this one.

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 was always in awe at Shirley Temple's amazing talent as a child and always wondered what kind of adult actor she would be, then TCM showed this movie and I got the chance to see for myself.Her acting here is kinda hot and cold. There are some scenes where she's brilliant, while in other scenes she just seems to read the lines without much feeling. Still, she was good enough to make me want to see more. It's a shame she didn't do much film work after this one. I think she would've been a major sex symbol.The rest of the movie was kinda boring and predictable. When they showed the original racing footage, they did the whole racetrack scene in B&W. I thought it was funny how they went from the hospital room in color, to looking at a racing form, then to everyone at the race track in B&W. I thought it was funny because I'm sure they were trying to make it almost unnoticeable by using the racing form as a go between. I would have left the footage out of the movie and done the scene in color.There were two things about the love story that I thought were interesting. I thought that Ted fell in love with Margaret too quick, then after Margaret refused to let Ted kiss her, she kisses him with a bunch of pecks all over his face, followed by one planted on the lips.

"The Story of Seabiscuit", which was shown recently on TCM, is a film that is pleasant to sit through, but inferior to the much better "Seabiscuit" that came out on 2003, based on the magnificent book by Laura Hillenbrand and directed by Gary Ross. This 1949 movie was perhaps a vehicle for an adult Shirley Temple. As directed by David Butler, the film has some good moments.The best thing in the movie is the irresistible Barry Fitzgerald. As Shawn O'Hara, he comes to America to work with horses at the Milford Farms. He arrives with his niece, Margaret. Shawn knows a lot about horses and he spots Seabiscuit right away. His love for the horse puts him at odds with George, the head trainer. Since Seabiscuit doesn't show anything at the beginning and Shawn's health seems to deteriorate, Shawn and Margaret decide to go on to California to work with the Howards, a couple that appreciate Shawn's advice.Among the recommendations Shawn tells the Howards, is to buy Seabiscuit from Mr. Milford for the sum of six thousand dollars. After Shawn resumes training the horse, and with the help of Ted Knowles, the jockey, Seabiscuit begins to respond and win. Seabiscuit was a legend in the sport.The story is conventional, but totally watchable by the presence of Barry Fitzgerald. He steals every scene in which he appears. Shirley Temple is not believable with her Irish accent, but she is a sweet figure in the story. Lon McCallister, playing Ted, is fine. Rosemarie DeCamp is an elegant figure who doesn't get much to do.The film doesn't attempt to be anything but a semi documentary about Seabiscuit and its trainer and the relationship between them. Horse race fans will have a good time with the film thanks to Mr. Fitzgerald's contribution.